CAMEROON Law and Practice Contributed by: Lynda Amadagana, Elise Ngo Nyobe, Cecile Bella and Kevin Djomgoue, Amadagana & Partners
Kimberley Process, as well as provisions relating to respect for the environment or at least sus - tainable development requirements. 2.8 Illegal Mining Illegal mining is an issue in Cameroon particularly in the mineral-rich eastern and northern regions. According to the 2023 ENACT Organised Crime Index Report, high levels of corruption in Cam - eroon’s State institutions provide a safe haven for illegal actors. A complex criminal network is involved in illegal mining in the country. The net - work ranges from State and local administrative officials and political elites as well as unlicensed miners and exporters, to local residents and community members. The illicit transnational supply chain for illegally mined products involves Chinese companies and is aided by porous bor - ders, regional conflicts, widespread poverty and entrenched corruption. Illegally extracted min - eral resources are trafficked to China, the UAE and Vietnam through Douala and neighbouring countries. Illegal mining poses significant disruptions to legal industrial mining production in Cameroon. Some of these disruptions include extractable resource depletion, operational delays faced by legal mining companies, environmental damage, security risks, and reputational damage. Mining companies and the government respond to illegal mining with a combination of enforce - ment, preventative measures and socio-eco - nomic strategies. Mining companies tend to enhance their security measures like installing surveillance systems and hiring private secu - rity companies. Some companies also invest in community engagement by funding education and healthcare projects. The government usu - ally reacts with law enforcement, military deploy - ment, regulatory oversight and public awareness
campaigns, sealing access to illegal mining sites, and jailing illegal miners. 2.9 Good and Bad Examples of Community Relations/Consultation Impacting Mining Projects In the Ngoura district in the eastern region of Cameroon, local people were angry at both the mining operators, and the traditional authorities and denounced the excessive monopolisation of their land by the mining operators to the admin - istrative authorities. They felt that the mining operators were taking advantage of their mining permits to appropriate thousands of hectares of land in the villages. On the other hand, the majority of industrial pro - jects are still at the structuring phase and so far consultations with local communities are going well, and they are represented by civil society, local elites, and civil and traditional authorities such as Group ERAMET, LAFARGE, SINOOST - EEL, and CAMALCO.
3. Climate Change, Energy Transition and Sustainable Development in Mining 3.1 Climate Change Effects
The Mining Code provides that in order to ensure that mining and quarrying resources are exploit - ed rationally and take the environmental impact into account, mining licence holders must:
• protect flora; • reduce waste;
• manage waste in line with current legislation; • reduce emissions of CO, CO₂, SO₂, NO, NO₂, HC and particulate matter from machinery as well as dust emissions;
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