(Business in Cameroon) - In a letter dated September 16 requested the support of the Minister of Economy to secure funding from the African Development Bank (AfDB) for the road construction project in the East region The project aims to pave the Batouri-Kika road with CFA158.8 billion earmarked for the Ngoura II-Yokadouma section and CFA200 billion for the Yokadouma-Moloundou stretch extending to Kika at the Congo-Brazzaville border The 156-kilometer Ngoura II-Yokadouma segment is vital for improving access to agricultural production areas and boosting the economy of the East region It will also ease the transportation of mining and forestry products from surrounding areas and neighboring countries the cost could have been lowered by CFA20 billion if not for the need to build a bridge over the Kadey River between Epi and Mobéso villages The project is planned to take 36 months and will be divided into five sections The presence of the bridge is seen as a key challenge Engineers warn that political instability in the Central African Republic could impact the project’s viability is expected to boost agricultural and forestry production while helping combat poverty in the region This 269-kilometer segment is divided into three parts: Yokadouma-Moloundou (212.6 km) and a one-kilometer access road to the Ngoko River Kribi Bitumen Plant Set to Start Construction in 2025 with Government Backing CEMAC Bond Market Hits CFA 8.45 Trillion in March 2025, Interest Rates Drop Cameroon’s Timber Output Projected to Rise in 2025 Despite Higher Export Taxes Central Africa Stock Exchange Sees 98% Drop in Trading Value in Q1 2025 Every week the economy and investment news from Cameroon Mboa Paris Trains 30 Young Cameroonians to Boost Tech and Entrepreneurship Cameroon Audit Targets Former Officials for Mismanagement in Agricultural Project Camwater Seeks Global Bids to Launch Bottled Water Lines in Five Cities Bafoussam Workshop Highlights Benefits of Cameroon-EU Trade Agreement Cameroon Could Reach 350,100 Tons of Cotton in 2025 (Beac) Paul Biya Appoints Johnny Razack as Chair of Cameroon’s National Investment Company Cameroon Refuses Work Visa Renewal for Casino and Super U Boss Over Toxic Workplace Claims Cameroon Joins Global Charter to Fight Illegal Fishing Gabon — There is no logging in the forest managed by residents of Ebieng-Edzua this village has been the only one in the country to choose to preserve its community forest by exploiting only non-timber products including medicinal plants and sustainable hunting Located in Gabon’s Ogooué-Ivindo province the rural community of Ebieng-Edzua formally took over management of a 1,256-hectare block of in October 2013 the first community-managed forest in Gabon The villagers decided to end timber exploitation for several reasons according to community leader Eli Nlo Hubert logging not only destroys the forest and sacred sites within it destroys the undergrowth and provokes conflicts of interest between community members So we decided not to go down that road.” the community has developed real expertise in the valorization of non-timber forest products harvest high quality honey from hives in the forest tend stands of the medicinal herb iboga (which has recently attracted international attention for its use treating trauma and addictions) and gather wild fruit including wild mango (Irvingia gabonesis) the nuts of which are processed to produce odika a tasty paste (sometimes referred to as “indigenous chocolate”) that features prominently in Gabonese cuisine It presents a sharp contrast to other community-managed forests in Gabon where timber is regarded as the only source of income the forest provides Many community forests are experiencing degradation caused directly by logging reporting elevated levels of conflict with wildlife including elephants taking advantage of newly-opened logging roads to gain swift access to farmland and villages themselves communities are also reporting that the bulk of revenue from timber sales goes to operating costs Cameroon — A local council is planting moabi and sapelli trees on 32 hectares of degraded forest in Cameroon’s East region The reforestation project by the Yokadouma Council is part of WWF-backed project to restore sections of this community-managed forest that has been badly degraded by logging the Yokadouma council and its partners log 1,000 hectares of council forest and there have been [only] limited efforts at regeneration,” Alphonse Ngniado Wouala WWF forest and climate coordinator for Cameroon Yokadouma and the neighbouring Ngoyla forest cover a total of 109,256 hectares. They have been selected for a pilot project aiming to improve forest management in this portion of the Trinational Dja-Odzala-Minkébé landscape named for the three large protected areas it encompasses is 178,000 square kilometers of forest extending across the borders of Cameroon Ngniado told Mongabay that WWF initiated a three-year collaboration with the Yokadouma council in 2021 The council planted 1,000 trees to fulfill their management plan predominantly species like moabi (Baillonella toxisperma) and sapelli (Entandrophragma cylindricum) Moabi is also valued by locals for