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European Journal of Applied Sciences – Vol. 11, No. 2

Publication Date: April 25, 2023

DOI:10.14738/aivp.112.14187.

Dinsi, S. C. (2023). Armed Groups and the Environment in Cameroon: The Impact of Boko-Haram and Anglophone Secessionist

on the Environment in Crisis Regions. European Journal of Applied Sciences, Vol - 11(2). 116-130.

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

Armed Groups and the Environment in Cameroon: The Impact of

Boko-Haram and Anglophone Secessionist on the Environment in

Crisis Regions

Stanley Chung Dinsi, PhD

Lecturer and Researcher,

Department of Political Science, University of Yaoundé II-Soa, Cameroon

Abstract

Cameroon is blessed with a rich natural environment composed of the forest, rich

and diversified biodiversity, soils rich in oil, gas and minerals, beautiful coasts and

rivers. Since 2013, Cameroons’ environment has come under serious threats from

the activities of Boko-Haram and Anglophone secessionist armed groups. This

article assesses the impact of Boko-haram and the Anglophone secessionists on

Cameroon’s environment including; the forest, animal and plant biodiversity,

rivers, and the soil in crisis areas of the North, North West and South West regions

respectively. But, how do non-state armed groups impact the environment and

what are the perspectives for strengthening environmental protection? The study

uses public policy and constructivism models to analyze legal and policy data on

environmental protection and the environmental damages of Boko-Haram and

Anglophone secessionists in the North, North West and South West regions of

Cameroon respectively. Results of this study show that Bako-Haram and the

Anglophone secessionist armed groups are a major cause of destruction of the

forest and soil, water pollution and illegal exploitation of biodiversity in violation

of international conventions and national conservation laws and policies. This

study identifies concerted action of key stakeholders including; international

organizations, the state of Cameroon, civil society actors and traditional authorities

as a measure to orientate and strengthen environmental protection in Cameroon in

crisis zones.

Keyword: Boko-Haram, Anglophone secessionists, armed groups, impact, environment

INTRODUCTION

The multiplication of armed conflicts and the proliferation of arms in sub-Sahara Africa are

major threats to global environmental protection efforts. The Congo-basin Forest, second

largest in the world, with a rich and diverse biodiversity is under threat due to increasing armed

conflicts and the ravaging effects on the environment. The impacts of conflict on nature are

overwhelmingly negative (IUCN, 2021). Since 2013, Cameroon has been involved in two major

armed conflicts, the Boko-Haram insurgency in the northern part of the country and the

Anglophone crisis in the North West and South West regions of the country. The presence and

activities of these groups are major sources of destruction of the country’s natural environment.

In the Northern part of the country, Boko-Haram fighters have caused significant damage in

National Parks, killing protected wildlife species including Elephants and Rhino’s for tusks and

food. Attacks of this armed group have destroyed the natural environment in National Parks

which has resulted to massive migration of animal species to other locations resulting to an

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Dinsi, S. C. (2023). Armed Groups and the Environment in Cameroon: The Impact of Boko-Haram and Anglophone Secessionist on the Environment

in Crisis Regions. European Journal of Applied Sciences, Vol - 11(2). 116-130.

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/aivp.112.14187

increase in human wildlife conflicts. The presence of Anglophone secessionists in the Kilum- Ijim forest in the North West and the Korup National Park in the South West has precipitated

the migration of important animal and bird species and slowed down economic and cultural

activities in affected areas. The presence and activities of these armed groups is a threat to the

existence of protected areas and the rich and diverse biodiversity therein which contribute

significantly to the national economy and local livelihoods. The existence of armed conflicts in

Cameroon since 2013 with the Boko-Haram and 2016 with the Anglophone secession war

remain a major challenge to the government in its drive to foster environmental protection and

ensure sustainable economic development.

Environmental protection and biodiversity conservation in particular is a key priority of the

government of Cameroon with significant efforts made already. Cameroon faces major

conservation challenges and despite the country’s natural riches, several wildlife species are

threatened or endangered (Roland 2018, WCS 2012). At the international level, Cameroon has

ratified a multitude of environmental protection conventions with the obligation of respecting

and ensuring effective implementation within its national territory. Some important

international conventions to which Cameroon is signatory include but not limited to; the

Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Convention on International Trade in

Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). At the national level, the government of

Cameroon created the Ministry of Environment Nature Protection and Sustainable

Development that is responsible for environmental issues and has put in place several laws and

sector policies is to guarantee an effective protection of the environment some of which include:

Ordinance No. 73/18 of May 1973 and its implementing decree no.74/357 of 17 August 1974;

the first to cover the whole of Cameroon since independence and deal exclusively with forest

resources; Law No. 81/13 of 27 November 1981, dealing with the regime of forests, wildlife,

and fisheries, and its implementing decree no. 83/169 of 12 April 1983, and Law No. 94/01 of

