Our planet needs more real forest (not just monocultures in plantations).

We, humans, need more forest.

Without the forest, we are going suffer from warmer temperatures in urban areas

Without the forest, we are losing the fertility of the land.

Without the forest, we are losing the most important sources of drinking water.

There is probably no doubt we all need a good forest to sustain quality life for our children and their children and as well as for other fauna and flora. We did not want to just sit and observe those who are destroying the forest. Therefore we have decided to do something. To save and restore the forest. We are a small organization but with a strong spirit and clear vision. We are @kedjom-keku (People of the forest) conservation association.

How did it start?

Everything started in 2008 when our co-founder @martin.mikes got the opportunity to visit Cameroon as a student researcher to conduct a survey on birds and their ability to survive in the destroyed forest in the area called Kedjom-Keku. The results, as well as personal observation of the condition of the forest, was alarming. The high deforestation rate and Martin's love for Cameroon were the foundation stones of our conservation program. Kedjom-Keku conservation association was established in February 2010 in the Czech Republic with the clear goal - to save and restore the forests in Bamenda Highlands, around Kedjom-Keku in particular.

Our conservation really started in 2012, when we began building Misty Mountain Conservation Center. The first part of the center is Misty Mountain Primary School for the younger kids (3-12 years) of the mountain area. We then focused more on awareness raising to explain to the local farmers why the forest is so important. We have also planted already 5000 trees to restore the mountain forests. Now we focus on livelihood improvement of the locals. We believe nature conservation is a complex approach which cannot exclude any part of our life.

Currently, we work in close collaboration with two Cameroonian NGOs @thegreens (and its coordinator @mr-green) and La Liberte Art Group (@akumbu). Late 2017 Kedjom-Keku CASUD (Cameroonian branch of Czech Kedjom-Keku) was established. We did employ 5 members of the executive of CASUD, 8 forest guards/beekeepers who are helping us not only to protect the forest but also to plant more indigenous and fruit trees to restore the forest faster.

Steemit is already helping us a lot to get funding for our conservation program. When we found FUNDITION we got really excited. We are going to inform you about our progress as well as our failures. We would like to also raise the awareness of nature conservation here in the steemit community by publishing interesting articles about the environment surrounding us and issues of sustainable development.

Let's save the forest in Kedjom-Keku together!

Abongphen Highland Forest in Kedjom-Keku

Abongphen Highland Forest (misty mountain or Afromontane type) lies in the Kedjom-Keku area, whose name translates to the People of the Forest. It is a source of drinking water for millions of people and it is the natural habitat of the most threatened chimpanzee subspecies, the Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee, as well as hundreds of other endemic organisms of the Bamenda Highlands. Due to unsustainable development practices, the forest currently covers a mere 2% of its original area.

Looking for long-term sustainable solutions

We will use an investment concept to ensure socio-economic sustainability and forest protection. We will employ a local loan-invest approach, referred to as Njangi groups, to launch small businesses for local people with emphasis on the integration of organic farming and agroforestry practices and good management and social responsibility. Those groups will be further connected by an agro-cooperative called Forest Friendly Family. This approach will lift people from poverty, will allow them to be fully involved in those activities, will let them acquire new skills and competences on all small-scale company levels (farmers to managers) and will use sustainable and profitable methods of farming.

No forest, no water, no soil

There is no life without water, yet we are destroying one of its vital sources – forests. The misty mountain forest in the Bamenda Highlands in Northwest region of Cameroon covers only 2% of its original area. The extreme decrease in its size is the cause of the significant climate changes that have occurred in the region in the past 20 years. The amount of water in regional rivers has drastically declined and so has its quality. Local water sources are polluted by chemicals from farms and feces from cattle pastures. The farming land suffers from loss of nutrients. People living in or around the forest keep on burning more forest to open their farms, and repeat their extremely low-effectivity farming.

Not only water but very high and unique biodiversity

If no measures are taken to improve living conditions and farming practices, the misty mountain forest in Kedjom-Keku’s quarter Abonghpen (called Abongphen Highland Forest) will most likely be erased for good within the next five years. If this happens, People of the Forest will lose both their identity and source of water (together with millions of humans downstream). Together with the forest, hundreds of endemic species which are only found in this particular place and nowhere else on the planet will go extinct. Some of these are the endangered Bannerman’s Turaco, a rare bird, and the most threatened chimpanzee subspecies, the Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee.

What we have to do and how much does it cost?

The most important part of nature conservation is livelihood improvement of the people who are actually destroying the forest. That is why we employ former hunters as well as farmers to do actually opposite than they have been doing until now. The first step to make sure our goals will be achieved we need to sustainably run our conservation center. Which helps us to raise above-mentioned awareness of the forest, train local farmers in sustainable alternatives of their livelihood, protect the remaining forest and plant 1,000,000 trees to restore at least 1000 hectares of the Abongphen Highland Forest. The basic cost to run our conservation center is $2,278/month. It includes 4 members of the executive of Kedjom-Keku CASUD ($168 each), 8 forest guards/tree planters/beekeepers ($137 each), 2 advisors ($73 each), law enforcement ($182) and transportation, internet, other costs ($182). If we are going to implement a project with additional costs, we will always let you know every month, what is going to happen and how much it will cost.

Be transparent!

We will provide you all details, information, reports, and pictures of our activities together with awareness-raising articles to let steemit community know what is going on around us. We are happy to be part of fundition. We know we are quite ambitious with the goal, but you can trust us we need far more than to plant "just" 1 million trees.

I wish you a great day,

@martin.mikes

co-founder of @kedjom-keku, www.kedjom-keku.com