Brillantine Djigbe, a lawyer in the Binder-Léré Wildlife Reserve in Chad for several months, improves the monitoring of the application of the law and strengthens the capacities of agents for human rights. She ensures the application of environmental preservation legal texts, the respect of human rights in case of arrest in the protected areas, and she ensures the judicial follow-up of cases related to the fight against poaching (AML).
WHAT IS YOUR BACKGROUND?
I studied public law, human rights option at the Catholic University of West Africa (UCAO – Burkina Faso), then environmental law and sustainable development at the professional school of Yaoundé II (SOA II) in Cameroon. After six months of training at the Ministry of Environment, Water and Fisheries, I was in charge of environmental training at the NGO Espaces verts Sahel (EVS) before joining Noé as an environmental lawyer.
WHAT IS YOUR DAILY WORK?
My daily work is to make sure that the agents on patrol do their work with respect for human rights in front of the population. I keep the statements of facts, I follow the hearings of cases related to destruction or poaching, transferred by the service.
WHY DID YOU CHOSE NATURE CONSERVATION?
Because I am passionate about biodiversity and the beauty of the natural landscape. Human beings are the main destroyer of nature nowadays, even though we draw our existence from it. I chose conservation to preserve the proper functioning of ecosystems, and to promote the sharing of the benefits of biodiversity, in an equitable way between us and the future generation.
DO YOU HAVE A SIGNIFICANT STORY TO TELL ABOUT YOUR WORK?
People around me always wonder why I chose this job. They would like me to be a “city girl”, wearing a high-waisted skirt with a jacket and heels to the office, taking her break in restaurants in the center with her colleagues… but, to everyone’s surprise, I chose to work deep in a village and in the bush, legally watching over the animals, conserving nature, making sure that poachers and destroyers of the environment are “punished” (a term used by my entourage). They still don’t understand!
