More than 100,000 trees were planted in 2010 in a bid to check the consequences of increasing deforestation.
In a bid to check the growing threat to human and animal life, and the environment as a result of deforestation, government in 2010 financed the planting of more than 106,000 trees across the country by local councils and the civil society. Making the disclosure last Thursday November 17 in Yaounde at the beginning of a two-day international workshop on supporting and assisting local councils and communities in their forest plantation activities, an official of the National Reforestation Programme in the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, MINFOF, Nkouandou Isiaka, said the programme in the last five years disbursed about FCFA 1.2 billion to local councils, the civil society and traditional rulers to promote the setting up of forest plantations as part of the devolution of powers to local governments.
He promised that regions will soon create tree nurseries to boost reforestation efforts in their areas. Nkouandou Isiaka explained that MINFOF’s tree planting support in the country has also included the setting up of successive reforestation structures, the carrying out of reforms in the sector and promoting the creation of public and private forest plantations. According to Bodelaire Kemajou, Director of the Centre Technique de la Foret Communale, CTFC, that organised the workshop, the challenges of reforestation in the country are enormous.
They include assisting local councils in preparing their budgets and planning activities, training of council staff and offering technical backstopping after devolving resources to them. Others are raising money for reforestation activities that usually cost much, land tenure matters for the creation of forest plantations, gazetting and mapping forests and supporting councils to meet the objectives of the National Reforestation Programme. Results of the workshop will be presented to a gathering of mayors later.
Cameroon has a forest cover of 22 million hectares. Unfortunately, these forests are under serious threat of extinction from farming, logging, urbanisation and the activities of fuel wood traders and users.
