Releasing the turtles in the Iloh River near the Rio-del-Rey mangrove swamp.

Korup National Park is one of the oldest lowland rainforest that survived the old ice age in the world. She is very rich in species diversity and is one of the world’s biodiversity hot spots. It is a home of many endangered species of animals especially the Drills and the chimps. Regrettably 1 500 people live in this park (31 small village communities) and depend entirely on the resources with hunting of wildlife for bushmeat trade and NTFP gathering being the major activities to sustain livelihood. With the pressure mounted on these resources, we deem it necessary to provide an alternative activity that will enable the villagers make money and improve on their livelihood without harming the environment in which they live in. Cane rat, Snail farm and fish farming was sought out in a meeting with the villagers as the answer to the problem.

This project aim at building the capacity of the village communities living in and around Korup National Park to undertake certain livelihood projects as an alternative to unsustainable hunting and NTFPs gathering. During this project phase, villagers will be given a hands-on training on Fish, Cane rat and snail farming to supplement the hunting of wildlife for bushmeat trade, excessive NTFP gathering, thus improving on the income level of the villagers (improve livelihood), while taking into consideration the wise use of forest products. This project will go a long way to complement ongoing projects in some of the villages in and around Korup National Park carried out by us.