Green Cameroon joined ICENECDEV and Partners to commemorate “the World day to Combat Desertification 2018” in Buea, Cameroon.
Green Cameroon joined the International Centre for Environmental Education and Community Development (ICENECDEV) on
Monday the 18th of June 2018 to celebrate the world day to combat desertification on the theme “ Land Has A True Value, Protect And Conserve It“.
The conference began at 9:00am and were present the director and cofounder of ICENECDEV, representatives from different civil organisation the community and some professors and university lecturers. Following this year’s theme for the world day to combat desertification “land has a true value, protect and conserve it” some discussions were made by different participants.
Some of the issues Green Cameroon picked from the discussions at the event include;
• An overview on the world day to combat desertification outcomes of COP 13/ UNCCD in Ordos china done by Mr Fongoh Eric
• Challenges faced by women farmers on land done by representatives of the different women groups that were present.
• A presentation also was made by LUCA a Ph.D. student form MANNHEIM UNIVERSITY
After the discussions followed a question/answer session and plenary contribution on the theme of The World Day to Combat Desertification 2018, the following points were noted as the different discussions were made.
– Discussions in line with Ordos’s declaration following The United Nation Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
– Desertification is highly promoted by human activities, though a blame is being laid on nature because of the climate changes but emphasis was also laid on the fact that climate has always been changing.
– Factors or methods to fight desertification were also discussed and tree planting was one of the main factors that was critically discussed and attention was brought up on the fact that many people and even organisations have involved in tree planting lately. This is a good initiative but attention was brought on the fact that some tree species when planted tend to cause more harm than good, an example of this as stated by one of the attending professors is the eucalyptus planted around the mount Cameroon region. According to the professor, these trees have highly contributed to the water crisis experience in the Buea municipality. Therefore to solve this problem individuals and civil organisations that engage in a tree planting as a means for environmental protection should always involve specialist in trees before engaging in the projects so that more harm is not caused on our environment.
– Another factor discussed as concern land issues in agricultural practices as mentioned by the leaders of the women farmers is the problem of land acquisition for cultivation with the fast growing population and distance to farm lands. Also pest that affect tubers in some places in the northwest region as stated by a representative of the women farmers from the northwest region.
– Green Cameroon joins this forum to lay emphasis on the call for governments and organisations to invest on dealing with the causes of desertification as well as handling the effect of desertification. (Some of the causes of desertification including; deforestation, bush burning, poor irrigation technics.)
These above mentioned points were discussed in the course of the seminar and civil society organisations were highly encouraged to join in the fight against desertification by working in alliance with the United Nation Convention to Combat Desertification.
