World Wildlife Fund

Debt-for-Nature Swap Protects Africa's Congo Basin

The debt swap will help protect Cameroon's species, including the forest elephant.
© WWF-Canon/Martin Harvey

WWF's Intense lobbying led France and Cameroon to sign the first-ever Central African debt-for-nature swap on June 22. The agreement will see at least $25 million over the next five years invested in protecting parts of the Congo River Basin, the world's second largest rain forest and home to some of Africa's most spectacular wildlife as well as indigenous groups such as the Baka.

A debt-for-nature swap relieves a government's foreign debt burden in exchange for the government's commitment to spend a certain amount of its local currency to safeguard its natural resources. WWF was one of the institutions that pioneered the concept of using a country's debt to help fund conservation in the late 1980s and we have played a vital role in the implementation of debt-for-nature swaps around the world.

The Central African agreement requires Cameroon to earmark funds among four different sectors: education, health, infrastructure and natural resources. The agreement was initiated by France's Debt Development Contract under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative — a joint program of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

Cameroon's forests are teeming with wildlife, from gorillas and chimpanzees to forest elephants and bongos. But the country's forests are severely threatened by illegal logging and an underdeveloped infrastructure. As a solution, the agreement calls for the government of Cameroon to work with logging companies to develop management plans and create a demand for certified, environmentally friendly products. Employing 12,000 people, the forest sector is Cameroon's largest private employer and the second largest source of export revenue after oil. However, forest sector employment has dropped in recent years, so funds also will be used to reestablish two national forestry schools to train the new recruits.