The German Cooperation Minister, Dr Gerd Müller, was speaker in a Conference on Forest Ecosystems and Biodiversity Management on March 14, 2015 in Yaounde.

Cameroon’s commitment in forestry and wildlife protection has been exalted by visiting German Federal Minister of Cooperation and Economic Development, Dr. Gerd Müller.

In a keynote address delivered on March 14, 2015 in Yaounde, during a Conference on Forest Ecosystems and Biodiversity Management, Dr Gerd Müller encouraged government to pursue protective measures undertaken while ensuring that all related laws are respected.

“We want to protect this immense wealth and support Cameroon in the certification of forest products and safeguard jobs. Count on us. Without forests, without trees, there is no life,” he said, warning that if deforestation is not halted, the world, including Cameroon, will suffer from the catastrophic effects of climate change.

He equally pledged German government’s support to combat organised poaching which does not only gives Cameroon a poor image but also harms its tourism industry as well as its capacity to benefit from new opportunities open to its current status as the second country with a strong concentration of biodiversity in Africa.

On his part, the Minister of Forestry and Wildlife, Philip Ngole Ngwese, attributed Cameroon’s performance to lessons learnt during the UN Conference on Environment and Development that held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992. The latter inspired a new policy in 1993 and the current 1994 Forestry Law; both based on the sustainable management of ecosystems.

Minister Ngwese boasted that with over 32 protected forest reserves making up 20 per cent of the national territory, Cameroon was well beyond the standards prescribed by the International Convention on Biodioversity.

The conference that was organised by the German Financial Cooperation Bank, KFW, and German Technical Cooperation institution, GIZ, made bare the involvement of German cooperation as the most important bilateral cooperation in the forestry sector with current funding amounting to over 130 million Euros (over FCFA 85 billion) in financial cooperation and 45 million Euros (over FCFA 29 billion) in technical cooperation with 45 more million Euros in the pipeline.