Some Tofala forest adjacent villages like Fossimondi, M’mockbie and Nwangong that had hitherto resisted the gazetting of the Proposed Tofala Hill Wildlife Sanctuary (PTHWS) have conceded to support ERuDeF in the gazetting of this biodiversity hot spot in the Lebialem Highlands.
By Bertrand Shancho Ndimuh
After constant sensitization campaigns and meetings with elites, notables and chiefs of these villages, the people who saw the gazetting of Tofala as ERuDeF’s attempt to “take away” their “God-given forest and animals”, recently declared their unequivocal support to the gazetting process.
“Gazetting the Tofala rainforest is a very good idea. The area is rich in wildlife; both plants and animals and will bring in tourists into our communities. It is true that we opposed this; thinking that ERuDeF was coming to take away our forest, which was not the case! We have now understood everything and the importance of wildlife conservation. In my village, we are in favour of complete protection of this forest and its content,” said Manasseh Jong, a Fossimondi village elite.
Jong lauded ERuDeF’s approach to conservation that is setting up environmental clubs in schools and educating pupils and students and, by extension, the communities on the need to effectively take care of their area “which is very hilly and prone to natural disasters”.
In the same vein, a M’mockmbie village notable, Charles Nde Nkemcha, congratulated ERuDeF on its relentless effort to protect their forest and natural resources amidst incessant resistance.
He said it is thanks to ERuDeF’s steadfastness that they have come to understand the importance of conserving their natural resources for future posterity.
“We have realised that if we kill all these animals, our children growing up will not be able to see them,” Nkemcha told The Green Vision.
Another notable from M’mockbie, Ndi Nkemcha Lefie, corroborated this promising to be ERuDeF’s conservation ambassador in his village area.
“We are happy for the continuous efforts and advice your group has been giving us to take care of the animals in our forests. We the notables of M’mockbie Fondom will go back to our village and educate our people on the need to protect these animals,” Nkemcha Lefie said.
Meanwhile, other village notables and elites like Francis Tetang and Clifford Zabze of Fossimondi, and Simon Nkemnkem of Nwangong, regretted the disappearance of certain animal species from their communities as a result of indiscriminate hunting.
“What ERuDeF is saying is true…there are some very important animals that we used to have in this area; I cannot really remember how we used to call them that we no longer see today because of too much hunting. Even the gorillas, chimpanzees, monkeys, which we still have, only hunters and those who go deep into the forest can see them. We appeal to our people to allow the gorillas, chimpanzees and other wildlife species to grow and create their own families and our children and great grandchildren can grow and see these animals,” Francis Tetang said.
Drawing inspiration from anthropogenic activities in the Tofala forest like hunting, farming and deforestation, a M’mockbie resident, Teracesius Nkengafack, said granting Tofala the status of a protected area and providing other means of sustenance to the hunters is the only way to fully guarantee the safety of endangered wildlife species in that forest.
