Climate Change in the Mount Cameroon National Park Region: Local Perceptions, Natural Resources and Adaptation Strategies, the Republic of Cameroon

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Climate Change in the Mount Cameroon National Park Region: Local Perceptions, Natural Resources and Adaptation Strategies, the Republic of Cameroon DOCTORAL THESIS CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE MOUNT CAMEROON NATIONAL PARK REGION: LOCAL PERCEPTIONS, NATURAL RESOURCES AND ADAPTATION STRATEGIES, THE REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON A thesis approved by the Institute of Geography, University of Augsburg Germany, in fulfilment of the degree of Doctor of Natural Sciences - Dr.rer.nat. Institute of Geography, University of Augsburg, Germany By Vivian Njole Ntoko Supervised by Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Matthias Schmidt Co-supervisor: Prof. Dr. Karin Thieme Oral examination date June 25th, 2020 ABSTRACT Climate change is influencing indigenous communities in the Global South, and it is the object of a dominant global discourse. It is particularly important to pay attention to its impact on natural resources and people’s livelihoods. Local knowledge on how forest-dependent households and communities, especially those in tropical areas, see, respond and adjust to climate change and events is useful in developing strategies to support livelihoods, biodiversity conservation, climate change adaptation and policies. However, local perceptions of climate change remain largely unexplored and are subject to various interpretations. This study analyses the perceptions of indigenous people around the Mount Cameroon National Park (MCNP) on the impacts of climate change on livelihoods and natural resources, and the adaptation strategies to climate change utilised by individuals, groups and communities in this regard. This is achieved through the use of quantitative and qualitative methods for data collection. The quantitative methods entail a questionnaire survey randomly administered to 200 respondents in the study villages. The qualitative methods include participatory rural appraisal (PRA) tools, analysed using MAXQDA software. The research findings indicate that the MCNP region is endowed with fauna and flora species vital to indigenous livelihoods and the national economy, but they have decreased due to climatic and non-climate threats. The climate in the region has changed over time in terms of perceived temperature increase and rainfall decrease, but climate change is also affecting the occurrence and availability of forest products, especially those at lower altitudes and areas beyond the park’s borders. In addition, climate change and extreme events are also affecting the infrastructure, culture and health of forest-dependent communities. Moreover, the study illustrates that climate change is negatively affecting access and user rights to forest resources, and inducing conflicts and tensions. The non-climatic processes influencing forest products’ occurrence and sustainable livelihoods include globalisation, the commodification of forest products, increases in farming, deforestation and timber exploitation, unsustainable harvesting of forest products and the influence of non-indigenes. To ameliorate livelihoods and diminish the vulnerability to climate variability and change, the indigenous people of the MCNP region employ different adaptation strategies, and groups, governments and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) play an important role in enhancing adaptation. This study augments knowledge on the interconnectivity between local livelihoods, natural resources and climate ii vulnerability by depicting how indigenous people’s vulnerability is related to the effects of climate change on biodiversity. Keywords: Local Knowledge, Indigenous Perception, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Sustainable Livelihoods, Political Ecology, Adaptation. iii ZUSAMMENFASSUNG Der Klimawandel beeinflusst indigene Gemeinschaften im Globalen Süden und ist Gegenstand eines dominierenden globalen Diskurses. Von besonderer Bedeutung ist die Beschäftigung mit seiner Wirkung auf natürliche Ressourcen und die Livelihoods von Menschen. Lokal vorhandenes Wissen darüber, wie vom Wald abhängige Haushalte und Gemeinschaften – insbesondere in den Tropen – den Klimawandel und seine Folgen wahrnehmen, darauf reagieren und sich anpassen, ist nützlich für die Entwicklung von Strategien zur Unterstützung von Livelihoods, der Erhaltung von Biodiversität, des Umweltschutzes, von Anpassungen an den Klimawandel und von entsprechenden politischen Agenden. Dennoch sind lokale Wahrnehmungen des Klimawandels weitestgehend unerforscht und werden vielfach unterschiedlich interpretiert. Die vorliegende Untersuchung analysiert die Wahrnehmungen der indigenen Bevölkerung rund um den Mount Cameroon National Park (MCNP) hinsichtlich des Einflusses des Klimawandels auf Livelihoods und natürliche Ressourcen sowie die von Einzelpersonen, Gruppen und Gemeinschaften angewandten Strategien