A core focus of the UNEP-led Congo Basin Sustainable Landscapes Program is to advance cooperation between countries in the Congo Basin to enable and strengthen mechanisms for the effective management of transboundary landscapes. It was within this framework that a binational technical workshop between the Republic of Cameroon and the Republic of Equatorial Guinea took place in Kribi (Cameroon) from 2-4 October 2024. The workshop was organized and led by COMIFAC and jointly organized by UNEP representing the GEF-7 Congo Basin Regional Coordination Project, WWF representing the Cameroon national GEF-7 Project, and IUCN representing the Equatorial Guinea national GEF-7 project.
Ma'an/Rio Campo transboundary landscape is home to gorillas, elephants and over 80 other species. But poaching and illegal wildlife trade as well as economic activities including logging and small scale farming threaten the biodiversity of this area.
Forty-two participants, including government officials alongside UNEP, WWF and IUCN representatives, came together to re-initiate the transboundary cooperative dialogue begun in 2014 between Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea. The Dialogue between the two countries is supporting the management of the Campo-Ma’an (Cameroon) and Rio-Campo (Equatoria Guinea) landscape. After being officially opened by Kribi’s Senior Divisional Office, participants reflected on- and updated the initial draft agreement that was submitted ten years ago.
The updated version of the agreement that emerged from the workshop for endorsement by the Governments of the two countries includes:
- Consideration of new developments and opportunities, including the creation of two marine protected areas in the two countries that are connected to the landscape:
- Considerations leading to including an integrated landscape approach for the planning and management of the transboundary area in the agreement;
- The decision of the Equatorial Guinea government to transform the Rio Campo Forest Reserve in Equatorial Guinea to a National Park;
- A roadmap outlining next steps for completion of the revised draft and its adoption and signing by the two countries.It was agreed that this roadmap could lead to the signing and enacting of the agreement in September 2025.
“This Agreement will help the two protected areas to protect biodiversity and to help the communities who are living around this park” noted Mr. Nouhou Bello, the Senior Divisional Officer of the Ocean Division in Cameroon.
