Anti-Poaching: UK Intensifies Lobby

The British High Commissioner to Cameroon and officials of the Zoological Society of London have amplified calls for Cameroon to sign up to the Elephant Protection Initiative

The British High Commissioner to Cameroon, Brian Olley and officials of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) have reiterated calls for Cameroon to sign up for the Elephant Protection Initiative (EPI) administered by the non-governmental organization, Stop Ivory. They appealed to Cameroonians of goodwill to push for their country to be part of the EPI, during a conservation event organized at the British High Commissioner’s residence in Bastos – Yaounde, Tuesday June 20, 2017. Considering the success of a similar event last year on the theme: “Conservation of wildlife and forests in Cameroon,” the focus of Tuesday’s event extended to include forest communities, organisers said.
According to the Programme Director at the Department for International Investment (DfID) in London, Stephen Mooney, the outfit, through the World Agroforestry Centre, is investing circa FCFA 4.5 billion in conserving Cameroon’s forests and forest communities. However, Cameroon remains a hunting ground as well as a key region for the trading and transporting of ivory. It is against this backdrop that Winnie Kiiru of Stop Ivory said should Cameroon join other countries like Gabon and Chad in the ini...