Campo ma’an National Park (PNCM) is one of the major protected areas in Cameroon. It covers an area of 264 000 ha and has rich biodiversity. Its rich and varied fauna consists of key species such as the elephant, gorilla, chimpanzee, dwarf crocodile, Goliath frog, mandrill and Panther.

Campo ma’an National Park was launched in 2019 with a project entitled “Conquering Old Fallow Land.” The goal of this project is to involve local people living along the park’s River in establishing agroforestry plantations as a potential source of income and ecotourism. It also aims to restore the vegetation cover of the peripheral areas of the park.

8,000 cocoa plants and 3,000 plantain banana seedlings were distributed to the populations of two riparian villages in the park, Nkoelon and Doumessamenbenga. These communities expressed their gratitude to the Conservation Service, the African Wildlife Foundation and the Foundation for Environment and Development in Cameroon (FEDEC) for their cooperation in implementing the action. 25 families are direct beneficiaries of this support.

This initiative is the result of a participatory diagnosis of the needs of the populations bordering PNCM which highlighted the need to support local farmers to increase and diversify their agro-forestry plantations in order to improve their incomes and avoid poaching. Training in selective tree-cutting techniques and techniques for setting up and maintaining Village Nurseries was provided to beneficiaries. This training was accompanied by the installation of 2 nurseries (1 per community). The beneficiaries also took part in an exchange trip to an agro-forestry plantation in the region.