medicinal purposes and its fruit Sapelli provides habitat for an edible caterpillar (Imbrasia oyemensis) that is a delicacy in regions where the species grows WWF assessed which areas of the forest had been logged and held meetings with council staff and members of the community to explain principles of sustainable logging and regeneration They also created a nursery to grow saplings for reforestation as well as fruit trees that community members want to cultivate on their farms council staff began re-planting deforested areas of the forest returning to replace young trees that withered Yokadouma Council’s director of reforestation said the the council has carried out two reforestation efforts in the past ten years but poor forest managment has hampered progress He says that sustaining the latest reforestation project will be a challenge “This [council] is a structure that is governed by politics and management is entirely dependent on who takes over,” he told Mongabay “If the individual does not appreciate the value of forest management concentration will solely be on the collection of forest royalties.” Ngonono also said that because many people in Yokadouma believe the forest will regenerate itself they are unlikely to continue replanting trees and respecting the management plans that have been drawn up once support from WWF ends Tanzania—Farmers living near the Kilombero Nature Forest Reserve in Tanzania’s eastern Morogoro region are growing mushrooms to earn additional income and protect forests The mushrooms find a ready market with buyers in the capital Researchers from Tanzania’s Sokoine University of Agriculture say many locals illegally cut down trees in the reserve for timber and charcoal to sell a food processing and agro-forestry professor at Sokoine says the mushroom-growing project he is managing can replace income from illegal tree-felling.“When farmers grow mushrooms they can earn additional income and reduce their reliance to forest resources,” he said Silayo and his colleagues are supporting a group of 150 Kilombero mushroom growers with training on growing and processing mushrooms as well as helping them access capital to expand their operations Demand for oyster mushrooms both for export and for local restaurants has been steadily rising in Tanzania providing a new and lucrative market for the farmers Kilombero’s new fungi farmers can produce harvests throughout the year A kilogram of mushrooms fetches around 7,000 Tanzanian shillings (approximately $3) He told Mongabay that farmers are slowly mastering unfamiliar techniques to maintain suitable growing conditions and maximise mushroom yields and quality “Mushrooms are highly perishable and require specific storage conditions to maintain freshness and extend shelf life however many farmers lack proper storage facilities which result in spoilage.” Elders in the Mijikenda community of Dakatcha Dakatcha’s forest is the site of one of ten ancient fortified villages known as kayas Though the kayas were all abandoned by the 1940s the surrounding forests have been protected by locals as important cultural sites locals and commercial traders from elsewhere have targeted these mature forests for timber Kaya forests cover over 2,000 square kilometers along the Kenyan coast They provide habitat for 13 endangered bird and mammal species Dakatcha’s forest is the northernmost miombo forest in Africa a breeding site for the endangered Kilifi (Clarke’s) weaver and a dozen other threatened bird and mammal species Dakatcha’s elders say the area’s five kaya forests must be protected because they are the source of rain good weather and blessings for the community Patrick Changawa is an elder and the chairman of a community conservation group that is working with Nature Kenya “We must find a solution to protect this forest before we lose it Losing this forest means losing our culture which has been preserved here for many decades,” he told Mongabay The community’s traditional elders recently set up local conservation groups for each of the five kaya forests These groups are explaining principles of forest conservation to locals and encouraging them to curb deforestation The groups have also introduced alternative livelihood projects including beekeeping and new agricultural techniques in an attempt to raise incomes we’re doing what we can to save this endangered ecosystem by doing reforestation educating locals on the importance of the forest and how we can benefit from it,” Changawa said and Shadrack Omuka contributed to this bulletin In Gabon, a community’s plea against logging paves the way for a new reserve FEEDBACK: Use this form to send a message to the author of this post The “fortress conservation” model is under pressure in East Africa as protected areas become battlegrounds over history and global efforts to halt biodiversity loss Mongabay’s Special Issue goes beyond the region’s world-renowned safaris to examine how rural communities and governments are reckoning with conservation’s colonial origins and trying to forge a path forward […] Global Sisters Report a project of National Catholic Reporter Sign up now in the central northwest region of Cameroon Holy Union