Reforestation and sustainable cooking practices around the protected areas of the Bamboutos Mountains

Mount Bamboutos Protected Reserve, (222 ha, culminating at 2,670 m), is located in the western region of Cameroon. It is a very fertile volcanic region, which supplies the whole country with vegetables and is the water tower of some of the most populous cities in the country. Long known for its beautiful tropical humid mountain forests, the reserve and its outskirts have been reduced to a semi-arid zone due to deforestation caused by overexploitation of firewood, harmful agricultural and pastoral practices and the use of traditional stoves inefficient.

ACREST, an NGO specializing in renewable energies, formed by GIZ, wishes to implement a project for the production of improved stoves which should prevent the consumption of 275 t of wood and therefore make it possible to save about 20 ha of forest / year; in addition, local forest species will be planted to reforest 10% of the plant cover (the forest area directly concerned by the project being 222 ha). The project will directly affect 6 villages (2,000 households, for a total of around 12,000 people) within a radius of 15 km around the protected area