Hi everyone, my name is Alex, I am a wildlife conservationist from Cameroon, central Africa. Since I graduated from the University of Douala as an engineer in Aquatic ecosystems and fisheries management, I have worked on multiple conservation projects, from protecting the African manatees in freshwater lakes, understanding challenges faced by marine turtles or sharks and rays in marine habitats, to monitoring terrestrial mammals in tropical forests in my country.
Did you know that among all the fish species that we know today, more than half of them live in freshwater habitats? You can check out more here on this amazing report.
I am a wildlife conservationist with a dedication for ecological monitoring. Throughout my career, I have worked in various ecosystems, including lakes conserving manatees, marine spaces monitoring sharks and rays, and terrestrial habitats in Cameroon's tropical forests and savannahs, focused on conserving terrestrial mammals. I am on wildhub to build my network and scale up my knowledge and skills in wildlife monitoring.
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Hi Alex. I used to work for ZSL in Cameroon. That was a while back ... from 2007 to 2012 ! At that time, ZSL conducted its first and sole project in Cameroon: the Wildlife Wood Project and I was privileged to be its coordinator. Based in Yaoundé and Mindourou (Pallisco's headquarters)
Time has passed since then. I think I've seen you mentioned a ZSL in today's exercise about naming documents but you are a consultant for TRAFFIC. Did you work for ZSL?
Hi Eric, Yes I started my career in conservation with ZSL Cameroon from 2016 till 2022. During that period, the Douala-Edea landscape project was the only one in the country linked to the marine and freshwater department and I was responsible for biomonitoring surveys at first for the Lake Ossa Wildlife Reserve project and later on for the Douala-Edea National Park. We went from protecting manatees in Lake Ossa in 2016 to understanding sharks and rays, marine turtles and terrestrial mammals in the Douala-Edea National Park up till 2022. It was a great time working at ZSL but unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the office to close, and that is how I left the organisation.
I was told that the Wildlife Wood Project was the first project that ZSL implemented in Cameroon, and it is a great pleasure for me to meet you, who coordinated it, here. I am pretty sure that, among others, the Douala-Edea project existed because you did a great job and permit me to show some gratitude here.
Yes, while waiting to get a permanent Job, I am on a freelance now, and actually, I am working with TRAFFIC to understand the value chain of swim bladders in some French-speaking countries of Africa. where did you go after ZSL Cameroon and where do you work now?
Hi Alex, thanks for sharing the report. You're doing amazing job and thanks for your contribution during live sessions! All the best,
Mavuto
Hi Alex,
Thank you for your patience. I do not often log in to this platform and hadn't seen your reply. Many thanks for your message.
Great to hear about all you have been doing. Congrats ! And thank you for your efforts to save marine and freshwater wildlife.
To answer your question, I left Cameroon in 2012 and worked for WCS in Gabon for a while, then in Congo as Nouabalé-Ndoki Park Director from 2016 to 2021. I am now a freelance consultant accompanying conservation projects in Central Africa. I am currently based in Belgium.
It's good to hear you are freelance now. I am too. For some projects, I like to collaborate with local partners and organisations. Who knows? We might be working together some time in the future. My email address is ericarnhem@gmail.com and here is a link to my web page with additional info. Please, keep in touch.
Best,
Eric