Sisters say that despite challenges related to the ongoing separatist conflict most students in their schools have passed exams View Author Profile Pope Francis told the audience that it is important for all of us to pay attention to the moments of hope and joy rather than being caught up in the dramatic negatives that swirl around and among us The joy of the Gospel brings peace and hope that is always present for us to discover even though its light may be more subtle and unnoticed As Holy Union Sisters in Cameroon living in the conflict areas of our country for the past six years we experienced joy and hope as the 2022-23 school year came to a successful end We and our lay teachers lived out our faith journey and shared our mission of education standing firm in our commitment to our children while facing many challenges we are grateful that our students and teachers were protected from harm and able to go without undue harassment to three of our schools in the northwest and the east area of Cameroon near the Central African Republic The Cameroon government neglects this region Roads and other infrastructure are nearly inaccessible women are still regarded as second-class citizens Many girls are still kept out of school and instead given in marriage at the tender ages of 13 or 14 Students draw dirty water from a rain-soaked well at a school in Cameroon searching them out and doing all we can to get them to school We are proud of one of them who is the best student in La Sainte Union School in Yokadouma She scored excellent results in the Cameroon General Certificate Ordinary level final exams others also did well throughout this past year with 100% of the students in both primary and secondary schools passing exams The advanced level examinations were equally very good in all our schools Military and separatist groups were quieter in the northwest regions of our country this past year.  This enabled our St Mary Comprehensive High School students in Ndop located in the central northwest region of Cameroon and most affected by the Anglophone crisis the students achieved higher marks than in the previous year It is a good sign for us that perhaps life is coming back to normal the people of this area have lived in such constant tension and fear that Mondays are designated as "ghost days." All shops and markets are closed on these days The only cars on the road are those of the military and motor bikes of the Amba Boys called such by the local people and members of the local separatist group people move about and students go to school although caution prevents them from participating in outdoor activities People do not attend national day celebrations like youth day no one is sure that the environment will remain safe Another of our many challenges during this year at St Mary's is the increase of students to nearly 1,000 Our former school and others were destroyed or have become dilapidated from lack of maintenance making it impossible for school sessions to be held in some places we had to move to a different place that was smaller many classes were held outdoors in the open air.  A further challenge we faced here and elsewhere is the inability of students to pay fees Nearly 400 St Mary's students come from families suffering severe loss of income Parents cannot go to work as usual and cannot go to their farms to cultivate and sell vegetables and fruits The situation makes it very difficult for the school to function financially and pay the teachers who have been generous enough to teach without a salary for several months we have been fortunate that we continue to have donors from the United States that send us scholarships for a few students to help us in our education mission The donations provide school fees for some students While there may be occasional access to food students arrive at school for classes at 7:30 a.m Without access to good nutrition and due to the insecurity of these past few years during which students could not attend school at all they are falling behind in their academic achievement.  While we are trying to help this situation by offering extra classes having children stay later is not the best option Food insecurity remains a pressing issue in most areas of Cameroon Challenging transportation due to bad roads leads to very high food costs.   our teachers and all of us sisters try to live out the Gospel values and our Holy Union charism which calls us to "be at the heart of the world revealing God's love" and to "speak for the voiceless and stand with the marginalized of our society and the world " We can only hope that the war that continues to wreak havoc in our lives will soon be over and peace will come We pray for that and ask for prayers of solidarity as well then enter your email address and click "subscribe" Global Sisters Report This project will contribute to the development of pro-poor strategies for adaptation and mitigation that will improve local livelihoods and governance of socio-ecological systems in the Congo Basin Although climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies differ in many ways The objective of this project is to provide policy-makers and practitioners