Dja situation is 'critical'
The importance of our Darwin Initiative project was raised even more significantly by a report published by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The report, entitled “IUCN World Heritage Outlook 2: a conservation assessment of all natural World Heritage sites” (November 2017), assesses the Dja Faunal Reserve (DFR) as still having a Conservation Outlook of ‘Critical’, which means that the natural resources – including threatened wildlife species -are in immediate danger of being lost as a result of over hunting, uncontrolled urbanisation, large scale development, and extraction industries, all impacting negatively on the Dja Faunal Reserve, which is a World Heritage Site.
The report emphasi
ses the need to find ways for sustainable development for the people that live around the DFR, and many of whom rely on the resources in and around the Reserve to provide livelihood support. That’s why we’re working with local communities and other stakeholders to help identify and support changes that result in food security (notably to provide sustainable sources of protein) and new and improved ways to generate income for the rural poor.