Not-for-profit organisation, Action for Conservation and Environmental Sustainability, ACES, has urged the government to take immediate action to address the devastating impact of the construction of the Lom Pangar hydroelectric dam on the local population.
The plea was made recently in Yaounde. This was during a meeting to review a policy paper on the socio-environmental impacts of the construction of the Lom Pangar hydroelectric dam.
The meeting took place at the conference hall of Green Development Advocate, GDA, in Tsinga Yaounde.
The meeting brought together representatives of about 11 Civil Society Organisations, CSOs.
The objective of the meeting was to review, finalize and present a policy paper on the impacts of the construction of the Lom Pangar hydroelectric dam. It is part of a project titled: “Dismantling the construction of big dams project”, and funded by Oil Watch.
During the meeting, ACES presented a summary report of the project and methodology used to acquire the results in four localities around the dam notably Lom Pangar, Deng Deng, Mansa and Hona. Participants at the meeting also reviewed the policy paper draft proposed by ACES, corrected and amended the draft to present a final report to advocate for better policies and respect of community rights.
Speaking at the end of the meeting, Bih Cecile, in charge of Biodiversity and Community Development disclosed that the first people who face the challenge are those living in nearby villages.
Following their research and data analyses, Bih said, they found out that there is population pressure happening due to internal migration.
According to Bih, people come from the Northern region to come and do fishing.
“This population use to do fishing on a very small scale, the fish resource now is very insufficient for home consumption because there is an extensive extraction of the fish resource, secondly arable land has been reduced because firstly, they have the park not very far from the dam which was done as environmental compensation,” Bih told reporters.
Bih went further to mention that: “we have a population who depended mostly on extraction of primary resources such as agriculture, fishing and hunting, which has been prohibited to being people who do not know what to do and which activities to go about. This has serious constraints on their income, their livelihood even on social cohesion”.
As a result of these constraints, Bih said that the local population wishes that the government in particular and the policy makers should “come out with land tenure legislation that will control the way land is being taken by those who are not indigenous to that area.”
Bih disclosed that there is also a serious problem of the resettlement. The government, Bih said, should try and reculturalize their projects. According to her, future projects should consider the cultural identity of the local population.
Bih also challenged the government to make sure that all companies of the project that they have written as their impact assessment, respect their promises with the construction of roads, bridges among others.
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About ACES
ACES was established by Angwa Gwendoline, a passionate conservationist with a deep commitment to protecting biodiversity and uplifting marginalized communities. Inspired by the urgent need to address environmental challenges and the recognition of the interconnectedness between ecosystems and human well-being, Angwa founded ACES as an association to create positive change. The grass-root non-profit was established in 2021 to address the root causes of species extinction and habitat degradation with the aim of creating a harmonious and sustainable relationship between humans, animals, and the environment. ACES is dedicated to the conservation and protection of the environment, wildlife, and the rights of local communities. We strive to support community livelihoods, advocate for climate justice, and conduct research that promotes the sustainable coexistence of humans and nature.