Local Communities Join Management of Manyange Na Elombo-CampoCEFR B2
3 Dec 2025
Adapted from Leocadia Bongben, Global Voices • CC BY 3.0
Photo by Lesly Derksen, Unsplash
The Manyange Na Elombo-Campo Marine Protected Area spans 110,300 hectares on Cameroon's Atlantic coast and touches ten villages where hundreds of people depend on coastal fisheries. Recent policy work and local initiatives aim to shift management from exclusionary practices to participatory arrangements that include community committees and fishers' associations.
On June 28, 2024, MINFOF presented a "Guide to the involvement of local communities in the management of protected areas in Cameroon," while local partners — Tube Awu (Our Ocean), The Turtle House, sea turtle specialist Jacques Fretey and conservator Patrick Maballa Sambou — had already drafted a charter and helped form associations in every village. The charter, confirmed by the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock in 2023, adopts the Iyassa Vilonda closed season (July–August), bans the small-mesh gear wakawaka and protects nesting sea turtles.
The charter allows community fishing in 24,000 hectares but prohibits fishing for about one kilometre around the sacred Turtle and Wolf Rocks. Patrols occur twice a month for two and a half hours with an eight-person team; CWCS supported monitoring by supplying a speedboat with a 40 KW engine and GPS through an Oceans 5 initiative. Oceans 5 initially funded the project for three years with around USD 699,000, and continuation depends on further funding; CWCS does not receive government support.
Monitoring and science show pressures on the MPA: Tube Awu has recorded more than 40 fish species, with 12 on the IUCN Red List, and notes a decline from 44 species in 2014 to 32 in 2025 in the same zone. Between 2021 and 2023 trawlers and illegal vessels spent between 800 and 1,000 hours in the park; named trawlers include Nicolas, Adonia and Erica 1, some of which have switched off GPS or concealed location. Training from the African Marine Organization and tools such as Global Fishing Watch help detect incursions, but enforcement remains limited, and technological limits plus funding uncertainty keep conservation under pressure.
- Key measures: Vilonda closed season, wakawaka ban, sacred rock exclusion.
- Monitoring: patrols, speedboat with GPS, participatory science at landing sites.
- Main risks: illegal fishing, funding gaps, technical limits.
Difficult words
- marine protected area — coastal area legally managed for conservation
- exclusionary — not allowing people to take part
- participatory — involving local people in decision making
- charter — written agreement that sets rules
- closed season — time when fishing is legally forbidden
- wakawaka — a type of small-mesh fishing gear
- Patrols — regular checks by people to watch area
- trawlers — large fishing boat that drags nets
- incursions — entries into an area without permission
Tip: hover, focus or tap highlighted words in the article to see quick definitions while you read or listen.
Discussion questions
- What are the benefits and challenges of shifting from exclusionary management to participatory arrangements for the local villages?
- How could uncertainty in funding affect the monitoring and protection of the MPA? Give reasons from the article.
- What additional steps, using the tools mentioned (training, Global Fishing Watch, speedboat, GPS), might improve enforcement against illegal fishing?
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