Assessment of livelihood activities for conservation management in the Deng Deng National Park-Belabo Council Forest Conservation Corridor, East Region of Cameroon
1 Environment and Rural Development Foundation (ERuDeF), Civil Society Building, Co-Cathedral Road Molyko Buea, South West Region, Cameroon.
2 Institute of Agricultural Research for Development (IRAD), Ekona Research Centre, PMB 25 Buea, South West Region Cameroon.
Research Article
International Journal of Life Science Research Archive, 2022, 02(01), 010–018.
Article DOI: 10.53771/ijlsra.2022.2.1.0025
Publication history:
Received on 12 January 2022; revised on 27 February 2022; accepted on 01 March 2022
Abstract:
Many local communities in Cameroon especially around protected areas survive through the exploitation of natural resources in the wild. This study was set out to assess the different livelihood activities carried out in communities located in the corridor between the Deng Deng National Park and the Belabo Council Forest. This assessment was a giant step towards the planning for effective conservation of biodiversity in the corridor. To achieve this, a household survey was conducted using the simple random sampling technique where each household was given equal opportunity of being chosen to take part in the survey. Surveys on hunting and Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFP) were conducted. During these surveys a total of 440 questionnaires were administered in 11 villages. The results revealed that agriculture, hunting and the collection or harvesting of Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) were the major livelihood activities carried out by the local population. Most respondents (51%) farm sizes were between 0.5 to 3 hectares and crops cultivated were; cocoyams, plantains, potatoes, cassava, groundnut and maize. A total of 69% of the population were engaged in the collection and harvesting of NTFPs such as njansang (Ricinodendron heudoloti), bush mango (Irvingia gabonensis), bitter cola (Garcinia kola), colanut (Cola nitida). A majority of respondents (97%) collected the NTFPs for consumption and sale. It was shown that 53% of the collector earned at least 100,000XAF to 200,000XAF per year. With respect to hunting, a majority of respondents (87%) hunt for sale and consumption while 11% hunt just for sale. The studied communities depend highly on the forest and this has led to loss of biodiversity through habitat loss and fragmentation. Thus, adequate conservation management strategies are very instrumental for the improvement of biodiversity and livelihood in the corridor.
Keywords:
Conservation; Livelihood; Management; Non timber forest products
Full text article in PDF:
Copyright information:
Copyright © 2021 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Liscense 4.0