Places you never thought you would visit

Posted by James Leape, Director General, WWF International

Not long ago, after tending to official meetings in Yaounde, Cameroon, I had an opportunity to drive seven hours southwest of the capital to one of WWF’s project sites—the Campo-Ma'an National Park—which you can now visit on Google Earth.

Created in 2000, the Campo-Ma’an park is a nature lover’s paradise with 80 species of mammals, including endangered elephants, gorillas and chimpanzees, as well as at least 302 species of birds, 122 species of reptiles, more than 80 species of amphibians, 249 species of fish, and a high level of endemic plant life. However, it is the local people who make this area so special. The communities living near the park are keen to protect their natural resources, but also desperate for economic development. WWF is working in partnership with them to promote community-based nature tourism as one solution.

By opening Google Earth and selecting the new WWF layer under "Global Awareness," you too can visit this extraordinary place. Watch this and over 150 WWF projects across the world and connect with WWF’s global website.Track Campo Ma’an’s progress; it will take some time, but if we succeed in this project, both the local communities and the park will benefit.