Dr. Zacharie Tchoundjeu presented the award to MINRESI in Yaounde on Wednesday.

The agroforest conservationist, Dr. Zacharie Tchoundjeu was on Thursday July, 14 2012 honoured by the National Geographic Society in Washington D.C. with an award as a leader in forest conservation in Africa. He was given the award alongside Isabel Ruiz Corzo of Mexico chosen from countries in Latin America for creating a grassroots environmental movement. The award acknowledges the outstanding work and lifetime contributions of Dr. Zacharie Tchoundjeu in furthering the understanding and practice of conservation in Cameroon.

He was chosen based on his invaluable contributions towards the conservation of biodiversity in the Congo basin, the development of sustainable agricultural techniques for small-scale farmers and the training of a new generation of African scientists and environmentalists. The laureate who is the Regional Director of the World Agroforestry Centre based in Yaounde, equally leads international teams in 21 West and Central African countries focused on agroforestry, conservation and domestication of high quality indigenous fruit trees and medicinal plants to improve the economic potentials of small-scale farmers.

The prize, according to Dr. Tchoundjeu, crowns 30 years of hard work for the protection and management of ecosystems. “It makes me understand that I have not spent 30 years in vain”, he said. In the forest, it is difficult to convince a farmer to plant trees but with participatory domestication, we have changed the attitudes of farmers who now plant indigenous trees like African plum, “njangsang”, bush mango, with some farmers earning from FCFA 200,000 to FCFA 16 million from the sales of plants and fruits yearly.

The Minister of Scientific Research and Innovation, Madeleine Tchuinte congratulated the laureate for lifting Cameroon image and said he should be a source of inspiration to the youths.