The Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife’s Regional Delegation for the South West is located in Buea, under the direction of the Regional Delegate (RD). PSMNR-SWR interventions within the South West Region cut across five divisions namely Fako, Kupe Manengouba, Ndian, Manyu and Meme divisions.
In general, the South West region of Cameroon is one of the ten regions in the Republic of Cameroon with its capital being Buea. The region is one of the most important biodiversity hotspots in the world, with very high levels of endemic plant and animal species. Over a quarter of the total primate species found in Africa are present in the region’s protected areas, including some of the continent’s most endangered species such as the forest elephant, Cross River gorilla Nigerian-Cameroon chimpanzee, drill and Preuss’s red colobus monkeys.
The SWR has different categories of protected area and other land uses, created from an existing non permanent forest massive (these include National parks, wildlife sanctuaries, protection/production reserves, forest management units, integral ecological reserve for protected areas and agro industrial leases, mining and concessions, human habitation areas, communal farming areas etc for other land uses). All these are created in an effort to provide development, sustainable management and environmental protection. As the human population increases, its effect transforms the natural landscape of the SWR (endowed with very rich soil for agricultural purposes) by affecting the native biodiversity of the area with varying land use dynamics over time. The clearing of rain forest to make room for agriculture and new settlement has drawn national and international attention over damages that will lead to habitat fragmentation. Thus, land use planning is of utmost importance in the South West Region and the valorisation of natural resources has to be enhanced.
