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14 the Forest Margins of Cameroon 14 The Forest Margins of Cameroon James Gockowski IITA Humid Forest Research Station M’Balmayo, Cameroon Jean Tonyé IRAD Yaoundé, Cameroon Chimere Diaw CIFOR Humid Forest Research Station M’Balmayo, Cameroon Stefan Hauser IITA Humid Forest Research Station M’Balmayo, Cameroon Jean Kotto-Same and Rosaline Njomgang IRAD Yaoundé, Cameroon Appolinaire Moukam IRAD Deceased Dieudonné Nwaga Université de Yaoundé I Yaoundé, Cameroon Téophile Tiki-Manga IRAD Yaoundé, Cameroon Jerome Tondoh Université d’Abobo-Adjame Cameroon Zac Tschondeau World Agroforestry Centre-Cameroon Yaoundé, Cameroon Stephan Weise IITA Humid Forest Research Station M’Balmayo, Cameroon Louis Zapfack Université de Yaoundé I Yaoundé, Cameroon he Congo Basin encompasses the world’s second largest contiguous rain- Tforest after the Amazon and includes six countries: Congo–Brazzaville, Congo–Kinshasa, Gabon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, and Cameroon. Deforestation rates for the Congo Basin were estimated to be 1.14 million ha/yr (0.6 percent/yr) (fao 1997), compared with 1.08 mil- lion ha/yr (1.0 percent/yr) for Indonesia and 2.55 million ha/yr (0.5 percent/ 306 National Perspectives yr) for Brazil. Unlike Brazil and Indonesia, where large-scale agricultural operations play an important role, much of the deforestation in the Congo Basin is attributed to smallholder agriculturalists using extensive slash-and-burn techniques. Thus rural population density plays a significant role in determining the extent of closed-canopy forest and the stock of woody biomass in a given area, but the relationship is far from linear and depends on a complex assortment of factors. The low productivity of slash- and-burn agriculture, in combination with rapid population growth, results in the continual extension of the forest margins, with a highly fragmented boundary in the Congo Basin, as shown in figure 14.1. An Alternatives to Slash and Burn (asb) benchmark site in Cameroon was cho- sen to represent the Congo Basin (figure 14.2). Cameroon’s forest resources, one of the country’s greatest riches, have played and continue to play a significant role in its economic growth and development. In the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, conversion Figure 14.1 Satellite photo of the Congo rainforest region showing the risk of deforestation (the lighter the color, the higher the risk), with a close-up of the Cameroon benchmark site. Note the fragmentation of the forest margins (Ericksen and Fernandes 1998). The Forest Margins of Cameroon 307 Figure 14.2 The asb forest margin benchmark area in southern Cameroon showing the Yaoundé, M’Balmayo, and Ebolowa blocks. Shaded area is the humid tropical zone of West and Central Africa. Most of the West African zone is deforested. of approximately 500,000 ha of moist forests to smallholder coffee (Coffea spp.) and cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) agroforests resulted in equitable economic growth, aver- aging 3 to 4 percent. In more recent years, timber exploitation has overtaken coffee and cocoa production as the most important economic activity in the moist forests. Cameroon is now the leading African exporter of tropical timber, with more than $270 million in annual export sales. One of the most rapid changes affecting the agricultural sector throughout the Congo Basin has been the tremendous growth in urban populations. Both Douala and Yaoundé have grown at annual rates of more than 6 percent in the years since independence, which means that the number of urban consumers is doubling roughly every 12 years. The most important single market in the benchmark site is Yaoundé, with more than a million inhabitants. The largest food commodity markets in terms of value are plantain (Musa paradisiaca L.), cassava (Manihot esculenta), and cocoyam (Xanthosoma sagittifolium [L.] Schott). Approximately 80 percent of the total tonnage sold in Cameroon of these three crops is produced in the humid forest zone (Ministry of Agriculture [minagri] survey statistics, 1984–1990). The rate of deforestation in Cameroon is estimated by fao (1997) at 0.6 percent, with about 108,000 ha of closed-canopy forest lost annually. About half of the annual clearing is for agricultural purposes, the remaining largely for logging (Ekoko 1995), although shifting cultivators follow logging roads, making this distinction hard to quantify. Across the benchmark site, 25 percent of the total land area was estimated to be in some agricultural use (including fallow fields) in 1994 (Gockowski et al. 1998). 