Cameroon Mangroves & Wetlands Network (CMN)

Mangrove forests found uniquely in sheltered inter-tidal areas within the tropical and subtropical areas of the world occupying about 200 000ha in Cameroon today in three major blocks Rio Del Rey (South West Region), Cameroon estuary (Littoral Region) and Ntem estuary (South Region) are extremely valuable, unique but fragile ecosystems that provide many critical ecosystem services, such as food and energy, carbon sequestration, coastal disaster protection, shoreline stabilization, waste processing, and recreation. Being at the interface of land and sea, they also play key roles in linking terrestrial, freshwater, and marine systems, thus keeping all three productive and healthy. As various natural disasters have demonstrated, mangroves can protect coastal communities and reduce death tolls in the event of major storms or tsunamis. Valued at as much as US $37,000 per hectare annually for fisheries, mangroves serve as key fish nursery habitats for important commercial and subsistence fish species, such as groupers, snappers, mullets, and blue crabs. They are a main barrier to nutrient runoff causing harmful algal blooms. Mangroves are critical to maintaining the high biodiversity of tropical systems, and thus underpin valuable recreation
and coastal economies.

Despite their high value and importance to human wellbeing, over 25% of Cameroon mangrove areas have already been lost between 1980-2006 according to UNEP (2007) with yet unknown estimate for degradation. The loss and degradation has continued unabated despite government efforts and non-governmental organisation through projects that have been isolated, with poor inter-sector coordination, conflicting roles and responsibilities, lack of access to and spread of lessons learnt to create the desired large socio-economic and ecological impact; the consequences have been rising sea surges with coastal erosion, sedimentation, inundations and altered temperatures and precipitation with diminishing fisheries stocks threatening the ecological and livelihood securities in the coastal areas.

Realising the pressing need to act solidly to save Cameroon mangroves from further destruction, to strengthen partnership and synergies among civil society within Cameroon and collectively work to bring the mangrove agenda to the fore in national, sub-regional and international arenas to influence policies, the Cameroon Mangrove Conservation Network (CMN) popularly known by its French abbreviation RCM (Réseau Camerounais des Mangroves) was established in 2005, at its constituent assembly that held in Edea, Sanaga-Maritime Division of the Littoral Region, in accordance with the resolutions of the African Mangrove Network for the establishment of national networks in member countries.

Since 2005, major gains have been made in Cameroon in the landscape of mangrove interest, knowledge, actors and activities. The annual celebration of the World Wetlands Day, initiatives towards projects for the restoration of Lake Barombi Mbo and the River Nyong in the SW and the Centre region respectively, the awareness of the looming challenge with seasonal riparian droughts for streams and waterfalls in the NW and Western Regions, brought home the need to broaden the vision, mission and objectives of the network beyond mangroves to the whole spectrum of wetlands in Cameroon. As the network identified itself on the international scene with the Ramsar Convention and Wetlands International the push to adopt broader objectives covering wetlands came home. Mangroves however remain in a historical pole-position for the network given their outstanding and unique nature amongst wetlands which attracted initial interest of the champion and the Civil Society Organisations that founded the network.

In 2013, the Network broadened its name to the ‘Cameroon Mangroves & Wetlands Network (CMN). The 2017- 2020 strategic plan takes on-board this evolution but maintain its four-prong targets of ‘ecological security,’ ‘ ecosystem conservation,’ ‘sustainable management’ and 'livelihoods improvement'.

Cameroon mangrove and wetlands ecosystems across the country are valuable both for their contributions to local livelihoods and the globally important biodiversity that they contain. However, these areas are threatened by a number of development pressures from urban centres as well as unsustainable management and harvesting practices of the local communities. The network shall therefore ‘marshal the protection of vital water-abundant places, its biodiversity and human benefits’.