Since 2025, communities living near Deng Deng National Park (PNDD) in the Eastern Region have been receiving support from SAILD as part of a participatory restoration project for degraded forest areas within the park’s forest landscape. Residents of the villages of Kambo-Cassi, Hona, and Mansa have been trained in restoration practices such as agroforestry and agroecology. From February 23 to 27, 2026, the NGO conducted monitoring activities in these localities within the Belabo district.
About 5 kilometers from Deng Deng National Park (PNDD) lies the village of Hona, home to an ambitious restoration project. In the heart of the village, one’s attention is quickly drawn to black plastic bags filled with fertile growing medium, serving as containers for bagged tree seedlings. These are nurseries for young fruit and forest trees, carefully established by the communities with the help of the Support Service for Local Development Initiatives (SAILD), to contribute to the restoration of degraded forest areas in this village bordering the PNDD
With gloves and boots on, Aristide Tchounkeu, an agricultural engineer, and Kévine Weze, a forest and wildlife management engineer, are here to tend to these young saplings. Their expert fingers gently feel the growing trees. “The leaves have a beautiful green color. That’s a sign of good care,” says Kévine.
The two engineers working at SAILD are tasked with assessing the condition of the seedlings in community and private nurseries in this village. For five days, they diligently carry out the same work in the neighboring villages of Mansa and Kambo-cassi, known for their proximity to the park.
According to them, the results are generally satisfactory in all three villages. “The nurseries are well maintained and the plants are growing well. The progress is encouraging. In Hona, the chair of the development committee has 77 seedlings in his nursery, while five other people have started their own nurseries. In Mansa, four people have established nurseries with lemon, mango, and cacao trees. And in Kambo-Cassi, 16 people have their own nurseries with orange, avocado, mandarin, and safou trees,” Aristide reports. The tree seedlings will be integrated into the beneficiaries’ corn and bean fields in April using an agroforestry approach, with the aim of enhancing the sustainability of their farms.
For the beneficiary communities, this project comes at a crucial time when deforestation is on the rise. “To cultivate the land, we used to cut down trees deep into the forest. Thanks to the training, we’ve come to understand that this practice isn’t good for the environment, and that it’s important to plant new trees because their fruits are beneficial to us,” says Mireille Taillo, a beneficiary from Mansa.
The adoption of agroecological techniques: a challenge
In addition, field visits continued in the fields of beneficiaries in these three villages in the Belabo district. The purpose was to assess the adoption of the agroecological practices promoted on-site. According to Kevine Weze of SAILD, discussions with local residents reveal a low level of adoption of agroecological practices. “Although the use of agroecological inputs such as Tithonia manure and chili-based insect repellent remains limited, crop rotation is widely practiced,” she explains..
At the same time, the fields have been prepared and are ready to receive the seedlings as soon as the rains begin, under the expert supervision of the SAILD team.
However, according to them, it remains important to continue providing technical support, raise awareness of agroecological practices, and establish local mechanisms to safeguard nurseries and plantations in order to sustainably consolidate the project’s achievements.
- Sharon Maché
