By Christopher Jator Njechu
The coordinator of a Yaounde-based NGO, Centre for Ecology Watch, CENEW, Clement Ndamnsa, has threatened to drag people and companies that illegally exploit the forest in the Centre Province to court.
This action is in line with the 1999 Central African Heads of State Forest Declaration in Yaounde, which harps on the harmonisation of forest policies and legislation across administrative and territorial boundaries.
While making this revelation at a news conference in Yaounde over the weekend, Ndamnsa said according to findings carried out by his organisation recently on illegal forest exploitation in the Centre Province, the area is at a high risk of desertification. He also said CENEW is determined to open up litigations of all suspects.
He revealed that a large proportion of the natural resources is
exploited by people who sign concessions with the Ministry of Forest
and Wildlife in Yaounde but violate the concessions.
According to him, "to halt the destruction of the global ecosystem
posed by deforestation, political and institutional changes are needed
at the local, national and international levels."
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