Within this ecoregion sits the Douala-Edea Wildlife Reserve, created in 1932 and recently identified as one of the most important conservation landscapes in Central Africa.

The reserve’s forests are home to several threatened primates including the Central Chimpanzee and Gabon Black Colobus Monkey, while also serving as a refuge for a small population of African Forest Elephants. The reserve’s labyrinth wetlands and marine habitats are a haven for birdlife and threatened marine species such as the West African Manatee and Atlantic Humpback Dolphin. Furthermore, the Green and Olive Ridley Sea Turtles all nest on the reserve’s beaches and the Critically Endangered Hawksbill Sea Turtle occur offshore.

Despite this area’s high biodiversity value, much of it still remains unprotected and threatened by growing resource pressure from neighboring towns. Rainforest Trust is working with local partner Cameroon Wildlife Conservation Society (CWCS) to elevate the protected status of the 395,200-acre Douala-Edea Wildlife Reserve to a national park while expanding it with an additional 98,800 acres of mangrove forests, rivers and wetlands along with 247,000 acres of marine habitat. Collectively, this designation as a national park along with the area’s overall expansion will comprehensively safeguard a total of 741,000 acres of coastal forest, mangrove and marine habitats, protecting both the integrity and connectivity of this amazingly diverse ecosystem.

Douala-Edea’s wildlife is highly threatened from habitat degradation and pressures put on the area from a growing and rapidly urbanizing population.

Access to the area by water and road from nearby cities has resulted in unsustainable poaching, fishing, plantation agriculture, petroleum exploration and the massive cutting of mangrove forests for fish smoking. A lack of manpower makes it difficult for poorly-equipped rangers to effectively patrol or enforce the protected area. For example, elephant populations in Douala-Edea have declined since 1998 while manatees are hunted and trapped in fishing nets. Other wildlife is routinely hunted. Without a concerted effort to expand protection and manage this area, Douala-Edea faces a grim future.

Rainforest Trust is working with local partner, Cameroon Wildlife Conservation Society (CWCS), to elevate the protected status of Douala-Edea Wildlife Reserve to a national park while increasing the reserve by 375,303 acres of mangrove forests, rivers, wetlands and marine habitats. Collectively, this expansion and conversion to a national park will actively safeguard a total of 741,000 acres.

Local partner CWCS will work to preserve the ecological integrity and connectivity of Douala-Edea’s habitats in three ways. First, the monitoring and enforcement of the reserve will be strengthened by hiring and training rangers, building five strategically placed ranger stations, and mapping the new expansion area. Second, CWCS will establish the national park with the involvement of surrounding communities. Last, communication platforms will be established to encourage dialogue between the park’s services, local communities and other key stakeholders. The new national park status and expansion of Douala-Edea Wildlife Reserve will be a huge win for Cameroon’s wildlife, serving as an important new piece in a larger network of protected areas along the Atlantic coast of Cameroon. Together with a series of connected protected areas spanning from the Niger Delta in the North to Equatorial Guinea in the South, a vast series of connected parks and preserves will finally come into place for the Atlantic Equatorial coastal forest, providing trans-boundary protection for the region’s rich wildlife.