Christopher Jator Njechu
17 February 2008
A senior official of the World Wide Fund for Nature, WWF, has pinpointed the Cameroon Government as a primary perpetrator in the destruction of natural ecosystems, which has brought about a change in the climate of the country.
Dr. Martin Tchamba, Technical Director of WWF in Cameroon, made this statement on the occasion of the World Wetlands Day celebrated in Yaounde, January 4.
He said the country still has to develop a vision as well as strategic plans in the management of wetlands, which are necessary for ecological, sociological, cultural and economic importance in the country.
He decried the destruction of wetland sites in the execution of public projects such as dams, road networks and mines by the Ministries of Public Works, Water and Energy Resources and the Ministry of Mines, Industries and Technological Development.
According to him, this has shown government's deliberate intention to rid the territory of its natural beauty, thereby courting the dangers of climate change. Dr. Tchamba alluded to the construction of dams in the Lom-Pangar, Songloulou/Edea hydro-electric power project, the Memve'ele electric project,
and the gas plant in Kribi as few among many projects carried out by the government without a proper environmental impact assessment. Ecologically, wetlands constitute natural habitats for wildlife of diverse sizes and thus should not be destroyed under any circumstances whatsoever.
He said the entire human planet depends on wetland for life. "It is good that we need to construct dams, we need electricity, we need to generate power, but these seem not to be done in the context of good environmental impact assessment to ensure that there is no water wastage."
Despite their importance to life, it is estimated that climate change is degrading wetlands at an annual 10 percent which could be a serious trend to reverse.It was revealed that some 35 million people fish in wetlands generating some 50 billion dollars each year. In the plains of Waza Logone at least 7,000 people depend on rice farming and fishing only.
Apart from these, wetlands constitute a sizeable portion of ecotourism providing income both to the local population and government. This area is the first RAMSAR site of Cameroon and it is an area where you find the largest elephant population and wildlife for Central and West Africa.
It is also an area where Cameroon has the highest touristic potential and it generates close to FCFA 50 million for the people around the park. The waza Logone flood plain is the major habitat for cattle given that, more than one million herds of cattle visit the area for grazing annually.
However, it was also highlighted that when wetlands are not properly managed they can be an important source of problems to public health causing, for instance, malaria, cholera, river blindness etc.
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