The Faro Landscape is in North-Western Cameroon and part of the broader Faro–Bénoué–Bouba Ndjida protected area complex that stretches eastwards through Benoué National Park to Bouba Njida National Park.
____
The Faro Landscape is in North-Western Cameroon and part of the broader Faro–Bénoué–Bouba Ndjida protected area complex that stretches eastwards through Benoué National Park to Bouba Njida National Park.
____
To improve the management of the Faro National Park and its neighbouring hunting concessions and thereby reduce major threats, secure and restore key wildlife populations, and unlock opportunities for local communities to benefit from income-generating activities to improve their living conditions and participate in biodiversity conservation. Over time, Conserve plans to expand the scope of its work in northern Cameroon to ensure landscape-scale habitat connectivity and secure the future integrity of this region, which is critically important for both wildlife and people.
Faro National Park falls under the administration of the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, and the various adjoining hunting blocks are leased and managed by hunting operators.
Approximately 138 villages, predominantly inhabited by the Muslim Fulbe, are found in the area. The resident agro-pastoral communities are entirely dependent on the natural resources that form the basis of their agricultural and pastoral livelihoods. However, the challenges they face are significant. Extremely limited livelihood opportunities and frequent human-wildlife conflict are worsened by corrupt local governance systems, hindering the flow of benefit payments from neighbouring hunting concessions to local communities. To meet basic needs, unsustainable practices have thus become widespread.
The Faro–Bénoué–Bouba Ndjida protected area complex lies predominantly within the North Cameroon Region, but also extends southwards into the Adamawa Region, and is representative of Sudano–Sahelian climate and biota with some transitional Sudano–Guinean representation. Cameroon, and specifically the Faro–Bénoué–Bouba Ndjida protected area complex, represents one of the most valuable, relatively intact and connected natural landscapes that remains in all of central-west Africa. Consequently, it is of high conservation priority.
Home to a plethora of unique and supremely well-adapted wildlife species and sub-species, as well as numerous special and near-endemic bird species, the enormous conservation value of the broader protected area complex is beyond contestation. It is a regional stronghold for threatened wildlife, such as the central-west African lion and elephant subspecies, and the iconic Lord Derby eland.
Although still relatively intact, this remarkable landscape is facing escalating threats and is under severe pressure. Urgent intervention is required to secure lasting landscape connectivity and healthy ecosystem functioning. Increased immigration and escalating human needs are resulting in unsustainable resource extraction, unregulated transhumant pastoralism, habitat loss from agricultural expansion, and illegal activities, all compounded by rapid population growth and changing weather patterns.
Conserve Global is a registered charity in England and Wales no 1195017 | registered company no 12705139 | 101 New Cavendish Street, 1st Floor South, London, W1W 6XH, United Kingdom