Cameroon joins AEWA as the 83rd party

• Date de Publication : 2022-10-11

The Republic of Cameroon is now part of the African Eurasian Water bird Agreement, AEWA as the 83rd party. This was on October 1, 2022 in Budapest, Hungary during the 8th session of the Meeting of the Parties to AEWA (MOP8). Representing Cameroon during the session was the Minister of Forestry and Wildlife, H.E. Jules DORET NDONGO, who recounted the country’s rich wetlands prowess which gave room for her admission into AEWA. He said “Cameroon's accession to AEWA offers a great opportunity to advance the conservation, sustainable use and management of migratory water birds and their habitats along the East Atlantic, Black Sea/Mediterranean and East African/West Asian flyways. The country provides many critical sites such as the Logone Flood-plain, Lake Chad, Waza National Park and Bamenjin Reservoir, Sanaga River and the coastal border with Nigeria, for breeding and wintering of some 106 species of migratory waterbirds covered under the AEWA, including the Vulnerable Black Crowned Crane, Garganey or Cattle Egret. AEWA will provide a valuable platform for collaborative and coordinated action with other countries across these flyways, while ensuring better consideration for the biological, socio-economic and cultural value of these water birds and wetlands by various stakeholders, including the local communities which depend on these wetlands for their livelihood.”

Cameroon equally records a vast network of protected areas made up of 22 National Parks, 5 Wildlife Reserves, 5 Wildlife Sanctuary, 3 Zoological Gardens and 1 Botanical Garden covering a total area of more than 4 million hectares representative of all the country's ecosystems ranging from marine and coastal areas to dry savannah through dense tropical forest and humid savannah. With particular regard to the situation of migratory water birds, Cameroon also has 64 permanent and annual monitoring sites for these birds throughout the national territory. These sites are home to more than 70 species, 30% of which migrate between Africa, Europe and Asia and 70% within the African continent.