Kud’a Tube is the leading organisation working on marine turtles in Cameroon. The association is a member of the Protomac network, whose methods it applies and by which its work is regularly evaluated. Kud’a Tube has already benefited from a previous PPI grant, with satisfactory results.
This project continues the turtle conservation work begun at Campo-Ma’an, and now extends further north, towards the Douala-Edéa Reserve (south-eastern Cameroon, 128,000 ha).
The NGO is working on this project alongside WWF and WCS, who are advocating with the State for the upgrading of the Reserve’s status to a Protected Area.
Within the Reserve, among 80 species of large and medium-sized mammals, many are IUCN-listed species, such as the drill, the forest elephant, the manatee, the blue duiker, and the chimpanzee, while notable herpetological fauna includes the dwarf crocodile and 4 marine turtle species (green turtle, hawksbill turtle, leatherback turtle, olive ridley turtle). However, data on these populations is very limited, making it difficult to implement appropriate conservation measures. Poaching (of manatees in waterways, turtles on beaches, and elephants along their migration corridors, driving conflicts linked to crop damage) and habitat degradation by local populations continue intensively, due to a lack of alternative means offered to the population.
The short- and medium-term objective is to contribute to the conservation of the Douala-Edéa reserve’s biodiversity through the protection of flagship species, while supporting the Cameroonian State in the process of upgrading the reserve’s status to a National Park, including a marine protected area managed in partnership with riparian populations.
Eight main villages are concerned by the project, with a population of 3,000 inhabitants who are the project’s beneficiaries. These are the villages of Moudiyé, Mombo, Motimbo, Sitane, Gabon, London, Eboule Lombe and Mpêt.
