Tree Planting
Tackling deforestation requires action at all levels. Local participation would ensure that communities affected by deforestation can take their concerns and grievances to the government and demand action. Communities can also contribute to the fight against deforestation and climate change, by organising local projects.
In Cameroon the Association for Community Awareness (ASCOA) is doing its part by organising presentations, debates, and discussions at various Cameroonian schools to educate students about environmental protection. The organisation also holds annual tree-planting events ensuring the community stays green. ASCOA has also established an “Environmental Club” at all the schools they have visited, and teaches residents about the kinds of trees suitable for sustainable planting and soil protection. The organisation promotes new indigenous farming methods to replace the current slash-and-burn technique that farmers believe improves soil fertility. Slash-and-burn leaves the land exposed to erosion, reduces organic matter essential for soil fertility, and is a major cause of deforestation worldwide. Every step counts, and ASCOA is committed to ensuring that everyone takes responsibility for protecting the environment.
Plastic Pollution
ASCOA’s mission to improve communities’ quality of life has always included protecting the environment. Among its efforts, coastal cleanups have effectively sensitised the population to care about our environment. Cleanup days have provided an opportunity to realise the amount and impact of waste, specifically plastic waste, on the environment.
Plastic is known to have an incredibly long lifespan: some larger plastic objects can take up to 500 years to break down and dissolve within the surrounding environment. Apart from the obvious and well-known problems linked to the enormous amount of plastic waste produced, other less visible, but just as concerning, consequences must not be underestimated.
Ocean Littering
At The Association for Community Awareness (ASCOA), we are committed to protecting our oceans. Our environmental protection projects have raised awareness about plastic pollution in Cameroon’s South West region. Through our coastal clean-ups, we prevent litter from streaming further out into the ocean, where marine animals can swallow it and get poisoned. As consumers of seafood, our health can also be affected. Every year ASCOA joins Ocean Conservancy and the international community to commemorate International Coastal Clean-up Day. In 2019, we collected more than 70 tonnes of plastic from Limbe’s beaches.
We will continue our efforts to sensitise our communities about the damaging effects of rubbish and plastic pollution on our beaches because, by protecting our oceans, we save lives.
Waste Management
ASCOA’s community conservation champions are critical to halting environmental degradation.
Many non-governmental organisations (NGOs) work year-round to promote environmental protection, focusing on different initiatives to help our planet, from protecting forests to saving endangered species. Often known as “conservation champions”, these individuals or groups make outstanding contributions to protecting and conserving species, habitats, or ecological processes.
Protecting the environment and fostering sustainable development are two goals at the heart of ASCOA’s mission. ASCOA recognises that local communities and collective change are essential to sustainable development efforts in Cameroon. Projects such as promoting “World Environment Day” and “Stop Plastic Pollution”, community tree-planting, litter-picking, and regular coastal clean-ups to rid the region’s beaches of hazardous waste, are among the organisation’s efforts in environmental protection. According to the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF), Cameroon is on the frontline for environmental degradation due to expanding urban development; local efforts towards slowing this trend are vital.
