‘They paved paradise’: fighting back over the loss of green spaces in Cameroon’s capital — SkimNews
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- Yaoundé expanded from 33 sq miles in 1984 to 181 sq miles by 2024, reducing wooded areas from 28.6% to 5.4% of land cover according to the University of Yaoundé.
- Jean-Baptiste Tchengang has trained or helped about 300 people since 2022 in composting and local plant preservation, with 10 trainees creating gardens on abandoned plots in Nkolbisson.
- Mireille Nonga and 20 classmates have mapped Yaoundé’s green spaces since 2023, identifying 10 potential reforestation sites based on land status, accessibility, and water access.
- Yaoundé city council published a call for tenders in September to include landscaping, new parks, tree-lined avenues, and permeable paving under the MoVe Yaoundé urban renewal project.
- Jean-Marie Essoh, a climate specialist, emphasizes that trees in Yaoundé do more than beautify — they absorb rainwater, reduce runoff, stabilize soil, and cool the city amid spreading concrete.
- The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization reported in 2023 that urban green spaces are critical for climate resilience, warning their benefits are increasingly threatened by city expansion.
Why it matters: With Yaoundé’s population projected at 5.1 million by 2025 and a national housing deficit of 2.5 million units, the loss of green space intensifies flood risks and urban heat, placing low-income residents—who live in informal settlements on vulnerable land—at greatest risk as climate adaptation capacity erodes.
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