AAFEBEN RAISES AWARENESS AMONG BAKA-BANTU COMMUNITIES OF THEIR RIGHTS AND DUTIES

In May 2025, AAFEBEN teams carried out an awareness-raising mission with the support of the forest post chiefs and the SASOs of the communes of Lomié, Mintom and Ngoyla.

Written on Tuesday, June 3, 2025

With a view to building the capacity of groups within the framework of the GEF 7 project, a mission was carried out with the support of MINAS and MINFOF to raise awareness among the project's beneficiary communities of their rights and duties, in order to clarify the regulatory framework for NTFP activities and to reiterate the importance of social inclusion and respect for human rights. The awareness-raising also aimed to bring communities closer to the sectoral bodies that oversee their activities.

The main objective was to inform and raise awareness among communities of their rights and duties with regard to NTFPs, taking into account their realities, while helping to strengthen their commitment to the sustainable management of forest resources and promoting responsible practices in the NTFP sector.

MINFOF's contribution, through the forestry station chiefs in the communes of Lomié, Mintom and Ngoyla, was to raise awareness among the groups in these localities of their rights of access to and use of forest resources, the MoU for the Baka, the categorisation of NTFPs, and the regulations in force in Cameroon on NTFPs (the procedure for obtaining a collection permit and waybills).  But also to raise community awareness of forest duties, in particular the sustainable management and collection of resources, conservation methods and resource regeneration, as well as poaching (presentation of the categorisation of wildlife species). Explain the procedure for obtaining the collection permit, the consignment note and the agroforestry carnet and its advantages.

For MINAS, through the SASOs in the communes of Lomié, Mintom and Ngoyla, the aim was firstly to raise community awareness of social inclusion in the governance of natural resources, so that all social groups, particularly those who are marginalised or vulnerable, participate actively and benefit equitably from the exploitation, management and preservation of natural resources). Secondly, to raise awareness of the role of women and indigenous communities in decision-making on the governance of natural resources and, finally, to raise awareness of the rights and duties of women and indigenous peoples (human rights).

In the end, AAFEBEN sensitised 15 Baka-Bantu groups made up of 69 Baka women and 71 Baka men, and 151 Bantu women and 130 Bantu men in the communes of Lomié, Mintom and Ngoyla.