REPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN
Paix Travail Patrie
MINISTERE DE L'ENVIRONNEMENT,
DE LA PROTECTION DE LA NATURE ET DU
DEVELOPPEMENT DURABLE
SECRETARIAT GENERAL
DIVISION DES ETUDES, DES PROJETS ET DE LA
COOPERATION
CELLULE DES ETUDES ET DE LA PROPECTIVE
REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON
Peace Work Fatherland
MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT,
PROTECTION OF NATURE AND
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
SECRETARIAT GENERAL
DEPARTMENT OF STUDIES, PROJECTS
AND COOPERATION
ES AND PROSPECTION UNIT
environment
programme
CALL FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST (CFEI)
00002 /CFEI/MINEPDED/SG/DEPC/CEP
# RELATED TO THE RECRUITMENT OF A CONSULTANT FOR THE ELABORATION OF THE MID-TERM EVALUATION FOR THE PROJECT
“GEF Project ID 9604: REMOVING BARRIERS TO BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION.
LAND RESTORATION AND SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT THROUGH
COMMUNITY-BASED LANDSCAPE MANAGEMENT COBALAM."
# I. PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The project rationale derives from the need and opportunity to develop policy implementation structures and practical field-based implementation to strengthen biodiversity conservation while Cameroon pursues its economic growth strategy. Over 80% of population in the Western Highlands of Cameroon (WHC) is dependent on natural resources for their livelihoods. In the south of Cameroon, with over 70% of the rural population dependent on healthy forests, sustainable management of forests and land is the only long-term solution to the growing environmental and economic pressures. Cameroon has committed to restoring an ambitious target of over 12 million hectares of deforested and degraded land by 2030, which is the biggest commitment in the Congo Basin under the Bonn Challenge initiative. While close to 46% of Cameroon is covered by forests that are highly valued for their biodiversity, unsustainable use and management of natural resources, increasing internal and external pressures, lack of appropriate coordination mechanisms and stewardship have contributed to the deforestation and degradation at an alarming speed. The uniqueness and richness of biodiversity of both the WHC and the south of Cameroon and the global significance of the country's biodiversity, the dependence of
communities on sustainable use of natural resources, the absence of existing working solutions for Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) in the country, require a concerted action and scalable solutions that this project sets out to address.
COBALAM will focus field activities in the montane North-West and West regions of the WHC, as well as in South region, which is home to lowland tropical forest. While these two parts of the country are sharply differentiated (one a highland region that is heavily populated and experiencing continuing processes of land degradation, and the other a sparsely-populated lowland expanse, largely covered with closed canopy natural forest), both are threatened by unsustainable practices that are affecting the entire ecosystem.