The officer in charge of environment Hermine Tchouamou says that the tree is disappearing despite the special protection it enjoys since 1996. The extinction is largely blamed on illegal lumbering that in which some traders engage in.

In the Wouri River mouth zone, especially on the Cape Cameroun and Na-Massadi islands, two areas exposed to regular floods, people are completely cutting down the remaining trees to settle and engage in the fishing trade. The Cape Cameroon harbours a population of 3,000 people, including only 300 Cameroonians, 50 Ghanaians, the rest being Nigerians.

Environmental activist Prince Nasser Kemajou says that this situation is very alarming when, especially because the destruction is done with the blessing of the agents of National Forestry Commission and even those in the forestry ministry. The most immediate consequence of the mangrove distinction is the progressive retreat of the banks