Members of the Cameroon branch of the Network of Parliamentarians for the Sustainable Management of the Forests Ecosystems of Central Africa (REPAR) have organised a session on political science to garner insight into the value of biodiversity in the country.

The two day session aimed at presenting snapshots of biodiversity hiccups and strategies put in place relating to the country’s biodiversity, witnessed presentations from many government officials who officials took turns to inform the parliamentarians on the national biodiversity strategy and government’s action plan.

While presenting on the issues and challenges of the green economy in Cameroon, CIFOR’s Denis Sonwa provided answers to the MPs questions on environmental degradation, energy and the wellbeing of the population.  He noted that the platform was timely as it “facilitates political science dialogue between members of government, scientists and policy makers to share information to better streamline laws especially as the law on the forestry sector is under review”.

In 1999, the government of Cameroon elaborated the first Strategic National Biodiversity Action Plan, which was validated in 2000. In it, the valorisation of natural resources was retained as one of the pillars for the attainment of the country’s development in 2035.

The move by MPs to emphasize Cameroon’s biodiversity is equally a strategy to diversify the country’s economy in the present context, which is dominated by falling fuel prices.

The choice of CIFOR as the lone research center to talk about its research in general and the forestry sector in Cameroon in particular proves the government of Cameroon and the general public hold CIFOR in high esteem. It equally “depicts the credibility of research carried out by CIFOR, the esteem the government and other sectors have in CIFOR and the state of the relationship between the government, policy makers and CIFOR,” said Sonwa.