mengamé-description : Protected Areas in the Congo Basin: Failing both people and biodiversity?

Country: Cameroon

Type and IUCN Category: Wildlife Sanctuary, IUCN category IV.

Size (ha): 26,000

Date of creation: 2005

CARPE landscape: Dja-Odzala-Minkebe (Tridom)

Management plan: A management plan was reportedly under preparation in 2010, but currently no plan is publicly available.

Local communities: An estimated 10,000 inhabitants (35 villages) live in and around the nature “complex” formed by the Mengame Gorilla Sanctuary and the neighbouring Kom National Park (Boutiom Boukong; 2010: 15). These local communities are mostly Bantu (Boulou, Fang) but there is also a small Baka population.

Administration: The park is managed by the Ministere des Forets et de la Faune (MINFOF).

Biodiversity information: The sanctuary harbours a rich diversity of flora and 36 species of large mammals, including gorillas, chimpanzees and elephants. Mandrills, mangabeys, buffalos and sitatungas can also be found in the sanctuary, as well as 193 bird species and 23 fish species (TRIDOM website).

Neighbouring and overlapping extractive industries (MappingForRights):

One logging concession borders the reserve: concession 09-019, managed by logging company Cameroon United Forests (CUF) since 2000.

Information available on funding:

(Please note that some of these grants may be covering several protected areas or landscapes.)

Competitive Chains Value Project
Funder: World Bank
Objective: Carry out a certain number of investments around the Mengame Gorilla Sanctuary and Kom National Park, including the electrification of six villages, the construction of a crossing ferry on the river Kom and the building and rehabilitation of touristic infrastructures.
Grant manager: Cameroon government
Project area: Mengame Gorilla Sanctuary and Kom National Park
Funds: A 2010 report estimates a sum of $178,000 (FCFA 110,000,000) (Boutiom Boukong; 2010: 15).

TRIDOM Project (2007-2014)
Funders: Global Environment Facility (GEF), Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP), United Nations Foundation (UNF), European Union Central African Forestry Ecosystems Programme (ECOFAC), Jane Goodall Institute (JGI), Conservation International (CI)
Objective: Conservation of Transboundary Biodiversity in the Minkébé-Odzala-Dja Inter-zone in Gabon, Congo, and Cameroon
Project area: Cameroon, Republic of Congo, Gabon
Funds: $44,473,600 in total, including $10,117,500 from GEF and $34,356,100 from other donors. Amount dedicated to Mengamé unknown.