Tropical Forest Forum

<HTML> <HEAD><TITLE>UK Tropical Forest Forum</TITLE></HEAD> <BODY BGCOLOR="#ffffe8"> <H1>Mount Cameroon Project - Limbe</H1> <I><H2>by Glyn Davies, Project Manager</H2></I> <HR> Mount Cameroon lies on the coast, adjacent to the Cameroon-Nigerian border, and at 4095 m altitude is the highest mountain in West and Central Africa. To the north-east are the Cameroon Highlands, and running along the same geological fault to the south-west lie the Atlantic Ocean islands of Fernando Po (now Bioko), Sao Tome, Principe and Annobon. All of these islands are volcanic and Mt Cameroon last erupted in 1982. They also have high rainfall, being mountains adjacent to the ocean, but the annual rainfall of 15 m per annum on the seaward side of Mt Cameroon is exceptional! <P> The mountain is a 'hot-spot' for rare and endemic plants. The high rainfall ameliorated global drying during the ice ages, and ensured continuity of forest cover for tens or hundreds of thousands of years. The antiquity of the forests, combined with their isolation and a range of forest formations from 200 m to 2500 m altitude, have encouraged an impressive speciation of plants. So far 23 endemic plants have been recorded in the forests, with new species being discovered every year and new species still evolving- like populations of trees in the genus Cola. A further 19 endemic plant species occur outside the forest in the high-altitude, wind-swept grasslands. <P> The richness of animal species is still poorly surveyed. The birds are represented by eight threatened or near-threatened species, of which a francolin <I>(Francolinus camerunensis)</I> is endemic to the mountain. There are four rare primates, including the drill and chimpanzee, two rare antelope species, and forest elephants. There is one endemic skink <I>(Didynamipus sjoestedti)</I>, but there are few records of small mammal species, and few frogs or toads because the porous soils retain almost no ground water. As more surveys are conducted, especially on invertebrates, the conservation importance of the area is likely to increase. <P> In the 1980s, in recognition of its conservation importance, calls were made to establish a National Park on the southern flank of the Mountain to augment the Bambuko Forest Reserve on the north-west flank and the Mokoko FR on the lowland western fringes. But no action was taken. In 1986 a programme of assistance was initiated from the UK Overseas Development Administration (ODA) to the Limbe Botanic Garden, situated at the foot of the mountain. This focused on restoring the dilapidated Garden to its present very attractive and functional state, and as progress was made with improving the garden, attention turned to the surrounding forest ecosystems. <P> Forest surveys were made to identify priority areas for conservation and efforts made to establish two new forest reserves. These were <B>Etinde</B>, named after the peak of Little Mount Cameroon (1713 m) on the southern flank of the mountain, and <B>Mabeta-Moliwe</B> in the lowlands adjacent to Limbe town. The programme of reserve gazettement, which involved detailed negotiations with villages about what land could be set aside for permanent forest, was stalled to allow a review of the conservation approach at the end of 1993. The following year a workshop of government representatives, NGOs, Chiefdom Authorities and local communities concluded that conservation activities should be expanded, and the Government of Cameroon embarked on a new programme - the Mount Cameroon Project (MCP). The project currently involves four funding partners: Government of Cameroon, ODA, GTZ, and the GEF/World Bank, and operates over an area of 2500 km<SU>2</SU>, of which some 750 km: is forested. <P> Over such a large area there are many stakeholders who must be involved in multiple-use management of forest products and forested lands. New partnerships have been forged with the industrial plantation giant Cameroon Development Corporation, to assist in environmentally sound land development, and with the medicinal plant exporter Plantecam, to encourage sustainable cropping of medicinal plants from the mountain. The challenge of getting full support from commercial enterprises is central to producing conservation packages that will be long lasting. <P> In line with current trends in conservation thinking, another major focus of the Project is the incorporation of local communities into the planning and execution of forest management and conservation initiatives. This new approach is being attempted with care, since many outside interests and market forces are at work, and the linkages between local community development activities and improved environmental protection are still shrouded in mist. To clear the way, detailed user-group analyses have been conducted and the results used to guide selection of appropriate village partners. Thereafter, confidence building, active listening, and mobilisation of communities to take management initiatives under the new Forestry Law have been the first steps in a new conservation strategy. <P> In support of these initiatives more information is needed on plant and animal populations, and patterns of their use. Biological information must be linked with socio-economic data from household, farm and market surveys and then the importance of forest products in subsistence and commercial livelihoods can be assessed. Thereafter improving these livelihoods will offer a key for future conservation success. Traditional science-based enumerations will be combined with local village mapping and resource assessments, so that the results can help identify ways to reduce over-exploitation of useful products. <P> With this breadth of new approaches to forest management, the project is assisting government services with capacity building through re-training, and with material support for the forest management and community development officers. <P> Limbe Botanic Garden also continues to receive support, as the headquarters of the ODA and GEF components of the project, and because the institution has the opportunity to support conservation through environmental education programmes. More immediate support from the Garden derives from programmes such as "conservation through cultivation", where horticultural expertise is used to propagate and distribute useful plants for on-farm planting. For example, "bush mango" <I>(Irvingia gabonensis)</I> and the medicinal tree <I>Prunus africana</I>. <P> The cost of these activities, combined with maintaining an attractive Garden raises the issue of its long-term financial sustainablility, and steps have been taken to reduce running costs and focus on the most cost-effective activities. As well as improved efficiency, the Government of Cameroon has allowed a Garden Fund to be established in which all revenues can be retained for reinvestment in the Garden. This offers an unusual opportunity for a government department to raise its own funds, and both national and international fund-raising is on-going. However, one-off donations are only part of the strategy, and more important in terms of regular income are the marketing of goods and services that will generate recurrent income. The institution's financial survival will depend on regular income. <P> Limbe Botanic Garden has been developed as a regional centre of excellence offering an attractive venue for training courses, workshops and conferences. International training programmes are already being run, in both English and French, making use of the facilities, which will soon incorporate a new Conservation Centre with library, conference room and auditorium. The teaching materials are provided by the herbarium (10,000 specimens), the living collection and nursery in the garden, and the wide variety of habitats on and around the mountain. <P> The Garden also acts as a gateway for researchers onto the mountain. Past work has focused on rare plants, but recent surveys have included bird ringing, dragonfly netting and butterfly trapping, and the research opportunities are endless. The project is committed to promoting research on the mountain, especially in collaboration with Cameroonian research institutes; vehicles, field assistants and accommodation can all be hired at the Garden. In addition, there are library, laboratory and lecture room facilities, and some basic accommodation as well as seafront hotels with easy access to an international airport in Douala, about an hour's drive away. <P> <I>For more details contact: Project Director, Mount Cameroon Project, P.O. Box 437, Limbe, SW Cameroon. (Fax: 00-237-33.24.93; tel: 33.26.20.) </I> <HR> <A HREF=http:/www.nri.org/" target="_top"><IMG SRC="/wwwgifs/nribut.gif" BORDER=0></A> <A HREF="http://www.nri.org/TFF/homepage.htm" target="_top"><IMG SRC="tffhome.gif" BORDER=0></A> <A HREF="tffindex.htm" target="_top"><IMG SRC="/wwwgifs/index.gif" BORDER=0></A> <A HREF="tffiss4a.htm" target="_top"><IMG SRC="/wwwgifs/lhand.gif" BORDER=0></A> <A HREF="tffiss4c.htm" target="_top"><IMG SRC="/wwwgifs/rhand.gif" BORDER=0></A> </BODY> </HTML>