zur Anpassung an den Klimawandel. Dies wird durch den Einsatz quantitativer und qualitativer Methoden zur Datenerhebung erreicht. Die quantitativen Methoden umfassen eine randomisierte Fragenbogenerhebung unter 200 Teilnehmenden in den Studiendörfern. Die qualitativen Ansätze enthalten Participatory Rural Appraisal Methoden (PRA), die mit der Software MAXQDA analysiert werden. Die Untersuchungsergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass die Region um den MCNP eine Vielzahl an Tier- und Pflanzenarten aufweist, die unverzichtbar für indigene Livelihoods und die nationale Wirtschaft sind, die aber aufgrund klimatischer und nicht-klimatischer Bedrohungen abnimmt. Das Klima in der Region hat sich im Verlauf der Zeit gewandelt, dies wird an einem wahrgenommenen Temperaturanstieg und Niederschlagsrückgang festgemacht. Aber der Klimawandel beeinflusst auch das Vorkommen und die Verfügbarkeit von Waldprodukten, vor allem in tieferen Lagen und in Gebieten jenseits der Parkgrenzen. Darüber hinaus wirken sich der Klimawandel und Extremereignisse auch auf die Infrastruktur, die Kultur und die Gesundheit der von Waldprodukten abhängigen Gemeinschaften aus. Zudem zeigt die Untersuchung, dass sich der Klimawandel negativ auf den Zugang zu und Nutzungsrechte an Waldressourcen auswirkt und Konflikte und Spannungen hervorruft. Zu den nicht-klimatischen Prozessen, die auf das Vorkommen von Waldprodukten und auf nachhaltige Livelihoods Einfluss nehmen, zählen die Globalisierung, die Kommodifizierung von Waldprodukten, zunehmende Landwirtschaft, Entwaldung und Holz-Einschlag, die nichtnachhaltige Ernte von Waldprodukten und der Einfluss Nicht-Indigener. Um ihre Livelihoods zu verbessern und die Vulnerabilität gegenüber Klimaschwankungen und -wandel zu verringern, wendet die indigene Bevölkerung der Region um den MCNP verschiedene Adaptationsstrategien an, wobei diverse Gruppen, Regierungen und Nichtregierungsorganisationen (NGOs) eine wichtige Rolle bei der Verbesserung der Anpassung spielen. Diese Untersuchung erweitert das Wissen über die Wechselbeziehungen zwischen lokalen Livelihoods, natürlichen Ressourcen und Verwundbarkeit durch Klimaänderungen, indem sie aufzeigt, wie die Vulnerabilität von indigenen Gemeinschaften mit den Folgen des Klimawandels für die Biodiversität zusammenhängt. Schlüsselbegriffe: Lokales Wissen, indigene Wahrnehmung, Biodiversität, Klimawandel, Nachhaltige Livelihoods, Politische Ökologie, Adaptation. iv DEDICATION Nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37), the champion of my destiny. To Him I give all the Glory. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation would not be complete without me recognising all those who accompanied me throughout my Ph.D. journey. My very special thanks and heartfelt gratitude go to my main supervisor, Prof. Dr. Matthias Schmidt, for accepting to supervise my research. His expertise, mentorship, reliability, professionalism, guidance and inspiration contributed to the successful realisation of this dissertation. Particular thanks also goes to Prof. Dr. Karin Thieme for her co-supervisory task in this thesis. I wish to thank my spiritual father, Apostle John Chi, for his ceaseless prayers. I also extend my sincere thanks to the staff of MCNP. Specifically, I thank Mr. Simon Besong, the park conservator, for allowing me to conduct this research in the Mount Cameroon region, facilitating contact with the villages and giving me access to documentation. My sincere gratitude goes out to all of the chiefs and gatekeepers in the study villages, who sacrificed their time to make the empirical phase a success. Furthermore, I thank all groups, individuals, institutions and stakeholders for their time and information provided during the field research. Additionally, I thank all the professors and colleagues for their active participation and input during colloquiums at the chair of the Department of Human Geography, University of Augsburg. I also thank the administrative staff for their logistic support during my stay in Augsburg. Moreover, I extend my gratitude to the staff and colleagues of the Institute of Development Research and Development Policy at Ruhr University Bochum for their contribution to this thesis. I am deeply indebted to my daughters (Thery-Lucia, Marilyn), whom at their tender age gave me the encouragement to study by being responsible girls - even in my absence. I am also grateful to my brother (Ntoko Ransom), who forgot about himself and his own family to take care of my children. I am thankful to all my family members and friends who supported me morally and spiritually. Lastly, I pray God bless abundantly all those who gave their support in the successful completion of this dissertation. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM DECLARATION ............................................................................................... i ABSTRACT ..............................................................................................................................
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