Forest, Wildlife conservation:

Stakeholders condemn indiscriminate poaching at Korup Park

By Boris Esono in Buea

Actors involve in the running and management of the Korup National Park say the rate of illegal activities such as poaching, agricultural encroachment, oil companies acting inside the protected areas are leading to the depletion of some protected flora and fauna species.

                This message was made known, Tuesday June 6, 2017 during the regional validation meeting for the revised management and business plans of the Korup National Park which is at its 3rd session. The first management session ran from 2002 to 2007, with the second from 2009 to 2013 depicting a life span of five (5) years.

                To Fotendong Ferdinand, a conservator, illegal activities are hampering the development of the National Park couple with the bad roads that surrounds the area. “If the road could be rehabilitated or upgraded, tourism will boom in the area which will go a long way to bring more money in the state’s couffers”. Fotendong went further to say that “despite some of these challenges witnessed so far, some achievements have been recoreded with some defaulters arrested, seizure and auctioning of their products”. “If we do not stop the rate of illegal activities taken place within the national park, some protected flora and fauna in some years to come will be extinct” He added

                To the Deputy Mayor of the Buea Council, Emmanuel MotombyMbome, Korup national park is the oldest in the SWR, richest and diverse, hence its importance to the region. “This meeting is very essential as it enables us to look at various ways in which the park can be improved and maintained”.

                Meanwhile, to the representative of the Governor, the importance of the Korup national park cannot be underestimated. “It is very important as it habours rich resources”. He went further to assure the various stakeholders especially conservators of governments unwiting support to facilitate their work in terms of providing material support.

                On his part, the Director of Wildlife and Protected Areas at the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, Lekealem Joseph says “the managemet plan is very essentail as it maps out what is going to be carried out in the Korup national park for a period of 5 years. Without the document, it will be difficult for us to attain set objectives for the park”.

                Speaking to this reporter after the event, the chief of Ekon I IN Mundemba sub-division, chiefIyang Zachary opines that “we cannot say that there is any cash benefits we get from the forest but we can go there to get our medicinal products. I expect that the deliberation will lead to the rehabilitation of my village since as the village is inside the Korup national park, which will ease the transportation of agricultural produce to the market”.

                During the event, it was made known that a proposed change of the mame from the Korup National Park to Korup Rainforest Biosphere Reserve is in the pipeline with a further cahnge of the name to come in the future to include the forest in the Nigerian side of the border.

Created in 1986 by a presidential decree No 86/1283 of 1986, the Korup National park habours a variety of different flora and fauna species such as: 9000 plant species of which 217 to 305 are endangered, 920 bird species of which 7 to 8 are endangered, 320 mammal species with 160 endangered, 297 reptile species and 613 fish species, representing 20.2% of the national territory covered by plants.