By Dervla Dowd | WCF-Liberia country director
Stopping Deforestation and Poaching in Classified Forests.
Classified Forests are forests allocated to logging companies for sustainable logging and are an integral part of the Taï-Grebo-Sapo Forest Complex and as such also need to be protected for illegal deforestation and poaching. Inside Classified Forests, it is forbidden to clear land, to farm, to hunt and to mine. In recent years, human encroachment on Classified Forests in Côte d’Ivoire has caused vast devastation to the region’s tropical forests and massive irreversible loss of biodiversity. In the Taï-Grebo-Sapo Forest Complex, WCF works with the local authorities to ensure this does not happen to the complex’s important forests.
To do so, WCF supports law enforcement patrols of Côte d’Ivoire’s Government body (SODEFOR), responsible for the Cavally Classified Forest, a forest which acts as a natural connection to the Proposed Grebo National Park in neighboring Liberia. Eco-guard teams, SODEFOR agents, logging company employees, community members and WCF conduct regular missions in key areas of the forest to prevent human encroachment and remove any illegal cocoa farms and hunting tents. This year alone, they have patrolled half of the forest already and removed hundreds of cocoa crops. The involvement of local communities in the team is crucial to the success of the program. Engaging them in the protection of their natural heritage, by raising awareness on conservation and allowing them to have an active role in forest management, they become the active guardians of their forest.
Seeing the extent of the threats over the past months to the local biodiversity including chimpanzees, elephants, duikers and monkeys, we are very much in need for more financial support to provide transport, fees and food to the eco-guard teams for their patrols to ensure the survival of this important tropical forest in one of the world’s unique biodiversity hotspots. We hope that with your support we will be able to save this forest at the heart of the Taï-Grebo-Sapo Forest Complex. See two pictures taken in Cavally Classified Forests as attachment: 1) Eco-guard team removing new illegal cocoa crop, and 2) Tent of illegal settlers.
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