Stakeholders of the World Heritage property "Dja Faunal Reserve", (DFR) met in Yaoundé (Cameroon) from 24 to 25 September 2014 to evaluate the current situation of threats to the property and to discuss mitigation measures to be taken in response to requests of the World Heritage Committee. They also discussed and agreed upon the framework to be set up to strengthen the coherence and synergy of their actions around the property.
Organized within the framework of the project of sustainable preservation of the DFR, this workshop allowed the stakeholders to validate two important studies carried out at the request of the World Heritage Committee: the Terms of Reference for a Strategic Social Environmental Evaluation of development projects around the RFD, and the Operational methods of Implementation of a framework for Stakeholders.
Financed by the Fondation Franz Weber for a duration of 5 years (2013-2017), the sustainable preservation project of the DFR was created to support the efforts of the Cameroonian Government to conserve the biodiversity of the DFR essential to its Outstanding Universal Value. To that end, it implements activities to limit the impact of development projects.
The thirty participants included representatives of ministries in charge of the fauna and forests, environment; mines and culture, operators of development projects, persons in charge of the management of the property, the representative of the local communities and local authorities.
The Dja Faunal Reserve is a vast rainforest of Africa, inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1987. For the past few years it has suffered from several issues such as increased poaching, the negative impact of mining activities, chaotic forestry development, and the advance of the agro industrial and hydroelectric industries. Besides, its administrative situation, divided among two regions, raises numerous organizational problems resulting in weak coordination among stakeholders (state and local authorities, the private sector and civil organizations).