with the information analysis and tools they need to implement policies and projects for adaptation to climate change and reduction of carbon emissions in the forests of the Congo Basin with equitable impacts and co-benefits – including poverty reduction and protection of local livelihoods and rights The five-year project started in 2010 and covers six landscapes across different countries of the Congo Basin The project is expected to have an impact on forest and climate change policies at national and regional scales and will help mainstreaming adaptation and mitigation strategies into national development processes and the regional framework for forest policies in the Congo Basin the project will generate knowledge regarding the role of forests in climate change adaptation and the synergies between adaptation and mitigation based on ecosystem services which is a link that has not been explored to any significant extent Capacity building and communication will contribute to diffuse and share this knowledge Recommendations will contribute to poverty reduction and improving governance of socio-ecological systems at the local Get the latest updates and invitations to your inbox with SEI’s global newsletter February 21 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency reported on Friday a sharp rise this month in the number of refugees fleeing to Cameroon from Central African Republic (CAR) with almost 20,000 sheltering in the east after fleeing the violence in their homeland a total of 19,565 refugees from CAR have crossed into Cameroon to escape violence perpetrated by the former Seleka and anti-Balaka militiamen in Bangui and other towns in north-western CAR," UNHCR spokesman Dan McNorton told journalists in Geneva "The latest influx brings to 35,142 the total number of CAR refugees who have fled to Cameroon since March 2013 when the Seleka rebels came to power in CAR "Our colleagues in Garoua Boulay in eastern Cameroon witnessed the arrival on February 16 of 100 trucks carrying civilians from CAR some 3,000 people have been reported to have crossed the border into the town of Yokadouma in the south-east of Cameroon," McNorton said He added that they were coming from the Central African Republic capital Berberati and Nola in the west of their country "We started on Monday the registration of those new arrivals in Garoua Boulay and our colleagues are in Yokadouma to verify new arrivals," McNorton said The growing number of new arrivals and their need for food and other basic necessities has resulted in higher prices and shortages of goods Many of the refugees are living in appalling conditions Host communities have taken in many people but they cannot share their homes and resources with everyone rent increases are also affecting local residents "We began to move refugees from Garoua Boulay to the new site at Mborguene we are also looking at another site in Lolo 46 kilometres from the border in the eastern region which can take up to 15,000 refugees," McNorton said 7,921 third-country nationals have arrived in Cameroon from Central African Republic Mauritania and Niger and are being repatriated by their governments Cameroon was hosting 92,000 refugees from Central African Republic; the first started to arrive in 2006 to escape from rebel groups and bandits in the north of their country Working to sustain the natural world for the benefit of people and nature WWF® and ©1986 Panda Symbol are owned by WWF You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience only about 10% of the total production of artisanal gold miners enters the formal sector This share contributes only 0.26% to State budget In need to help Cameroon increase the share of artisanal gold revenues in its economy the EU launched May 28 in Yaoundé the second phase of the “Mining Health and Society Project” -ProMess- that is expected to enhance mining governance in Cameroon through collective follow-up of mining activity and promotion of governance transparency the project will improve populations’ skills in the sector and better inform them of regulations; combat fraud and corruption in the mining sector It will also help artisanal miners (women and youth included) in the process of formalizing their activity and adopting good practices ProMess II is scheduled to last 4 years; it has benefited from XAF520 million from the EU and XAF50 million from NGOs Foder and Transparency International Cameroon which are entrusted with its implementation The project covers the districts of Bétaré Oya in the East region and the districts of Meiganga in Adamaoua which covers the period from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2018 these same regions received about XAF260 million Phase I raised awareness of more than 25,000 members of the mining communities on the dangers of mining Leaders of 10 regional platforms signed Memoranda Of Understanding with the United Nations Children’s Fund in Yaounde on January 30 Наслаждайтесь азартом на любом устройстве! Скачайте мобильное приложение Vavada kz и играйте без блокировок Начните с приветственного бонуса и открывайте для себя турниры Offer your company and your employees the best information Take advantage