Lack of FPIC

Before the creation of Takamanda National Park in 2008, the Fulani were not consulted. As documented in the 2014 FPP study, they were instead described as “illegal settlers” within the protected area. 

The same FPP study reports that the residents of the enclave villages of Obonyi I, II, and III openly opposed the creation of the park, which was nonetheless established without their consent.^[12]

In addition, the composition and operation of the representative bodies, as well as the decisions emanating from them, are inconsistent with the requirements of FPIC and with the park’s own participatory-management framework. The establishment of the Village Forest Management Committees and their subsequent ‘clustering’ were not the result of community choice, but were imposed unilaterally, along with the rules governing their structure and procedures. Consequently, these bodies bear no resemblance to recognized traditional institutions and do not meet the standard of decision-making based on parity of standing or genuine consensus.^[13]

Moreover, the Park Management Committee, which constitutes the principal governance body, comprises only two village representatives, and it is reported never to have convened since the park’s establishment, ostensibly due to financial constraints. Consequently, indigenous communities are effectively excluded from the highest levels of decision-making, thereby undermining their right to participate in public affairs and to exercise meaningful community self-governance^[14].

Threats of Forced Eviction and Harassment

As reported by the Independent Expert on minority issues, Rita Izsák, after her 2013 mission in Cameroon, the Mbororo People and their livestock have been repeatedly threatened with eviction.^[15] As documented by the 2014 FPP study, in the northern part of the park, classified as Fragile Ecological Zone, Fulani herdsmen and the community of Mendi were repeatedly threatened with being forcibly evicted.^[16]

The FPP study further studies several instances of intimidation and harassment by park authorities directed at villagers and communities living within the Takamanda.^[17] In particular, villagers report ongoing harassment by game guards when moving between villages, including brutal ransacks during which their bags are forcibly emptied in search of bushmeat. Moreover, park guards have disrupted community ceremonies by threatening participants with firearms and confiscating their traditional ‘dane guns’, flintlock or percussion muzzleloaders used in religious rites, including funerals. The study also notes a striking imbalance in staffing: park management employs far more personnel for enforcement than for community development, with a ratio of approximately twelve rangers to every one development officer. These acts of harassment violate not only the communities’ physical security, but also their freedom of movement, and cultural and religious rights.^[18]

Violations of personal security and freedom of movement linked to armed conflict and militarization

Since the escalation of the Anglophone armed conflict in Cameroon’s South-West Region from 2016 onwards, parts of Takamanda National Park have become increasingly militarized, with serious consequences for local inhabitants. The park and surrounding villages have effectively been drawn into a de facto conflict zone, since its dense forest where a refuge for rebels, exposing residents to heightened threats to their personal security and imposing restrictions on their freedom of movement.^[19] The presence and deployment of government-affiliated personnel within the park, in a context where armed separatist groups also operate, has generated sustained tension, undermining community safety and the conditions necessary for the peaceful exercise of livelihoods and cultural practices. These dynamics amount to violations of the rights to security of the person, freedom of movement, and dignity of   Indigenous communities living in and around Takamanda National Park.^[20] International conservation organizations, namely WCS and WWF, had already evacuated foreign staff from the area by 2018 due to safety concerns.^[21]

Recent developments documented in late 2020 illustrate the continuing human-rights risks within Takamanda Park arising from the armed conflict. In October 2020, a conservation visits by the African species conservation organization AWP, accompanied by a Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife (MINFOF) ranger to the village of Nfakwe, located within the Takamanda area, led to physical scuffles after residents suspected the ranger of being a government spy. The incident reflects the extreme insecurity facing communities and the risks posed by the presence of armed actors and state representatives in the park context. During the same period, the Park Director Egbe received repeated death threats from separatist fighters, severely constraining park governance and contributing to the withdrawal or reduction of conservation personnel.^[22]