The Government of the United States Commemorates World Environment Day 2022 with a Commitment to Strengthen Partnerships with Cameroon for Everyone to Live Sustainably in Harmony with Nature
Yaounde, Cameroon— On June 5, the U.S. Government commemorated World Environment Day. In line with this year’s theme of “Only One Earth,” we recognize the importance of a healthy environment for all with a commitment by President Biden to cut greenhouse gas emissions 50 to 52 percent below 2005 levels by 2050.
In Cameroon, the U.S. Government funds projects that help protect the environment, including supporting institutions and universities working on conservation, natural resource management, and climate change. Since 2011, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Garoua Wildlife College have worked together to integrate emerging wildlife conservation issues into the college curriculum. Other teaching modules—focused on community-based natural resource management, extractive resource zone management, integrated landscape land use, and protected area management—have been adopted by the Regional Training Center Specialized in Agriculture at the University of Dschang. In March 2021, Garoua Wildlife College launched a new Human Rights and Conservation course curriculum funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to educate existing and future conservation practitioners on the imperative to protect human rights in the context of protected area management.
Within USAID’s CARPE (Central African Regional Program for the Environment), the U.S. Government has also supported Cameroon with more than one million dollars (more than 612 million F CFA) to help combat illegal logging and promote forest cover monitoring through the Global Land Analysis and Discovery (GLAD) Alert support program. Through the Silvacarbon program, the U.S. Government provides technical expertise to help the government of Cameroon address increasing environmental pressures and land-use change. Part of this support has included working with Cameroonian experts to develop and implement a comprehensive national forest monitoring system adapted to the country’s unique opportunities and challenges. Moreover, U.S. commercial tools help expand renewable energy in Cameroon. Power Africa is boosting off-grid energy projects in Cameroon and a U.S. Trade and Development Agency grant supports the study of Cameroon’s solar energy landscape.
Since 2005, the U.S. Government has invested more than two million dollars (over 1.2 billion F CFA) in the protection of the Cameroon’s environment. A major result of our investment is the revision of the forestry law and the design and implementation of the community forestry guidelines, the development and implementation of several forest resource management guides and the capacity building and strengthening of the civil society and local non-profit organizations through small grants.
The U.S. Government, through USAID, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Department of State will continue to partner with Cameroon on conservation, sustainable forest management, climate monitoring, and the prosecution of wildlife crime.
For more information on USAID’s activities in Cameroon, visit: https://www.usaid.gov/cameroon