Local Communities Join Management of Manyange Na Elombo-Campo ^{CEFR B1}

The Manyange Na Elombo-Campo Marine Protected Area covers 110,300 hectares along Cameroon's Atlantic coast and includes ten villages whose livelihoods depend on the park's waters and shoreline. Recent efforts aim to involve these communities more directly in decision-making and day-to-day management.

On June 28, 2024, the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife (MINFOF) presented a guide that defines community roles and recommends committees to work with conservation offices. Even before the guide, Tube Awu, The Turtle House and sea turtle specialist Jacques Fretey collaborated with conservator Patrick Maballa Sambou to prepare a charter for sustainable resource use. The charter adopts the local Vilonda closed season (July–August) and bans the small-mesh gear wakawaka; the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock confirmed the charter in 2023.

Under the charter, communities may fish in 24,000 hectares, but fishing is forbidden for about one kilometre around the sacred Turtle and Wolf Rocks. Patrols run twice a month for two and a half hours with a team of eight, and CWCS supplied a speedboat with a 40 KW engine and GPS through an Oceans 5 grant. However, illegal fishing, technical limits and uncertain funding continue to strain conservation and enforcement.