CEPF Projects Uplift 159 Communities In West Africa Guinean Forest 

By Eric Ojo

No fewer than 159 communities across the Guinean Forests of West Africa (GFWA), have benefitted from several conservation projects implemented by Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in the region with support from Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) and its partners in the last six years. 

The GFWA hotspot stretches across 621,705 km2 from the southern part of West Africa to Central Africa north of the Congo basin. It spreads from Guinea and Sierra Leone to the Sanaga River in Cameroon, and encompasses the countries of Liberia, Côte Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria, and the 4 islands of the Gulf of Guinea: Bioko and Annobon (Equatorial Guinea), and the independent nation of São Tomé and Príncipe.

The CEPF’s investment in the Guinean Forest hotspot aimed to provide civil society organizations at grassroots, national, and international levels with the tools, capacity, and resources to establish and sustain multi-stakeholder partnerships that demonstrate models for sustainable, pro-poor growth and achieve priority conservation outcomes.

Since 2016, the CEPF entrusted BirdLife International to coordinate the CEPF investment in the hotspot and far-reaching impacts that have been made were showcased at the just concluded Final Assessment Workshop on the outcomes of projects, which was held in Accra, Ghana.

The 4-day workshop also provided the opportunity to chart the Long-Term Vision for the hotspot, strengthening conservation knowledge and establishing a network of CSOs and Journalists for effective engagement and communication, while improving on the approach, principle and processes of grant making between grant makers and CSOs.

Head of West Africa Sub-region Office of BirdLife International, Jean-Baptiste Deffontaines said through the CEPF’s intervention, more than 1200 freshwater species and 300 plant species were positively impacted, and 38 globally threatened species populations stabilized or increased over the last six years.

Deffontaine added that 41 key Biodiversity Areas (KBA) benefited from local conservation action, while 73 local and indigenous communities were trained to advocate for land tenure and forestry reforms, adding that by increasingly highlighting the importance of biodiversity by influencing at least 12 policies and 5 private businesses’ practices to safeguard the environment.

According to him, in the Ebo and Ndogbong communities of Cameroon for instance, training and support were provided by Community Assistance In Development (COMAID) for “40 community members from 2 beneficiary communities on beekeeping and processing of hive products” as well as the training and support of 20 women from 2 beneficiary communities on sustainable Eru harvesting and processing” and the training and support of 32 community members in bush mango collection, processing, and conservation.

“Similarly, in the Ahanta West Municipal Assembly of Ghana, Hen Mpoano along with other CSOs, produced some desired results within the Cape Three points Key Biodiversity Area (KBA). The CEPF commends that “poaching within the Cape Three Points forest was reduced by 19.4 percent from October 2021 to February 2022. Illegal logging also declined by 32.37 percent due to enhanced protection of the KBA through the project interventions”, he said.

He also noted that with the threat of deforestation rife across the GFWA, the CEPF invested $10 million, from 2016 till present, across the region with the aim of protecting and preserving the hotspot, adding that other specific threats include agriculture expansion, unsustainable logging and fishing, hunting of endemic species, mining and pollution.

“The investments made an impact through CSO-led conservation projects and campaigns across some communities within the GFWA region. The major goals were to ensure that local CSOs could help train locals, women and youth groups, to protect and conserve the sites they live in and around; to build up information and research on conservation and resource protection and to drive nature conservation into effective government policies and business strategies”, he further explained. 

According to him, in the Ebo and Ndogbong communities of Cameroon for instance, training and support were provided by Community Assistance In Development (COMAID) for “40 community members from 2 beneficiary communities on beekeeping and processing of hive products” as well as the training and support of 20 women from 2 beneficiary communities on sustainable Eru harvesting and processing” and the training and support of 32 community members in bush mango collection, processing, and conservation.

“Similarly, in the Ahanta West Municipal Assembly of Ghana, Hen Mpoano along with other CSOs, produced some desired results within the Cape Three points Key Biodiversity Area (KBA). The CEPF commends that “poaching within the Cape Three Points forest was reduced by 19.4 percent from October 2021 to February 2022. Illegal logging also declined by 32.37 percent due to enhanced protection of the KBA through the project interventions”, he further explained.

Sao Tomé Giant Land Snail Project Manager, Martina Panisi said: “Thanks to the support from BirdLife and CEPF we could collect the first data on the ecology and reproduction of the threatened Obô Giant Snail in São Tomé and Príncipe through the construction of an ex-situ facility, and we were able to produce a participatory species action plan for its conservation.

“We had the opportunity to collect for the first-time information on dozens of snails and slugs that only exist in São Tomé and Príncipe, and to use a less typically charismatic species – a mollusc – to engage people for the protection of the unique biodiversity of the islands. Definitively CEPF and BirdLife allowed the first collective and critical steps for the conservation of this diverse and unique group, an adventure to be continued!”, she stressed,

Moving forward, the CEPF aims to design new and sustainable ways, to push even more for the protection and the conservation of natural habitats, ecosystems and the environment at large. The Final Assessment Workshop is a timely means of working together to achieve impactful solutions for future generations.