Diy-Gid-Biy Cultural Landscape: Far North thanks Biya for UNESCO Heritage certification.

The appreciation was made public through speeches at the Maroua ceremonial ground Monday. This was during a heavily attended ceremony which the Minister of Arts and Culture, Bidoung Mkpatt, chaired on behalf of the Head of State, Paul Biya. The event marked the official presentation of the UNESCO certification to the people. 

Other dignitaries at the event were; the Speaker of the National Assembly, Rt Hon Cavaye Yeguie Djibril; Cameroon’s Ambassador to France, H.E André Magnus Ekoumou, who is also the country’s Permanent Delegate to UNESCO; and the Governor of the Far North Region, Midjiyawa Bakary. Also in attendance were members of the diplomatic corps, traditional, religious and local authorities. 

Ambassador Ekoumou formally presented the certificate to His Majesty Boukar Medjeweh, the Lamido and Mayor of the Mayo-Moskota Council. The Lamido represented the communities of Koza and Mayo-Moskota.

Lamido Bouka expressed profound gratitude to the Head of State for his role in achieving the inscription. He further said Biya is the choice of the Far North Region for the October poll.

“On behalf of all the communities of Mayo-Tsanaga Division and the Far North Region as a whole, I hereby declare Paul Biya as our sole candidate for the upcoming presidential election and promise one hundred percent victory,” Lamido Bouka said. 

Minister extols Biya’s hard work

Addressing guests and the population, Minister Bidoung Mkpatt expressed gratitude to Biya and others who worked to ensure the certification. The minister also praised “…the population of the Far North Region for their collaboration, which has earned Cameroon its first cultural landscape on UNESCO’s World Heritage List”.

 The member of government declared that “Diy-Gid-Biy will undoubtedly provide Cameroon with significant international exposure in terms of tourism”.

The cultural landscape, he further noted, “…represents a pillar of our national heritage and now, a treasure of world heritage”. He added that: “It is a testimony to our ancestral traditions”.

He furthered that the certification “…opens new perspectives for the protection of our national cultural heritage”, hinting that “…more inscriptions from other cultural areas of Cameroon are underway”.

Ekoumou on his part said the certification means: “Diy-Gid-Biy must be preserved and should never be modified without prior validation from UNESCO”. The diplomat commended the concerned communities’ conservation efforts.

Qualities to earn certification 

The Secretary General of the National UNESCO Commission, Dr Abdoul Aziz Yaouba, explained that “UNESCO’s World Heritage Convention requires sites to demonstrate outstanding universal value”.

He explained that: “…Diy-Gid-Biy met this criterion through four pillars: its architectural setting, material remains, terraced agriculture, and associated oral traditions”.

Dr Aziz said the structures, whose builders remain unknown, “constitute the earliest confirmed evidence of human settlement in the Region”.

He explained that the cultural landscape is made up of traditional farming systems and cultural practices, alongside sixteen dry-stone archaeological ruins built without mortar. 

Officials said archaeological research confirms occupation by an ancient civilization between the 12th and 17th centuries AD. 

The complex features dry-stone stairways, passageways, silos, platforms, terraces, and dwellings spanning the Mandara range, researchers have said, remain inspiring. 

Integrated into the Mafa community’s environment, the ruins, officials explained, form part of a living cultural landscape where local populations continue to practice traditional rites. 

Location of Diy-Gid-Biy

In a presentation, Dr. Jean Marie Datouang, one of the archaeologists who worked on the project, indicated that “Diy-Gid-Biy covers seven villages, including Kuva, Bigide, Moutchikar, Oupay, Nduval, Mondossa, and Mudukwa, located in the Koza and Mayo-Moskota subdivisions.”

He detailed that: “The core site covers 2,500 hectares, surrounded by a 2,372.3-hectare buffer zone averaging one kilometre in width. This area encompasses all sixteen ruins, agricultural terraces, and adjacent homesteads whose residents interact with the site holistically”.

He further explained that “historically, this mountainous area served as a refuge for populations during successive regional conflicts. The villages feature distinct settlement patterns, with indigenous Mafa communities inhabiting the highlands, while the plains host diverse groups from across the region”.

The event, rich in cultural and artistic displays from the Far North Region, was also an opportunity to award medals of honour to key actors who contributed to the project’s success.

Diy-Gid-Biy cultural landscape enlistment on UNESCO's prestigious World Heritage List was granted during the 47th Session of the World Heritage Committee in Paris on July 11, 2025.

By Albert Njebusi, Journalism student on internship

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3552 of Tuesday September 02, 2025