UK charity, the Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN), recognised Dr Marina Kameni with a 2026 Whitley Award for her “Frogs and Farmers” project to revive endemic amphibian populations in Southwest Cameroon, a global hotspot for threatened amphibians, including the world’s largest frog.
“Saving a species from extinction for me has become like protecting my own child. Which mother would like to lose her child?”
The zoologist and her team at her NGO, Herp Cameroon, will focus on key threats to the redbelly egg frog, the blackspotted long-fingered frog, Perret’s squeaker frog, and five other species at the ancient Mount Manengouba volcano. The site is home to more than 100 frog and toad species, almost half the country’s amphibian species. Manengouba is also home to the robust giant frog, a relative of the goliath frog, the world’s biggest, which is found in the wider area.
Charity Patron, HRH The Princess Royal presented the Whitley Award on 29 April at the Royal Geographical Society. The event was livestreamed to YouTube. WFN Ambassador Sir David Attenborough said conservation work has never been more urgent. “We need the work of Whitley Award winners to succeed and to help them to whatever extent possible.”
Amphibian populations at Mount Manengouba have crashed by as much as 90 percent in just 25 years amid an expansion of agriculture, deforestation for logging, livestock grazing, intensive use of chemical pesticides and invasive species.
Part of the Cameroon Volcanic Line, Mount Manengouba is a major geological feature in Central Africa known for its lush rainforest, twin crater lakes and fertile volcanic soil. Inhabitants of the highlands are cattle herders who practise slash and burn to clear land. More than 90 percent of the inhabitants who live on the middle and lower slopes are farmers.
Marina says that the first sign of success was when village elders said “you guys always come here to do research, and we don’t really understand what for. If you want to be welcome here, you need to train our kids also so they can be the ones to do research here tomorrow.”
Marina has done extensive work to engage farmers and their children in amphibian conservation in her work at Herp Cameroon, which she founded and is the only organisation in the country focused exclusively on amphibians and reptiles. As part of her Whitley Award project, Marina will work with them to restore 200 hectares of mountain habitat, and to train 500 farmers, including 250 women, in biopesticide-based agroecology. This will encourage the cultivation of Brachiaria, a climate resilient fodder grass which is attractive to frogs.
The team will conduct habitat and population surveys from ten new stations for community monitoring of target frog species. The eight target species include the Critically Endangered Manengouba and Nsounga long-fingered frog species and the redbelly egg frog; three Endangered species – Perret’s squeaker frog, the ornate egg frog and Merten’s egg frog; one Near Threatened species, the Cameroon range night frog, and one vulnerable species, the blackspotted long-fingered frog.
Their work will benefit other species including the Cameroon slippery frog, also known as the robust giant frog, which faces additional threats from the international pet trade. It is related to the goliath frog, which can grow to the size of a cat, and is found on the nearby Nlonako Mountain. The team will also monitor for the presence of chytridiomycosis which is caused by a deadly fungus which has caused worldwide declines in amphibian populations.
A pioneer in amphibian conservation, whose work led to the rediscovery of the Manengouba long-fingered frog as well as the discovery of a potential new species in the Wolterstorff toad family, Marina established a national framework for amphibian conservation and trained more than 100 officers from the Ministry of Forests and Wildlife. Marina’s team will advocate for a 500 hectare expansion to the country’s first Protected Area dedicated to amphibians, reptiles, and birds, which opened in 2023.
Globally, amphibians are the most threatened vertebrate class on earth, with 41 percent of species threatened with extinction according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. They are vital indicators of freshwater health and habitat integrity and play an important role in pest control. Herp Cameroon’s work has included surveying for pesticides in 22 rivers where most of the endemic species are found.
By expanding protected areas, enhancing community led monitoring and advocating for national anti-poaching policies, Marina aims to safeguard 70 percent of amphibians endemic to Mount Manengouba – which has been designated as an Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE) site. AZE was created by biodiversity conservation organisations to map the earth’s most threatened species.
Marina’s team has trained more than 1,500 children in ten schools in amphibian conservation via the Frogs and Kids programme as well as engaged with more than 5,000 residents, including women, youth and elders in remote communities to generate pride in conserving Manengouba’s unique ecosystems.
HIGH-RES IMAGES AVAILABLE HERE
NOTES TO EDITORS – WHITLEY FUND FOR NATURE
The Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN) is a UK charity supporting grassroots conservation leaders in the Global South. Since its creation in 1993, it has channelled £26 million to over 230 conservationists working across 84 countries.
An early pioneer in the sector WFN was one of the first charities to channel funding directly to projects led by in-country nationals. Its rigorous application process identifies inspiring individuals who combine the latest science with community-based action.
WFN’s flagship prizes – Whitley Awards – are presented by charity Patron, HRH The Princess Royal, at a prestigious annual ceremony in London at the Royal Geographical Society (RGS). Winners receive funding, training, and profile boost, including short films.
The 2026 Whitley Awards Ceremony took place on Wednesday 29 April at the RGS and streamed live to YouTube. The other 2026 Whitley Award winners are:
- Dr Moreangels Mbizah from Zimbabwe who is expanding a coexistence model of conservation in northern Zimbabwe that allows the movement of lions between protected areas and community land.
- Dr Paola Sangolquí from Ecuador who is protecting the nesting sites of the Critically Endangered Galápagos Petrel from invasive species.
- Dr Issah Seidu from Ghana who is saving guitarfish along Ghana’s western coastline and advancing plans to create the country’s first Locally Managed Marine Area.
- Parveen Shaikh from India who is expanding protection for the Indian Skimmer and her model of community-led riverine bird conservation to Prayagraj in the Ganga Basin.
- Dr Barkha Subba from India who is leading the first grassroots movement to protect the Himalayan salamander and its fragile wetland habitat in the Darjeeling Himalaya, West Bengal.
Every year, a past Whitley Award winner is chosen to receive the Whitley Gold Award, which has increased to £120,000, in recognition of their outstanding contribution to conservation. The Whitley Gold Award recipient also acts as a mentor to Whitley Award winners and an international ambassador for conservation success.
The 2026 Whitley Gold Award winner is Indonesia’s Farwiza Farhan who is accelerating community protection of water catchments in the Leuser Ecosystem in Sumatra, where devastating storms and floods last year compounded more than three decades of deforestation.
FOR INTERVIEW REQUESTS AND INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Carol Roussel, Head of Media, Whitley Fund for Nature
T: 07379 019 804
Josephine Higgins, Head of Communications, Whitley Fund for Nature