of our preferential rates reserved for professionals Discover our digital subscription offers to find Cameroon-Tribune at home (Business in Cameroon) - The Inter-professional Cocoa and Coffee Council (CICC) organised on 28 and 29 September 2016 in Yokadouma large production area in the Eastern region of Cameroon an awareness workshop for cocoa producers on the importance and good recordkeeping of the producer book a document representing an identity card of the producer as it contains information on the producer the technical management and production volumes its phytosanitary treatments or the areas covered by the farms it is emphasised that the producer book will mainly be the key element in the documentation to be provided to financial organisations in order to obtain funding guaranteed by the Fund set up for this purpose by CICC “Raising awareness within the producer population on the necessity of good recordkeeping with regards to their book is a crucial step in the operationalisation of our Guarantee Fund in addition to ascertaining the eligibility of a producer to access funding will first and foremost determine the level of credit to be granted to a particular producer” explains a senior official in the cocoa and coffee regulatory authority in order to reduce the difficulties in accessing funds experienced by cocoa and coffee producers in Cameroon to share the risk with the financial institutions who would grant said loans Provisioned with FCfa 100 million every year whose operationalisation CICC is presently finalising the artisanal alluvial diamond is around five million carats per year but the actual amount of diamond conglomerate is yet to be figured out The Korean company C and K Mining stated that Cameroon had the largest diamond reserves in the world (736 million carats) These figures have created a controversy as the claims of C and K Mining were not based on solid research Cameroonian authorities have no exact figures of the country’s real diamond potential there is talk of a potential of 5 million carats of alluvial diamonds and diamond conglomerate This is why the country has initiated studies to determine its real potential east of the country where an exploitation license has been granted to C and K Mining a joint venture of a South Korean company and the Cameroonian Government said “our pool lies between the Central African Republic and the Republic of Congo The presence of alluvial diamonds in this area is an indication of the existence of a large stock Pending the outcome of research in the block indicated there is no doubt about the existence of an exploitable amount I want to reassure the people of Cameroon on the existence of the diamond and of its quality too.” For more precision Jean Kisito Mvogo permanent national secretary of the Kimberley Process states that “BRGM (Office of Geological and Mining Resources) experts have conducted updating studies that bring to 41 areas where artisanal exploitation of diamond takes place The study suggests an estimate between 3 and 5 million carats of alluvial diamond But we have no knowledge of the conglomerate potential.” Jean Kizito added that it is likely to find diamonds in several other regions of the country where studies have not been carried out yet 17 Diamond ZonesAccording to Cadre d’appui et de promotion de l'artisanat minier (CAPAM) a structure that supports and promotes artisanal mining diamond deposits were identified in 17 zones so far in Cameroon: 9 zones within the large gold stretch that integrates west of the Central African Republic southern Chad and Cameroon (parts of the East Far North and including 7 in the boroughs of Kette The last target is over 15 km in the district of Touboro in the district of Poli (North Region) and the Mamfe Basin (Southwest Region) some clues of the presence of diamond have been uncovered All these areas could be explored by potential investors MarketingCameroon has already set the terms of diamond marketing The Minister in charge of Mines in June 2012 signed an order to that effect transit and marketing of rough diamonds are subject to prior authorization from the Ministry of Mines import and use of rough diamonds is only permitted with the countries that are members of the process (Kimberly Process) and in accordance with the principles and recommendations of the Process.” “Once the diamond is evaluated by experts from the Permanent National Secretariat of the Kimberly Process the product is then placed in batches in a tamper-resistant container bearing the seal of the Secretariat any holder of a marketing authorization of rough diamonds must keep a receipt book stating his name with reference to the card collector or craftsman everything is in place to allow the export of diamonds the country is a member of the Kimberley Process through a letter to the Minister in charge of Mines announcing the country’s admission to the Process It also sent a letter to the 77 members of this Process: “I am pleased to announce that the Republic of Cameroon is now officially a member of the Kimberley Process […] we encourage all members of KP to offer Cameroon technical assistance if need be,” read the letter from Gillian A