Capitalizing on a lull in the armed conflict in the Ako Municipality CIRMAD organized a stakeholder meeting in Ako town on the 16th January 2020  for the mobilization of local stakeholders for chimpanzee conservation in Ako-Mbembe Forest Reserve; and the evaluation of CIRMAD’s 2018 Beekeeping project of community empowerment, a community conservation initiative.

The Ako-Mbembe Forest Reserve is recognized as “Important Priority Site” for the conservation of the Endangered Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee in the Bamenda Highlands of Cameroon.

During the meeting the the beneficiaries of the training formally received their signed/officiated certificates. CIRMAD’s advocacy T-shirts and posters on the chimp habitat site were also distributed.

The field project evaluation was part of a local stakeholders meeting in which had the participation of traditional rulers, religious authorities, municipal councilors, union/CIG leaders, hunters, farmers and especially beneficiaries of our 2018 beekeeping training and empowerment.

Surprisingly, in spite of the  armed conflict that had heightened in the municipality for about a year, over a dozen of the 27 beneficiaries of the training had put hands on deck and not only produced tens of litres of honey and sold for tens of thousands, but also produced subsidiary products like bee bread, beeswax, etc.

Another major outcome of the meeting was the local stakeholders joining their voices (signatures) to the ongoing advocacy of CIRMAD against the government’s planned creation of  a timber concession (FMU 11-010) across the 86 years old Ako-Mbembe Forest Reserve.

Of special note at the meeting was the commendable but crisis-hindered 2019 planned activities of the Ako Municipal Council to work towards making the Reserve a “Wildlife Park”!

Ako-Mbembe Forest Reserve stakeholder meeting resolutions