Closing the Gender Gap to Protect Cameroon's Forests

More than 80 percent of those living in Cameroon’s Western Highlands, and 70 percent of those in the country’s South region, depend on natural resources for their livelihoods, but rampant deforestation threatens their economic well-being as well as the future of these unique landscapes and wildlife, such as the mountain gorilla.

The Rainforest Alliance believes that the answer lies in building thriving rural economies rooted in more sustainable growing practices and forest stewardship, with women at the heart of these activities. In Cameroon, women play a critical role in crop and livestock farming, and the processing of forest products such as honey and spices, but they lack a seat at the table when planning decisions are made.

For these reasons, we have focused on closing the gender gap and promoting women as community leaders—through equal access to education, financing, land rights, and training in sustainable land-management practices.

In the forests of Cameroon’s Western Highlands and the periphery of the Dja Faunal Reserve in the South region, we’ve established locally-led landscape management boards (LMB) that put power back into the hands of these communities— particularly rural women. Together, LMB participants develop strategies to protect biodiversity and boost economic resilience.

Within the first two years of our initiative, women already represent 32 percent of these boards across nine municipalities, and women-led enterprises are receiving business-management support. Advancing women’s rights can transform Cameroon’s rural economy—boosting agricultural yields, improving incomes, and promoting healthier landscapes.

Western Highlands

Once a globally important biodiversity hotspot, these forests were home to thriving troops of rare gorillas and chimpanzees, and play an important role in the local culture, serving as sacred spaces for traditional rituals. While customary law helped to protect these sacred forests in the past, deforestation now threatens the integrity of these landscapes.

South Region

Beyond promoting gender equity, we are helping farmers apply sustainable agricultural practices to boost yields, improve soil fertility, and protect watersheds. We are also supporting community development of landscape management plans, to reduce pressures on biodiversityrich areas like the neighboring Dja Faunal Reserve, home to forest elephants and an array of primate species.