By Moma Sandrine
The international biodiversity day has been celebrated under the theme ‘our biodiversity, our food, our health’. The event took place last Tuesday May 22, 2019. However, the ongoing sociopolitical crisis in the North West and South West regions of Cameroon remains a threat to the biodiversity in these regions.
As the North West region joined the international community to celebrate this day, a call was made to safeguard biodiversity which is considered a necessity to human existence. As part of activities to commemorate this day, stakeholders of the North West regional delegation of Environment, Nature Protection and Sustainable Development (MINEPDEP) in collaboration with the delegation of forestry and other organizations organised a tree planting session during which fruit trees and medicinal trees were planted. It is believed that trees are a major component of the ecosystem and should be paid attention to.
Planting more trees is therefore seen as a means of safeguarding biodiversity. A panel discussion was equally held, where panelists discussed about biodiversity, causes of biodiversity loss and possible ways to preserve it.
Biodiversity refers to the different species of plants and animals within the ecosystem. It is feared that the ongoing anglophone crisis poses a threat to the existing biodiversity in the North West region, as over eighty percent of animals in the region stand the risk of extinction.
“The ongoing crisis has caused too much threat to biodiversity loss. Activities that are supposed to be going on from the various sectors concerning conservation are no longer there because those who are concerned have all ran for their lives. There are activities like planting of trees, protection of our national parks and forests reserves. When these conservators are not there, there is increase of deforestation, poaching and destruction of other parts of our biodiversity. As a result, I think the crisis to a great extent has an effect on biodiversity loss”, Etomes Marcel, regional chief of service for conservation at MINEPDEP explains.
As the crisis drags on, humans and animals have been forced out of their habitat due to repeated burnings and destruction of property. Plant species have equally been destroyed in the process, posing a threat to existing biodiversity.
Speaking on behalf of the NW regional delegate of Environment, the Regional Chief of service for information, sensitization and documentation at MINEPDEP, Agbor Ebisi, called on the population to safeguard biodiversity. “All what we have comes from our biodiversity. It is therefore a call for awareness that we should protect our biodiversity because without this biodiversity we can’t live”.
Plants and animals are a great source of food and medicine to humans, reasons why the theme for this year’s biodiversity day reminds people of the necessity of safeguarding the biodiversity