Theophilus Ngwene Nyo, Office Coordinatorassos
"So long as it is for the environment, I can work even for free."
© WWF-Canon / WWF-CARPO / Peter Ngea
Working with WWF and Dr Atanga (Project Coordinator) means working round the clock - I enjoy my work.
Many see him as the backbone of the project around the Kupe Muanenguba area. Love and dedication to his job has earned him respect among his peers. This is surprising for a young man who did history at the university. How did this happen?
Says Ngwene: "Shortly after university, I became curious about the work of Birdlife International in the Kupe area. I asked why people were watching birds and then opted to follow them (Birdlife staff) into the forest and that is how I began to understand and get involved.
When the Mount Kupe project started, I opted to do voluntary work and at the same time took serious interest in their library. I begged to work for them even for no pay to no avail but that only increased my desire to work for the environment. Luckily for me after a year or more, the project needed zonal animators and I went through the interview with flying colours".
It is after working for 10 months with the project as a Participatory Forest Management animator that Ngwene hooked up with the WWF Coastal Forest Programme that had come in to replace the Mount Kupe Project. He has since then been site Manager for Kupe based at Nyassoso from where he hails.
"So long as it is for the environment, I can work even for free", says the site Manager. His duties include promoting livelihood initiatives; initiating and promoting groups and eco-tourism.
He has his own share of frustrations. Foremost he says is the fact that at times programme activities are slowed down because of lack of sufficient funds or because of "complicated" financial transactions within WWF.
Ngwene thinks poverty in his area of work is devastating and makes things difficult. "There no roads - and no one is willing to go to a village where the roads are bad. This keeps income low as the people have no market for their forest. The few traders who make it there buy at very low prices which means you have to have more products in order to make some money. This is where the forest suffers as people go in search for more agricultural land to extend their farms. However, slowly but surely WWF is working with the locals to keep the areas ecological balance in tact".
