- Cameroonian government has created a new national park to protect a population of 600 gorillas, and other threatened species such as chimpanzees, forest elephants, buffaloes, and bongo.
The new Deng Deng National Park, approximately 580 square kilometers comes just three months after Cameroon announced the establishment of Takamanda National Park which now forms part of a trans-boundary protected area with Nigeria's Cross River National Park and protects the world's rarest gorilla population.
According Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the creation of the new national park is the result of years of conservation planning, including the first gorilla population surveys in the former forest reserve in 2002 by the society.
President and CEO of the WCS, Dr Steven E. Sanderson said Deng Deng National Park is a major step towards conservation of all Cameroon's gorilla population and wildlife in the country which is facing serious deforestation.
"We applaud the government of Cameroon for continuing to be a leader in conservation and for taking this important step to protect these species," he said.
Cameroon Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, Cameroon Railways and WCS are also collaborating to enforce regulations that will ban transportation of bushmeat or any other wildlife products from remote locations to urban markets by local trains.
"This effort in part has helped Cameroon uphold its obligations as a member nation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)," WCS said.
Cameroon has one of the highest deforestation rates in Africa, losing some 220,000 hectares of forest per year, mostly to logging and agriculture.
afrol News - It is called "financial inclusion", and it is a key government policy in Rwanda. The goal is that, by 2020, 90 percent of the population is to have and actively use bank accounts. And in only four years, financial inclusion has doubled in Rwanda.
afrol News - The UN's humanitarian agencies now warn about a devastating famine in Sudan and especially in South Sudan, where the situation is said to be "imploding". Relief officials are appealing to donors to urgently fund life-saving activities in the two countries.
afrol News - Fear is spreading all over West Africa after the health ministry in Guinea confirmed the first Ebola outbreak in this part of Africa. According to official numbers, at least 86 are infected and 59 are dead as a result of this very contagious disease.
afrol News - It is already a crime being homosexual in Ethiopia, but parliament is now making sure the anti-gay laws will be applied in practical life. No pardoning of gays will be allowed in future, but activist fear this only is a signal of further repression being prepared.
afrol News / Africa Renewal - Ethiopia's ambitious plan to build a US$ 4.2 billion dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, 40 km from its border with Sudan, is expected to provide 6,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for its population plus some excess it can sell to neighbouring countries.
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