Some kids and youth in the Mount Cameroon Area operating under the banner of Eco-warriors have donated threatened tree species to adjacent communities to the Mount Cameroon National Park. Eco-warriors is a network of kids and youth for species conservation and environmental sustainability, which Voice of Nature (VoNat) created recently as part of a programme to put community kids and youth in the Mount Cameroon Area on the frontline of species conservation and environmental sustainability, funded by New England Biolabs Foundation.
The threatened tree species including mahogany (Moringa oleifera) and prunus (Prunus Africana) were donated and planted on May 22, 2024, as part of activities to mark the International Day for Biological Diversity, celebrated under the theme: “Be part of the Plan”. The donation and planting of these tree species aims to promote threatened trees domestication and to limit the depletion of these species in the Mount Cameroon National Park.
Over 50 threatened tree species were donated to some 10 households as one of the five micro-projects of the Eco-warriors. This generated a lot of interest amongst community members, with many households indicating interest in the domestication of these threatened trees which are highly harvested for furniture and traditional medicine.
“I am very happy that you gave us these trees to plant. They are of great value to us but are only available in the forest. Even if I am not still alive when the trees get matured, my children will grow up to use them without having to go to the forest,” Matthew Dede, a Bokova resident said shortly after receiving and planting the trees.
With the new-found interest in threatened trees domestication amongst communities in the Mount Cameroon Area, VoNat is seeking more resources to accompany Eco-warriors in upscaling and expanding the threatened trees domestication micro project.