The inaugural seminar organised by William BELLO and the team at WC1A
Consulting took place on
Monday November 30th, 2015. The event was held
in an elegant hall at the British Language Institute at Akwa, Douala.
On the menu for the day, were presentations from two dynamic
trailblazers who are alumni of the Cameroon Leadership Academy’s 4th
badge. Temta Alice Michelle presented on national recreational parks,
whilst Armand Yomi presented on national public gardens.
As an environmental social enterprise, our primary objective was to
sensitise the youth on this crucial issue, and to galvanise their
participation in finding innovative ways of improving our urban and
rural outdoors. Admittedly, African localities are very deficient in
spacious green outdoor spaces. Public parks and gardens are integral to
any locality including a “red-brick” city like Pretoria, a “wet-paint”
city like Lagos or even a “dusty-foot” town like Kumba.
The great outdoors represent a huge importance for our human
existence, and are critical in arbitrating our natural ecosystems. These
green national monuments are symbolic of sustainable development and
growth. They are a hubbub of heritage, culture and an assortment of
history shouting out under the sun, and singing loud in the rain. These
natural treasures are of economic, cultural and especially environmental
value.
In her presentation on the subject of national recreational parks,
Miss Temta rightfully pointed to the definitive difference between
national reserve parks and national recreational parks. She defined
national reserve parks as open space natural areas that harbour animals.
The animals are generally kept in a manner to simulate life in the
wild, unlike zoos where animals are kept in cages and other artificial
habitats. National reserve parks are often declared protected zones in a
bid to preserve their natural ecology and their biodiversity. Examples
of these protected national reserve parks in Cameroon include the: Waza
National Park, Dja Wildlife Reserve, Korup National Reserve and Campo
Reserve.
Recreational parks were defined as a large area of land preserved in
their natural state as public property or, as secondary vegetation in
open space used recreationally for amusement, leisure or relaxation. The
most notable example in Cameroon was the Base Elf public park at the
banks of the Wouri in Douala. Sadly this historic site was traded for a
cement production unit owned by Aliko Dangote, ending years of local
heritage and history. The secondary forest park in Yaoundé is the most
contemporary green urban investment in Cameroon.
Recreational parks are very vital to the social construct and play an
important role in the ecology and
environmental conservation of any
settlement. Firstly, they revitalise the community by providing a common
ground for rencounter or pass-time. They are generally very
family-friendly and accommodate vulnerable persons like the very young
and the very elderly. As such communities become more convivial
especially in the big city.
Furthermore, they encourage the community to engage in auspicious
green activity. Going green entails numerous aspects of a sustainable
lifestyle, and particularly the notion of sanitation and fighting
pollution. It is critical for the community to ascertain its waste
production and management. It is evident the amount of filth and
contamination present throughout Douala and other major urban localities
principally in Cameroon. Public parks are a real solution to the sound
and waste pollution, whereby trees absorb the sound and gases, and
people mobilise to keep their parks clean using infrastructures like
public bins and toilets.
Additionally, these public parks advance public health and can be a
substitute for conventional classrooms for learning. At a time when
technology is creating more and more couch-potatoes and “desktop
zombies”, public parks are a great way of encouraging the public to go
outside and enjoy the open spaces. Outdoor exercises and activities are a
fundamental way of gaining knowledge as well as reducing obesity that
entrails other health complications like cardiac arrests or diabetes
amongst the youth and adults.
Africa is in an ascent and its major economic cities like Douala or
Lagos are hotbeds for new foreign direct investments. Creating such
green spaces is a way of soliciting investors. Modernising these cities
to green-friendly standards encourages tourism and other expatriate
business activities. The population of Lagos which is 5 times that of
Douala stands at circa 5.2 million inhabitants and growing. The economic
growth of these cities attracts numerous rural settlers to the urban
towns in search of financial satisfaction. Accommodating this population
requires public parks to regulate the environmental activities present
in such expanding cities.
As founder of a similar bio-eco start-up, Armand Yomi was the perfect
candidate to discuss on the subject of national public gardens before a
group of curious young professionals. Choosing to spare the audience an
elaborate definition of public gardens, the presentation delved more or
less instantly into the nuances present in creating a public garden in
the city. His presentation vied particularly towards his practical
experience on the field, with the use of several personal references as
well as others’ testimonies.
