Project/activity information

Since the Summit of Heads of State of Yaounde in 1999, countries have been committed to, among other things, accelerate the process of creation of transboundary protected areas between Central African countries and invite neighbour countries to join in this process while strengthening the sustainable management of existing protected areas.
This commitment materialised with the creation of two TNS transboundary conservation areas (between Congo, Cameroon and CAR) and the TRIDOM conservation area (between Gabon, Congo and Cameroon). ITTO interest for this area has been growing, which has shown through the approval by ITTO of an early project in Cameroon in 2001 for the protection of Mengame Gorilla Sanctuary. As Gabon became motivated by this expression of ITTO interest, the Government of Gabon submitted a similar project proposal to ITTO for the adjacent area of Minkébé. This proposal was discussed during the 23rd session of ITTC and a number of recommendations were made to improve the project proposal. Unfortunately, the country has suffered from a lack of support to finalize the proposal. Seven years later, it is necessary to re-engage stakeholders in the process of updating the data and especially review the project proposal on the basis of expert recommendations issued by the ITTO. The need is even greater now that Cameroon has made sufficient progress in its own project while plans and initiatives carried out in Cameroon could be compromised by the absence of similar initiatives in Gabon.