I have read and seen a variety of ways people use in protecting the environment. Some people go through sensitization on the media, through field visit, regeneration of the forest and so on.  CAMGEW blends all these methods in fighting the problem of environmental degradation and deforestation. In addition to that she involves the improvement of livelihood through apiculture activities as a measure to fight deforestation.

In 2013, I joint CAMGEW as a volunteer under a project entitled ?Participatory Oku Community Forest Management through Forest Regeneration and Apiculture for Livelihood improvement?. This project was aimed at regenerating the forest with prunus africana (locally known as eblaa or Kanda). The choice of this tree was because it is a native tree of the forest and it is also medicinal used both locally and sold to pharmaceutical industries which produce medicines from it which are used in the treatment of prostate cancer. It is a watershed tree, a bee loving tree species and a sustainable management of this tree specie could increase the standards of living of the Oku community members. The project also had to train bee farmers on the modern techniques of apiculture and carry out environmental education with youth and students of Oku.

In the Oku Community Forest the highest threat posed to the forest are bush fires which emanate mostly from traditional methods of bee farming. These methods are based on the use of fires for honey harvesting during the night.  In the course of harvesting the honey at night and using fire, most of the bees in the bee hive are killed causing a reduction in the population of bees in the hive and at times the bees abscond from the hive. Some farmers either forget to put of the fire or do not quench it well and they cause bush fire.

CAMGEW thought of bee farming as a sustainable activity that could be done to preserve the forest. The value of the Oku White honey has increased greatly these pass years with its certification as a Geographical Indication Product by the African Intellectual Property Right Organization. More people are getting involved in bee farming activities and increasing the risks on forest resources. We in CAMGEW in partnership with the Oku Honey Cooperative Society (OHCS) organized bee farming training workshops on modern techniques of apiculture.

The training was done for two days. The first day involved a theoretical session during which bee farmer group members were educated on the bee colony, colonization, taking care of apiaries, harvesting of honey using sustainable method. The second day was a practical session where we harvest honey using modern methods and equipment like bee suits and smokers. We also construct hives using local material affordable by the poor community members. The type of hives used in Oku is hollow hives made with Indian bamboo and raffia bamboo tied with grass. At the end of the training session, the participants are given free hives as start-up. Women who participate in the training are given two hives each.

 I learnt how to construct, mount and colonize bee hives. I also learnt how to harvest honey sustainably while protecting bee colonies and the forest.

The choice of bee farming as a measure to fight deforestation is because we saw that ownership of bee hives in the forest by community members will cause then not to destroy the forest again, the community members will be involved in fighting a fire incidence in the forest incase there is a bush fire. Having received knowledge on the importance of trees to their activities, they will no longer fall fresh trees especially prunus africana. With hives in the forest all bee farmers feel concerned with any activity that threatens the forest and this way, the forest is not just protected for what it is but also for what it provides to them.