Connecting the dots between theory and practice, Armand quickly
addressed the fact that it was onto the state to authorise the creation
of a public garden. He pointed the fact that it was open to the public
to initiate such public interest initiatives, even though; it was more
precisely the job of the local city council to green light the creation
of such a project. Whereas many private and public figures were full of
positive ideas and enthusiastic about creating beautiful outdoors,
numerous factors are to be considered when deliberating on this matter.
Whether it is for the creation of a recreational public park or a
national public garden, the steps to follow are principally equal. The
bureaucracy to adhere to does not change much the one from the other. In
many situations, the local council authorised to administer the works
would deliberate on certain key pointers in order to ascertain the
viability of the project. In this situation a scale placing practicality
versus purpose is presented. A comparison of the social versus the
financial ROI is used to determine whether or not to invest. Social
being the sustainability, while financial is the profitability.
Many local city councils he affirmed were well informed and aware of
the ecological and environmental advantage of key botanic plants;
nonetheless, they stymied any investments in these projects because they
placed financial comfort above environmental cost. More so, individuals
were prohibited from engaging in any works on open public spaces
without state permission; the latter is famously known to take forever.
Sustainability was a term Armand choose to emphasise greatly on,
pointing the light strictly on the role of public gardens in promoting a
sustainable environment and society. He stated that the creation of
gardens was a way of preserving the myriad of plant biodiversity current
in the country, and to encourage the growth of new species. It is a
chance to expand the outdoor green cover and reduce CO2 emissions into
the earth’s atmosphere. He mentioned that at a time when humanity faces
water and food insecurity public gardens were a great laboratory for new
crops and methods of water conservation and purification. Public
gardens are significant in ensuring the sustainable development of
African societies.
Ultimately recreational public parks likewise national public gardens
are phenomenal for any locality to find itself and identify its
personality as it represents a way of expressing their existence and
culture through their natural biological beauty. Both share similar
benefits to human existence. Falling under the charm of living in
greener beautiful cities, we conceived the idea of two potential
exquisite sites to create a new public park and public garden in the
city of Douala. The two sites chosen by our speakers were the water
channel situated in Yassa at the city entrance, and the area around the
popular Paco Vita sports venue at Bonamoussadi.
These places represent strategic choices by the presenters who had
great visions in deciding for these places. In her mind, Alice wanted to
clean up the much polluted water to help prevent clogging causing
floods and illnesses. She envisioned cleaning up the dirty water with
the use of plants at the edge of the water whose roots would help purify
the water. Furthermore, she would assign the recycling and replacement
of the floating non-biodegradable plastic bottles by plastic boats to
encourage visitors to peddle their ride along the park and exercise at
the same time. She would also ornate the surrounding with soft mown
grass and an artistic decor that would encourage the community to bask
in sun outdoors. The area would remind of the heydays of the Kyriakides
Park in Yaounde.
Armand’s idea was to transform the currently distressed landscape
into a more vive area. By targeting a prominent leisure site such as
this, he aimed to create a beautiful juxtaposition of fitness and
relaxation. That exquisite melange creates a phenomenal sports centre,
an atmosphere that is simultaneously obstacles and colourful. Flowers,
fountains, monuments and benches alongside an assortment of sport courts
and playground fixtures would render the place tidy and clean.
To realise our concept of establishing parks that would ensure our
outdoors are maximised and our environment is sustained, key factors are
needed to build a working strategy. The first factor is to ensure a
financial ROI. Monetisation is critical for survival and this can be
done by democratising stakeholder contribution and inspection by the
wider public. Cash and kind contribution especially via CSR and
volunteerism are vital for park longevity. Next, it is important to
unlock contemporary technologies and expose a Pandora box of
opportunities for an eco-friendly environment. Leveraging technological
know-how and business models would hugely promote the endeavour. Lastly,
giving the parks a theme of the city’s vision is a fundamental way of
preserving its pedigree. The concept of the public garden or
recreational park should align with the city’s vision and display its
heritage like the core city symbol.
When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)
No comments:
Post a Comment