Buea: SW sustainable natural resources management project celebrates 20.

The second Steering Committee meeting for Phase VI of the programme was held in Buea on Friday July 17, 2026. It was chaired by Joseph Lekealem, Inspector N°1 at the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, who represented Minister Jules Doret Ndongo.

Co-funded by the Government of Cameroon and the Federal Republic of Germany through German investment bank, KfW, PSMNR-SWR was created some 20 years ago and has become one of Cameroon’s flagship models for biodiversity conservation and community development. 

The Steering Committee's mandate is to orientate programme activities, ensure audits are conducted, approve workplans and budgets, and evaluate performance for effective implementation of conservation and sustainable development activities in the South West Region.

In his opening address, Lekealem described the programme as a model of successful international cooperation that has demonstrated that conservation, sustainable development, and human well-being can advance together through strong partnerships.

Giving an overview of achievements, the Inspector noted that the programme has strengthened the management of the Mount Cameroon National Park, Bakossi National Park, and Banyang-Mbo Wildlife Sanctuary, and extended activities to the proposed Rumpi Hills National Park and the Takamanda and Ebo Wildlife Sanctuaries.

He added that a major focus over the years has been community involvement and building trust with local populations, stressing that it is impossible to sustainably manage natural resources, particularly in protected areas, without the full support and involvement of local communities.

With KfW support, the programme has been financed to the tune of about 52 million Euros, equivalent to about 33.8 billion CFA francs of conservation initiatives in the region. 

The physical rate of execution for the current phase currently stands at 67.86 percent. During the meeting, the Committee reviewed and adopted the 2025 performance and financial reports, which were judged satisfactory.

It also adopted the 2026 annual work plan and budget and authorized the Programme Coordinator to contractualize a new conservation partner in replacement of the Wildlife Conservation Society, WCS, that can no longer intervene in the Takamanda-Mone landscape.

Discussions and resolutions during the meeting were aimed at orienting the programme’s activities for the coming year and for the next phase of the programme. 

They include the redeployment of Eco-guards in Protected Areas across the Region, MINEPAT to facilitate mobilization of funds for steering committee meetings and MINFOF central administration follow-up missions, integration of forest entities and corridors into the ongoing Regional Territorial and Sustainable Management Plan, including biosphere reserve zoning and the need for MINFOF to liaise with MINAT, MINREX and MINDEF to address broader transboundary issues along the South West border with Nigeria.

During the meeting, the Regional Delegate for MINFOF South West was asked to liaise with MINFI to speed up the retrocession of vehicles from previous PSMNR phases to the ministry.

The delegation was also tasked to ensure the production of a video documentary to showcase the 20 years of achievement of the programme, facilitate implementation of the Cooperation Framework Agreement on transboundary ecosystems conservation signed with Nigeria, exploit aspects of the MINFOF/MINDEF MoU to facilitate joint conservation law enforcement activities in and around Protected Areas and to hold the 2027 Steering Committee meeting before the end of March 2027.

While commending the coordination team for results despite the challenging situation on the field, the Minister's representative noted that Phase six implementation has faced security constraints, climate change, illegal exploitation, and increasing human pressure on protected areas.

He said particular attention must continue to be given to community participation, biodiversity conservation, sustainable financing of protected areas, gender inclusion, youth empowerment and strengthened transboundary cooperation between Cameroon and neighboring Nigeria.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3853 of Monday July 20, 2026