Towards a Negotiated End to the Anglophone Crisis for the Sake of Peace, People, and Nature.
By Dr Peter Mbile, Concerned Forest Conservation Professional
*The Crisis and the Forests: A Devastating Convergence*
As a professional dedicated to the conservation and sustainable management of Cameroon’s precious forest ecosystems, I make this special, heartfelt plea for a bold, *negotiated resolution* to the Anglophone Crisis.
This conflict, now in its eighth year, has entrenched suffering in communities, especially in forest-rich areas like Ndian, Manyu, Donga Mantung Divisions and other forested areas on the borders with Nigeria
The deep forests that once promised prosperity and biodiversity conservation have tragically become havens for armed groups, rendering any attempt at forest-based development nearly impossible.
- We Understand the Imperatives of State Security
- We recognize the duty of the administration to uphold national unity, territorial integrity, and the safety of all citizens.
These are fundamental responsibilities of any state.
And yet, persistent conflict in the Anglophone regions—particularly in forested zones—demonstrates that a military-only approach is insufficient and, in this context, untenable.
Dense tropical forests are not battlefields that lend themselves to definitive military victories.
They are vast, impenetrable, and border porous areas like Nigeria, where fighters can retreat and regroup with ease.
The more time we spend chasing military solutions in these forests, the more we destroy our natural heritage, and the less we serve the very people we intend to protect.
*We Cannot Conserve Forests Under Gunfire*
Forest conservation and sustainable use are fundamentally incompatible with conflict.
Insecurity has halted research, displaced forest communities, stalled ecotourism, and disrupted the sustainable use of wood and non-timber forest products.
Biodiversity hotspots remain unmonitored. Fires and illegal exploitation go unchecked.
How can we expect to preserve Cameroon’s forest wealth when neither the researchers, the forest rangers, nor the local communities can move freely without fear?
Forests need peace to stand tall. The people of the forest need safety to thrive.
*The Costs of War: Too High, Too Long, Too Devastating*
This conflict has drained resources—financial, environmental, and human.
It has denied forest-dependent people access to schools, health care, roads, and livelihoods.
The forests themselves—crucial for carbon sequestration, rainfall regulation, food security, and Cameroon’s global ecological standing—are being degraded in silence.
Time is not on our side. The longer the conflict persists, the more irreversible the damage to our forests and our communities.
*A Negotiated Path Is the Only Sustainable Future*
Cameroon has always been a country of dialogue, coexistence, and resilience. Let us return to that spirit.
We implore the government to embrace a *negotiated political solution* —not as a concession to secessionists, but as a commitment to the forest peoples of Cameroon who want to live in peace and dignity.
Let us explore effective, decentralized built on the imperfect Special Staus, a hybrid governance framework that preserve national unity while addressing historical and local perculiarities and specifocities including redynamisation of traditional, transboundary societies like Nyamkpe, Malle etc…
Let us listen to local voices, empower community-based peace initiatives, and bring every stakeholder to the table.
*Recommendations: For Forests, For Peace, For People*
1. Empower Special Envoys for Forest Zone Peace and Reconciliation, focused on affected regions especially the dense forested areas like Ndian, Manyu, and Lebialem, Donga Mantung, and others…
2. Declare forested conflict zones as humanitarian corridors—protected from active combat—to allow essential services and conservation work to resume.
3. Initiate and invest in high-level negotiations using international expertise experienced on conflict management in forested areas including faith-based, cultural and community leaders, with explicit consideration for the human – ecological stakes.
4. Invest in forest-based development projects as peacebuilding tools—agroforestry, NTFPs, Community Conservation, Ecotourism, Carbon credit schemes, Climate Smart Agriculture, use of Mobile technology including drones for monitoring forests — to give youth an alternative to illegal activities..
5. Recognize the inseparable link between peace and environmental security.
One cannot exist without the other.
*In Conclusion: Love for Forests, Love for Our People*
This plea does not come from a place of politics, but from the heart of the forest.
We, the forest peoples and those who work to protect this landscapes, are exhausted by the war.
We want to conserve our wealth in forest biodiversity, not see them destroyed in crossfire and war.
We want to walk freely under the canopy, not hide beneath it.
We want to research, learn, grow, and share the wealth of our forests with future generations.
We love this land. We love our country and it’s forests. We call on our leaders to love us back—by choosing the path of peace.
