By Etienne Mainimo Mengnjo
A landmark report by Earth Cameroon has issued an urgent call to action for the government and international partners to protect the rights of communities living in the shadow of major natural resource projects.
The “Rapport Earth Cameroon 2025-2026,” made public on July 7 in Yaounde, highlights severe environmental and social crises in the Far North region and the outskirts of Yaoundé, demanding a transition toward governance rooted in social and environmental justice.
In the Kalfou communal forest reserve, local populations are facing a devastating human-elephant conflict that threatens both lives and livelihoods. The report reveals that approximately 93% of residents suffer from repeated elephant incursions that ruin crops, destroy property, and worsen local economic hardship.
“The riverine populations continue, to this day, to pay the price of this inaction through the loss of innocent human lives, crops and livelihoods — an avoidable, documented, and yet ignored drama,” the report states.
To halt this crisis, Earth Cameroon is demanding the immediate funding and implementation of a Local Land Use and Sustainable Development Plan (PLADDT) for Kalfou. The organization is calling on the Ministry of Forests and Wildlife (MINFOF), the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Regional Development (MINEPAT), and international conservation giants like the WWF, WCS, AWF, and GIZ/PETRADEP to immediately release budgetary lines and conservation funds allocated for this purpose.
Furthermore, Earth Cameroon insists on the creation of a technical committee within 30 days to finalize this plan with the active participation of local authorities and civil society, alongside swift emergency measures to mitigate the conflict in the interim.
The situation is equally critical around the stone quarries of Akak and Eloumden, where communities suffer from severe land conflicts, unfair compensation, and dangerous, contractless working conditions. A significant divide has emerged between original residents and newcomers regarding payment distribution, while agricultural investments continue to be destroyed without recourse.
The report notes that existing mining and environmental laws are either ignored by operators or entirely unknown to the affected communities. Earth Cameroon aims to bridge this gap by defending these neglected populations who lack the resources to hire legal representation.
To resolve these tensions, the organization advises the Ministry of Mines to rapidly map and formalize the protection zones mandated by the 2023 mining law. Currently, the absence of an official decree identifying these zones leaves local communities entirely vulnerable, unable to protect their ancestral lands, water sources, and cultural sites.
The Ministry of State Property, Surveys and Land Tenure (MINDCAF) must also take decisive action to enforce Article 91 of the 2023 mining law, which governs compensation. Earth Cameroon stresses the need for MINDCAF to publish clear guidelines on how residents can file claims, establish a standardized system to assess the seven distinct types of damage outlined in Article 90, and launch regular investigations into the quarry sites of Eloumden and Akak.
“This procedural void exposes riverine populations to an unbalanced power relationship with mining companies. MINDCAF must urgently take the proposed steps because procedural gaps create a risk of denial of land justice for populations who are often poorly informed about this avenue of appeal,” the report stated.
Ultimately, the 2025-2026 report serves as a rigorous assessment designed to highlight ongoing human rights violations and propose pathways for equitable resource management. Earth Cameroon has issued a strict three-month deadline for public officials to report on the concrete steps taken to address these findings. If the state fails to respond, the organization warns it will bring this collective inaction directly to public attention and international environmental governance bodies.
