Role Play in Cameroon

Our long-term partners in Cameroon, the Ocean Volunteers (Bénévoles Océan) led by Jeauberte Djamou, have been organizing beach clean-ups in Kribi with various schools. This year, Mundus maris provided a French version of the Role Play tested at a young marine researchers’ conference in Hamburg to support their celebrations. The role play aims to engage young adults in making a marine protected area work in a fictitious country, emphasizing the perspectives of diverse stakeholders in protecting marine biodiversity and restoring ecosystems. Following the Global Biodiversity Framework, which calls for marine protected areas in 30% of the ocean, the role play’s characters were developed from expert interviews and literature research. On World Ocean Day, June 8, 2024, in Yaoundé, the Ocean Volunteers hosted a modified role play focused on marine biodiversity protection. Ten participants represented various stakeholders in the Manyange na Elombo-Campo marine protected area, proposing management solutions. The moderator facilitated discussions among a local mayor, MPA director, resident, artisanal fisherman, trawler captain, natural scientist, tourism company representative, water treatment plant manager, NGO leader, and concluded with a forest and environment expert’s debriefing.