One of the blames Nigerian fishermen will have to bear is their active participation in the destruction of the mangrove forests in the Bakassi area in the South West Region of Cameroon.
*By Kengah Geraldine
Cameroon’s Ministry of Environment has laid down modalities on how to curb the age-long destruction of mangroves in the Bakassi area mostly by fishermen from neighbouring Nigeria.
Mangrove destruction in Bakassi has left the eco-system with enormous risks, notably the destruction of the biodiversity, water pollution and indiscriminate loss of aquatic life evident from the drop in fish population.
It is evident that the estuaries are very sensitive to pollution, with poor hygiene and sanitation conditions of the communities leading to poor waste disposal; contaminating groundwater and further endangering the fish species in the sea.
At a two-day workshop organised by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) in collaboration with the Global Environment Facility (GEF), September 8-9, 2014, in Limbe, Fako Division, environmentalists blamed the persistent exploitation of mangrove forests on the local communities who cooperate with illegal exploiters in depleting the stocks.
Given that most of the mangroves in Bakassi are destroyed by fishermen and used as wood for the drying of fish, the experts put forth some measures to reduce the destruction of mangroves to include the collection and transformation of fishery waste, the provision of efficient fish dryers and improved fish smoking ovens and promoting fish farming to disassociate from over-fishing.
The local communities would also be encouraged to engage in poultry, snail production and soap making.
The experts equally agreed to include in the management plan of the Bakassi area the adoption of a bilateral agreement for trans-boundary management of mangrove, asses feasibility of creating a trust fund to finance biodiversity conservation and livelihood.
In order to stop the ongoing massive exploitation of mangrove in the Bakassi area, there is the need for sensitisation campaigns to be carried out and tools like flyers, video, cultural events and other gadgets need to be used for such campaigns.
As for the sustainable management of wood, the team agreed to drill communities on mangrove reforestation and the setting up of community mangrove nurseries for reforestation of degraded areas.
They also consented to support environmental clubs in schools, “njangi” associations and support the production, processing and marketing of non-timber forest products.
The Task Manager for UNEP, Adamou Boushari, said consultants would help collect data on ecosystems services of Bakassi’s current status activities.
He said GEF is coming up with some finances to support environmental developers in the area where these activities will be carried out.
The Bakassi Peninsula is a cluster of islands in the border zone of Cameroon and Nigeria in Ndian Division, South West Region.
It is governed by Cameroon, following its handing over by Nigeria as a result of a judgement by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
The territory was transferred to Cameroon on August 14, 2008.
*Kengah Geraldine is an intern of Corporate Communication from ASMAC Yaounde