308 National Perspectives A poor nation, Cameroon has little choice but to develop its forest resources. From the standpoint of government policy, the critical question is whether Camer- oon’s tropical forests will be turned into sustainable agricultural and forestry produc- tion systems or “mined” into a state of degraded vegetation. The benchmark site in Cameroon spans a resource use and population density gradient and also encompasses significant variation in market access, soils, and climate. This site allowed the asb Project to explore the opportunities for and constraints to income generation, sustain- able land use, and environmental protection in the area and in the end to assess which land use systems are the most promising and what policies must be in place to ensure their adoption. BENCHMARK SITE CHARACTERIZATION The benchmark site in southern Cameroon was divided into three blocks that were distinguished according to intensity of resource use and population density as fol- lows: the Yaoundé block, with 30 to 90 people per square kilometer; the M’Balmayo block, with 10 to 30 people per square kilometer; and the Ebolowa block, with up to 10 people per square kilometer (figure 14.2). At the southern end is the Ebolowa block, with low population density and large tracts of intact primary forest (59 per- cent of land cover). Cocoa is the primary source of farm income, with food crops grown mainly to meet subsistence needs. There is still significant reliance on natural resource–based activities, such as bushmeat hunting and gathering of nontimber for- est products. Local agricultural markets are comparatively small, agricultural input markets are underdeveloped, and road infrastructure is poor and not maintained. At the northern end is the Yaoundé block, with most of the land in some phase of an agricultural cycle; only 4 percent of land remains covered by primary forest. Proximity to the Yaoundé market, better-developed market institutions, and rural infrastructure has led to a process of agricultural intensification, diversification, and commercializa- tion. Natural Ecosystems The dense, humid forests comprising the benchmark area are classified as Guineo- Congolian forests (iucn 1992), which are subdivided into four categories (table 14.1). This distinction is important in terms of biodiversity richness. The climax vegetation in the benchmark site is the dense semideciduous forests characteristic of the Yaoundé block, extending south into the M’Balmayo block, and the dense, humid Congolese forest in the southern reaches of the M’Balmayo block, extending to the Ebolowa block. In addition, there are small pockets along the western border of the Ebolowa and M’Balmayo blocks that are characterized by the biologically diverse, moist, ever- green Atlantic forest. The highest biodiversity is found in the Barren forests of these The Forest Margins of Cameroon 309 Table 14.1 Extent of Humid Forest Ecosystems in Cameroon and Their Main Characteristics Guineo-Congolian Forests Area Main Characteristics (million ha) Submontane forest 0.377 Lies between 800 and 2200 m in elevation, increasing diversity of epiphytic flora with elevation, Prunus africana found at higher elevations. Biology of ecosystem not well known compared with lowland and Afromontane forest systems. Dense, humid evergreen 5.400 Very high floristic diversity with marked endemism, Atlantic forest, including with affinities to Atlantic South American forests. Barren forests Center of diversity of genera Cola, Diospyros, Garcinia, and Dorstenia. Gregarious associations of Caesalpinaceae characterize the Barren forest subtype. Dense, humid Cameroon– 8.100 Intermediate in floristic diversity between the Atlantic Congo forest forest and the semideciduous forest, flora affinities with Congo basin forests. Important ecosystem for large primates and elephants. Dense, humid 4.000 Often fragmented, subject to fire during the dry semideciduous forest season, particularly rich in commercial timber species although less biologically diverse than other tropical forest types. Close to the savanna zone. Total 17.877 Source: IUCN (1992). Atlantic forests, with many of the plants being endemic. More than 200 plant species have been counted in a 1000-m2 transect, which purportedly represents higher plant diversity than any other forest in Africa or Southeast Asia and is greater than that of most South American forests (Garland 1989). The Barren forest is a center of genetic diversity for important genera such as Cola spp., Diospyros spp. (ebony), and Garcinia spp. (which includes the bitter cola). The Cameroon–Congo and the semideciduous forests, which are widespread in the southeast of the country, have a much lower rate of plant endemism than Barren forests. Climate and Soils Rainfall in the benchmark site is typical of equatorial rainforest climates with no pro- nounced dry season. Annual precipitation ranges from 1350 to 1900 mm and has a bimodal rainfall distribution. There is increasing precipitation from the north to the south. The red and red-yellow soils in the benchmark area fall mainly into the broad soil classes of acrisols (ultisols) and ferrasols (oxisols). Three soil profile classes—Yaoundé (Rhodic Kandiudults, pH 5.2, 35 percent clay), M’Balmayo (Typic Kandiudults, 310 National Perspectives pH 6.5, 25 percent clay), and Ebolowa (Epiaquic Kandiudults, pH 4.8, 42 percent clay)—form a north–south fertility gradient, with lower fertility in the southern part of the benchmark area (Gockowski et al. 1998). Though generally acidic and infertile, these soils are suitable for cocoa, coffee, oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.), and rubber (Hevea brasiliensis [A. Juss.] Muell.-Arg.) production if clay content is high enough (more than 20 percent).
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