The governments of Cameroon and Nigeria are joining forces to save the remaining 300 gorillas in transboundary Cross River National Park. To improve cooperation government representatives met in September in Akamkpa, Nigeria at the head office of Cross River National Park. The meeting was supported by the Wildlife Conservation Society, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF). The partners aim at reducing bushmeat trade and illegal logging, improving field monitoring and law enforcement within the parks, and last but not least increasing community participation.

 

Such transboundary conservation efforts may not only have implications for the survival of the endangered species but for the overall livelihood and political context. As the recently published study “Gorillas in the Midst” by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) points out: these activities can also create or trigger social and political tensions. As the example of the Virunga-Bwindi region between DRC, Rwanda and Uganda indicates, conflicts, at least local-level, can occur as a result of conservation activities — e.g. through restriction of access to livelihood resources, new costs of conservation or unequal benefit sharing.



The International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP), however, shows that conservation efforts can also contribute to peacebuilding through improved communication and dialogue among different authorities. The activities in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (BINP), located in southwest Uganda, demonstrate the potential in this regard. Lengthy and carefully thought out consultation with the community is among the success factors that provide the overall process ownership needed to provide both conservation and peace. (Dennis Taenzler)



For more information about the Cross River National Park, please see here



For the IISD report, please see here

Published in: ECC-Newsletter, October 2008