Restoring floodplains (Cameroon)

The Waza Logone floodplain in Cameroon represents a critical area of biodiversity and high productivity in a dry area where rainfall is uncertain and livelihoods are insecure. Natural goods and services from the floodplain provide a basic income and subsistence for about 125,000 people (85% of the population).

In 1979 the construction of a large irrigated rice scheme reduced flooding by almost 1,000 square kilometers, with devastating effects on the biodiversity and human population of the area. The loss of floods resulted in a reduction in grazing, fishing, natural resource harvesting and loss of water supplies estimated at direct losses of more than US$ 2 million per year affecting the poorest and most vulnerable groups in the region.

The Projet de Conservation et de Dévelopment de la Région de Waza Logone has helped rehabilitate the floodplain through two flood releases, which have led to dramatic recoveries of floodplain flora and fauna and been welcomed by local communities. It has added more than US$2.5 million per year to the regional economy, rehabilitating pastures, fisheries and farmland areas used by nearly a third of the population, to the value of about US$250 per capita.