In another episode of enhancing environmental justice, FEDEV visits Limbe in the Southwest Region of Cameroon in July 2025 for an environmental investigation. This was done in partnership with the Ministry of Environment, Nature Protection and Sustainable Development, MINEPDED, in the Southwest Region of Cameroon. This investigation aimed to ascertain the extent to which some mining companies are working in conformity with the environmental and human rights law.
This investigation was prompted by initial reports from participants during a training session on ‘Environmental Law and Public Interest Litigation’ conducted by FEDEV in September 2023 in the Southwest Region for lawyers. The legal minds testified that these companies perpetrate environmental hazards such as land grabbing, environmental destruction, pollution, and non-respect of regulations. As an environmental justice organization, FEDEV was charged under the 2013 and 2023 Ming Code to carry out this investigation as a follow-up from the training.
“FEDEV’s mission is not limited to visiting quarries but to engage in media actions. However, if there are any environmental wrongs concerning quarries, we will go there and follow up by identifying environmental wrongs as well as engage positive actions with relevant stakeholders to render environmental justice”. Said Barrister Nchunu Justice, the Executive Director of FEDEV.
This visit was relevant to FEDEV because it allowed her to gather first-hand information on the operations of the companies, as well as ascertain. The extent to which the various companies were operating in compliance with existing local and international environmental legislation. The extent to which the human rights of the workers were respected and safeguarded in the short and long term. What measures have they put in place to ensure environmental protection, added Barrister Achuh Owen, FEDEV’s head of extractive industries and energy law unit.
The Foundation for Environment and Development, FEDEV, identified activities that infringe the law. Evaluated environmentally friendly activities, not forgetting holistic litigation. FEDEV requested legal documents such as their environmental impact reports, environmental management plans, duration of mining licenses, and the impact of their mining activities on the environment based on the type of extracted materials, the ecosystem, and climate change. FEDEV unraveled how the quantities of minerals are being declared to the government.
Adding to the investigation process, FEDEV was interested in knowing the subsidiaries of these companies and the benefits of their mining activities to the surrounding population. FEDEV’s overall field monitoring and evaluation mission permitted her to collect the above data that will inform her of subsequent actions to foster environmental protection.
The Cameroon mining code of 2023 /014 of 19 December, as reflected by the Ministry of Mines, Industry and Technological Development, MINMIDT, outlines the framework of mining activities in the country, emphasizing state participation and encouraging investment in the sector. The law defines various types of mining, from artisanal, semi-mechanized, and industrial. Establishes procedures for obtaining mining permits and outlines the rights and obligations of mining companies.
