Title: KORUP PROGRAM

Project number: B-7/5041/92.19/VIII/FOR

Contractor:

• Republic of Cameroon (Financing Agreement)
• WWF-UK (Technical Assistance): payments made under a separate convention with WWF.
• Hunting Technical Services UK (Financing Controller).
• E&D Group-UK (Evaluation of the Korup National Park in Cameroon).

Field: National Parks

Country: Cameroon

Date of signature: 23/04/93; Date of limit of execution: 31/12/1998 (extension)

Duration: 48 months

Objectives:

• To Protect one of the oldest and undisturbed tropical rain-forest within Cameroon and the region;
• To improve local living standards and economic conditions by encouraging sustainable land use practices and improving rural infrastructures and education.

It is a collaborative project involving the donors, local and indigenous NGOs, the Government of Cameroon and the people of the project area.

Activities:

• Developing a management a control system of the Korup Programme that can be operated and maintained by the appropriate government Institutions and Indigenous NGO.
• Creating the necessary infrastructures related to the conservation and protection of the protected areas, including its physical demarcation.
• Resettling on a voluntary basis at least 4 of the 6 villages presently located within the Korup National Park.
• Building and implementing a development programme directed towards the rural areas surrounding the Korup Park ("support zone") in order to help local people find sustainable economic alternatives to the present hunting, trapping gathering and deforestation practices in the park. The programme outside the Park will be based on the development of appropriate, sustainable farming system, the improvement of community social Infrastructure and the development of small scale economic activity.
• Establish three forests reserves within the support zone.
• Developing an environmental education and awareness programme that will assist the local people to take part in the decision making process, manage their own resources and address the issues of poverty, population, health, environment and sustainable development.
• Undertaking research and monitoring of the ecosystem of the Korup Park and the support zone.

Results expected:

To create and to improve the rural infrastructure, the education system and technical and scientific assistance necessary to realise the objectives of the project in collaboration with the people of the project area and Indigenous NGOs.

Beneficiaries:

Government of Cameroon, people of the project area.

Implementation strategy:

• Technical assistance Programme Manager responsible for the Programme at the whole;
• The Minister of Environment and Forests responsible for the operating and chairman for inter-ministerial co-ordinating committee, the Director of wild life and protected areas responsible for matters affecting the park, the Director of Agriculture is responsible for supporting zone activities, the Director of Forestry is responsible for Forests Reserves and the national Co-ordinator from Ministry of Planning responsible for leasing other Ministries.
• The WWF-UK responsible for the technical assistance and implementation of the project;
• Hunting technical Services is the Financing controller;
• E&D consultants responsible for the mid-term review;
• NGO personnel;
• Construction of building, procurement of equipment, realise seminars and workshop; procurement of vehicles, create funds and grants for technical and scientific assistance, specialists and assistants, Survey and Inventories, basic tourist facilities etc.)

Environment and Development Group has presented the Final Report of the mid-term evaluation foreseen by the Financing Agreement (technical and administrative provisions of implementation).

This evaluation is extremely important because identify well the fundamental problems and propose corrective measures and recommendations that should be taken in consideration in order to determine progress and to assure a better implementation of the project.

Conclusions underline that the objectives of the project are still valid but the technical approach and the method adopted, especially in the field of the agricultural systems, has to be discussed because not-productive or inadequate. The project need a long-term implementation strategy and an institutional reinforcement. The transformation of the project has to be made with the active co-operation of the donors, the Minister of Environment and Forestry, the Direction of the Project and all the parties interested. Fundamental problems:

1. Structures and departmental-directive organisation system of the project are inadequate and affect the level of communication and participation at local level and the team work;
2. Disputes between the conservation and development objectives. It is necessary to have programmatic approach of the activities avoiding to expose the project's activities to political disputes: for this reason the programme of "reallocation de villages" is not realistic. The Government should be more involved in the co-ordination and management of the Park in order to facilitate his long-term sustainable management with an active participation of the local communities: Government authorised the commercial exploitation of the forest in the support zone (wood-cut authorisations) without requiring the opinion of the project manager.
3. Area concerned has not a juridical protection and this could be a risk to realise the conservation objectives (establish three forests reserves within the support zone);
4. Human, financial and material resources are not well utilised;
5. Korup National Park has not a land use plan and it is not well protected;
6. Rural development activities proposed (innovator alternatives technologies) are not adequate to the original extensive production systems of the local agricultural population and it seems to be difficult to realise a future development of the action in a long-term run;
7. there is not a real collaboration between the donors, the project and the government being able to define a clear strategic planning.