Ccile Nyjebet was awarded the 2022 Wangari Maathai Forest Champions Award, by the Collaborative Partnership on Forests.CPF), which is chaired by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Ms. Ndjebet received the award during a ceremony in Seoul, Republic of Korea at the XV World Forestry Congress.
A voice for equality
This award recognizes Ccile’s energy and dedication for three decades in promoting women’s rights to land, and forests. She has demonstrated that women’s participation in forest governance is essential to sustainable forest management. Maria Helena Semedo (FAO Deputy General Director-General, chair of the CPF which includes 15 international organisations)
Ms. Ndjebet co-founded the African Womens Network for Community Management of Forests in 2009. It was established by Ms. Ndjebet in 2009. The network now has 20 member countries.
She is a prominent voice in her country and internationally in promoting global awareness about the importance of Forest management: Gender equality.
Promoting women’s participation
Cameroon’s rural women comprise 70% of the population and depend at least partially on wild forest products to provide their livelihoods.
In some communities, however, women are not allowed to own forest land, inherit it if they die, or plant trees on degraded ground.
Ms. Ndjebet has tirelessly supported the concept Women should be involved in forest management, and have equal rights to forest land resources and forests.. Not only are forests more well-maintained, but whole communities also benefit.
She stated that men are generally aware of the importance of women in improving their families’ living standards. However, it is important that they also agree that women need to have secure access to land and forest in order to continue playing that role and improve upon it.
FAO stated that the activist had been a driving force behind the implementation of forestry law in Cameroon and good governance in Cameroon. She also established a new approach to community forestry and the restoration degraded lands and forests through Cameroon Ecology (Cam-Eco), two decades ago.
The organization was established to help women understand sustainability issues and get involved with forest conservation and restoration.
Forest champions are honoured
The Forest Champions Award is named after Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan environmentalist and Nobel Peace Prize Winner. UN Messenger of Peace.
The award was established by the CPF in 2012 in her honor to recognize those who have contributed to the preservation, restoration, and sustainable management of forests.
Ms. Ndjebet was introduced to Ms. Maathai by her mother in 2009. She encouraged her in her support of women planting trees.
Previous Wangari Maathai Forest Champion Award recipients include Narayan Kaji Shrestha from Nepal, Martha Isabel Pati Ruiz Corzo from Mexico, and Lonidas Nzigiyimpa, a Burundian forestry activist.