20 January 1994, regulating the forestry, wildlife and fisheries sectors law enacted in 1994.

Their decrees of application were signed in 1995, with a wealth of sometime confusing

regulatory texts. Despite these efforts by government to guarantee effective protection of the

environment, such efforts have been frustrated in the conflict zones of the Northern region by

the Boko-Haram and in the North West and South West regions of the country by the

Anglophone crisis. In the context of war, non-state armed groups in conflict zones violate

international environmental conventions and national laws and policies on the protection of

the environment as the war persists. The Boko-Haram fighters and the Anglophone secession

armed groups have; degraded the forest and the soil, polluted rivers, massacred important

quantities of protected wildlife species in National Parks and reserves, caused the displacement

of wildlife and have provoked human-wildlife conflicts.

IMPACT OF BOKO-HARAM AND ANGLOPHONE SECESSIONISTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT

The Boko-haram insurgency and the Anglophone secessionist war in Cameroon have caused

severe damages on biodiversity and environmental degradation.

Impact on Biodiversity

Cameroon has suffered significant loss in endangered wildlife species, biodiversity and wildlife

habitat loss and illegal exploitation of natural resources due to Boko-haram insurgency and the

Anglophone secession war.

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European Journal of Applied Sciences (EJAS) Vol. 11, Issue 2, April-2023

Loss of Endangered Wildlife Species:

The decline of wildlife in Central and West African border parks could be associated to the

maintenance of Islamic terrorism in the region. Cameroon faces major conservation challenges

and despite the country’s natural riches, several wildlife species are threatened or endangered

(Roland 2018). Groups such as Boko Haram are alleged to poach elephants and lions to fuel

their operations and activities (Moreau and Wenger, 2016). Melanie Wenger link profits from

illicit wildlife trafficking to the sustained operations of Boko Haram and other Islamic extremist

groups. Cameroon’s border parks—Waza, Bouba N’djida, and Faro—are depicted by authors

like Moreau and Wenger (2016) as prime sites of poaching for these wildlife products. In Waza

they report that ivory has become a new source of income for Boko Haram and that this group

also killed lions for magical practices to promote their invincibility in the battlefield (Moreau

and Wenger 2016). According to Moreau and Wenger, the geographical and historical

unruliness of the Waza National Park make its use by the Boko Haram group seem almost

inevitable. Dramatic population growth over the past decade, civil unrest due to the increased

presence of the terrorist group Boko Haram, illegal hunting and habitat destruction have

negatively affected the distribution and range of giraffe and other wildlife in the country

(Roland 2018). In 2016 the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)

completed the first detailed assessment of the conservation status of giraffe, revealing that their

numbers are in peril. This was further emphasized when the majority of the IUCN recognized

subspecies were assessed in 2018 – some as critically endangered.

Studies by ERuDeF indicate that since the outbreak of the Anglophone Crisis in Cameroon, key

biodiversity hotspots and protected areas have been besieged by both the Anglophone

Separatist fighters and regular state forces. ERuDeF has estimated that over 14 biodiversity

hotspots and protected areas have been greatly affected with the day to day worsening of the

crisis. Affected areas range from the Kimbi Fungom National Park, Kom-Wum Reserve, Oku

Plantlife Sanctuary, Kwagwane Gorilla Sanctuary through the Tofala Hills Wildlife Sanctuary,

Njoajwi- Fotabong III Essoh Attah Wildlife Sanctuary, Banya-Mbo Wildlife Sanctuary, to the

Korup National Park and Mt. Cameroon National Park. Beside the armed groups and the regular

state forces, over 35000 IDPs have found refuge inside these secured biodiversity areas thus

forcing the state rangers to relocate to the urban areas. The Lebialem Highlands are considered

as one of the biodiversity hotspots in Cameroon. The area is the habitat of the critically

endangered Cross River gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli), endangered Nigeria-Cameroon

Chimpanzee (Pan Troglodytes ellioti), endangered Drill (Mandrillus leucophaeus), African

forest elephant (Loxodonta africana cyclotis), and several other species of threatened fauna and

flora. Considering the escalating Anglophone crisis which has resulted to the death of some local

officials of the forestry and wildlife ministry, many Forestry and Wildlife staff have deserted

their posts to safer areas. Conservation activities in most of these protected areas in the

landscape have equally been affected. This has accelerated illegal hunting of wildlife and habitat

degradation.

Destruction of Biodiversity and Wildlife Natural Habitats:

The effect of human conflict on wildlife and habitats is unpredictable. Armed conflict regularly

hinders wildlife and wildlife habitats (De Merode et al., 2007). Antagonistic effects result from

habitat loss as well as broad herbicide use, wildlife mortality from landmines, hunting to

nourish soldiers, opportunistic poaching, direct targeting of preservation experts by equipped