Nigerian fishermen persistently endanger Bakassi mangroves

The Bakassi Peninsula, a cluster of islands in the border zone of Cameroon and Nigeria in Ndian Division, Southwest Region, has, since its discovery, been suffering from illegal destruction of Mangroves which is detrimental to both human and biodiversity existence.

The issue here is that, after six years of Cameroon’s autonomy over Bakassi, following the judgement by the International Court of Justice, ICJ, which led to the official handing over by Nigeria on August 14, 2008, developmental impacts are yet to be felt.

The destruction of tropical trees that grow besides water (Mangrove) in Bakassi has greatly endangered the ecosystem, leaving it with so much risk, notably the destruction of fauna and flora, uncountable water pollution and the incriminating loss of aquatic life which is evident in the bread of fish population.

According to the Communication Officer for the Southwest Regional Delegation of Forestry and Wildlife, MINFOF, Lisette Moka Ndolo, it is evident that estuaries are very sensitive to pollution which is as a result of poor waste disposal from unhygienic conditions of certain communities, leading to the contamination of ground water, endangering the fish species in the sea.

Moka added that to stop the on-going practice, there is need for effective communication which encompasses sensitisation campaigns, anti-deforestation messages in flyers, video and even conservation displays during cultural events, among others.

Despite these effects, fishermen, majority of whom are Nigerians, have obstinately participated in the obliteration of the mangrove forests in the Bakassi area.

Faced with the wanton damage of their forests, the villagers in Bakassi are calling for quick Government action before it’s too late.

“This nonsense cannot happen in Nigeria. The Nigerian Government will not, for any reason let people enter its forests anyhow to cut down trees the way it is done in Ndongere. The worst part is that it brings no meaningful development to our community. We have no roads, no potable water, to come to our village you need to use a canoe to cross from Bulu, and even a bridge to link us is absent. We need Government aid!”Bakassi rustic-man bemoaned.

It should be recalled that, on September 8th-9th in Limbe, Fako Division, in a two day workshop organised by the United Nations Environment Programme, UNEP in collaboration with the Global Environment Facility, GEF, experts blamed the persistent exploitation of mangrove forests at Bakassi on local communities who cooperate with illicit exploiters.

Given that most of the mangroves in Bakassi are destroyed by fishermen and used as wood for drying fish, doyens suggested solutions including, the collection and transformation of fishery waste, the provision of efficient fish dryers, improving smoking ovens and promoting fish farming to disassociate fishermen from over-fishing.

Experts equally agreed to include in the management plan of the Bakassi area, the adoption of a bilateral agreement for trans-boundary management of mangroves and the creation of a feasible trust fund to sustain biodiversity conservation and livelihood.

The Task Manager for UNEP, Adamou Boushari, reacted by stating that GEF aims at rendering financial support to environmental developers in the area. He also added that, consultants would help collect data on ecosystems services of Bakassi’s current status activities.

In the same vein, local communities would also be encouraged to engage in poultry, snail production and soap making.

The team further agreed to drill communities on mangrove reforestation and the setting up of community mangrove nurseries for reforestation of degraded areas as a means to ensure mangrove sustainability.

Experts also consented to support environmental clubs in schools, assist in the production, processing and marketing of non-timber forest products and also to target ‘njangi’ associations especially as those villagers are highly inclined to it.