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With its 170,000 hectares, the Waza Biosphere Reserve offers ideal conditions for quality ecotourism, notably thanks to the numerous presence of elephants, giraffes, large colonies of different bird species and felines, including lions. Unfortunately, Waza Biosphere Reserve is also considered a dangerous place because it is frequented by terrorist groups that pose a threat to social cohesion.

The Waza Biosphere Reserve, this tourist treasure of Cameroon, has been deteriorating for several years as a result of the presence and/or the combined action of the local communities on its biological, hydraulic and cultural heritage. In spite of a certain involvement of these communities in the management of Waza, there is still a difficult compromise between the direct needs of the riparian communities and the requirements of sustainable management of this rich but fragile biodiversity.

Nearly 30 years after the Rio Convention on Biological Diversity, the need for sustainable management of biodiversity resources is more than ever a priority. In this context, initiatives aimed at making the concept of sustainable management operational have multiplied.

It is within this framework that the UNESCO Regional Office for Central Africa is involved in supporting the countries of the Lake Chad Basin (Cameroon, Niger, CAR and Chad) in strengthening the resilience of communities in the face of security and climate challenges.

UNESCO, through the BIOPALT project, is supporting the establishment of a community radio station in the Waza Biosphere Reserve. To ensure the success of this support, the BIOPALT project team conducted an exchange and experience sharing visit with the local team, which focused on the potential positive impacts of the community radio tool within the community. In addition, UNESCO is considering other support actions, including the restructuring of the building that will house the radio, but also training, the acquisition of radio equipment and its installation.  

In this period of COVID-19 pandemic, radio appears more than ever indispensable in the dynamics of mobilisation and adhesion of the beneficiaries around local initiatives. It also facilitates the creation of favourable conditions for dialogue between communities and improves the dissemination of useful information to local residents, in order to promote a culture of peace and contribute to civic education.

The radio is also expected to accompany policies and measures to fight poverty and find solutions for sustainable peace, especially in the park and in areas affected by Boko-Haram attacks in the region.

The BIOPALT initiative, funded by the African Development Bank (ADB), places particular emphasis on knowledge transfer and experience sharing to encourage local populations to adopt and enhance sustainable development practices to preserve the biosphere reserve and improve the socio-economic well-being of local communities.