Levels of poverty within the Mbe Mountains are relatively high; most people survive on less than $1 a day. Deforestation rates within the area are high, and the continued loss of forest threatens local watersheds, livelihoods and food security ? further exacerbating levels of rural poverty. This project will support community-based biodiversity conservation especially the conservation of the critically endangered Cross River Gorillas and poverty alleviation through sustainable forest management. This would be achieved by improving forest governance, law enforcement and establishment of sustainable livelihood sources for local communities via improved cassava processing techniques and ecotourism value chains. The key environmental problems to be addressed are deforestation caused by agricultural expansion and unsustainable hunting and collection of NTFPs which are the main livelihood activities of the target communities.