The mangrove ecosystems of the Douala-Edéa National Park provide a wide range of services to local populations.
This project aims to strengthen biodiversity conservation and reduce the degradation of mangrove ecosystems while ensuring the sustainability of local communities' livelihoods around the mangrove areas of the Douala-Edéa National Park.
Covering an area of 262,935 hectares, the Douala-Edéa National Park has several vegetation facies including mangroves, periodically flooded swamp forests and terra firma forests. The park has excellent natural forest and wildlife resources. The mangrove ecosystems and associated forests, which provide a wide range of services to local coastal populations, have been traditionally exploited for several years. Over time, however, the population growth near natural environments has led to deterioration in the traditional ecosystem management principles.
To help solve this problem, the Cameroonian association Appui aux Initiatives de Développement (AIDE) is taking action in four key areas through this project: awareness raising and environmental education; strengthening the capacity of community organisations; revitalising degraded mangrove areas; and setting up pilot activities to promote the local community economy with a low impact on mangrove ecosystems.
