Cécile Ndjebet is the recipient of the 2022 Wangari Maathai Forest Champion Award by the Forest Cooperation Association (CPF), by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
Ms. Ndjebet was presented with the award at a ceremony in Seoul, South Korea, during the XV World Forestry Congress.
A voice for equality
“This award honors Cécile Ndjebet’s energy and dedication over three decades in advancing women’s rights to land and forests. She has actively shown that the participation of women in forest conservation and management is fundamental to achieving sustainable forest management,” speak Maria Helena Semedo, FAO Deputy Director General and chairperson of the CPF, which is comprised of 15 international organisations.
Ms. Ndjebet is the co-founder of the African Women’s Network for Community Forest Management, founded in 2009, which now has 20 member countries across the continent.
She has become a leading voice, both at home and internationally, in building global recognition of the importance of Gender equality in forest management.
Promoting women’s participation
In Cameroon, about 70% of women live in rural areas and depend at least in part on harvesting wild forest products for their livelihood.
However, in some communities, women cannot own or inherit forest land if their husbands die, or even plant trees on degraded land.
Mrs. Ndjebet has not stopped promoting the concept that Women should participate in forest management and have equal rights to land and forest resources. When they do, not only is the forest better preserved, but the entire community benefits as well.
“Men generally see the great role women play in improving the living standards of families,” she said. “But it is important that they also agree that for women to continue to fulfill that role and even improve it, they need to have safe access to land and forests.”
The FAO added that the activist has long been a driving force in the implementation of forest law and good governance in Cameroon, and established a new approach to community forestry and the restoration of lands and degraded forests, through the Cameroon Ecosystem (Cam-Eco), which she founded. two decades ago.
The organization has worked to inform, train and assist women to understand sustainability issues and participate in forest conservation and restoration.
Honoring the jungle champions
The Forest Champion Award is named in honor of the Kenyan environmentalist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, the late Wangari Maathai, who was also a UN Messenger of Peace.
The CPF established the award in 2012 to recognize inspirational people who have helped conserve, restore and manage forests sustainably.
Ms. Ndjebet met Ms. Maathai in 2009, who personally encouraged her in her work in helping women plant trees.
Wangari Maathai Forest Champion winners include Nepalese community forestry movement leader Narayan Kaji Shrestha, Mexican environmental campaigner, Martha Isabel ‘Pati’ Ruiz Corzo, and Burundian forestry activist Leonidas Nzigiyimpa.
