Participatory management of the Oku community forest through forest regeneration and beekeeping for improved livelihoods

The project takes place in the Oku Community Forest (OCF, 3,000 ha), a 3-hour drive from Bamenda, the capital of Cameroon’s North-West region, and 500 km from the capital, Yaoundé.

The OCF is part of the Kilum-Ijim forest complex (20,000 ha), which gave its name to the first community forest created by BirdLife in 1987, encompassing Mount Oku, which rises to 3,011 m and is the second-highest peak in West Africa.

These montane forests, interspersed with grasslands, are extremely rich in biodiversity, particularly birdlife (Bannerman’s Turaco, endemic to the region, is classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List), and are threatened by the expansion of agricultural land and, above all, by bushfires caused by wild honey harvesting and deforestation. They statutorily belong to the communities and are managed by entities known as Forest Management Institutions (FMI), made up of elected members, who enforce the uses provided for under legislation, particularly those relating to the collection of non-timber forest products, which are highly sought after in the region. In the OCF, the FMIs were suspended in 2011 due to the misappropriation of funds generated from Prunus africana harvesting.

Cam Gew aims to continue part of the work carried out by BirdLife between 1987 and 2003 and by other projects, such as a World Bank project running until 2012, by promoting the valorisation of non-timber forest products — specifically the region’s renowned honey, which carries a protected designation, and Prunus africana, which is overexploited in Cameroon owing to its high economic value (its bark is sold to laboratories for prostate cancer treatment). For the beekeeping component, once the hives are built, they will be moved further down the valley, where the ecosystem is better suited to colonisation by bees; to secure the land where they will be installed, Cam Gew will sign agreements with the owners of these sites. The colonised hives will then be brought back to the OCF, where they will be taken over by the community target groups directly involved in the project.

By the end of this 15-month project, there will be 100 hives in the OCF producing honey, 50 hives colonised in the valley but not yet transported to the OCF due to the season, and 50 hives built and installed in the valley but not yet colonised.

Environmental education will also be developed as part of this project, as will participatory reforestation of Prunus africana.

In addition, to secure the project’s adoption by the FMI managing the OCF area concerned by Prunus plantations (out of the 6 that cover the OCF), a prior agreement has been signed between CAMGEW and this structure.

The project targets 36 villages located across the 3,000 ha of forest, a plant sanctuary and Lake Oku. 120 people organised into 30-40 groups will be trained in beekeeping, and 80 people will be involved in reforestation activities.