LIVING AT THE FOREST FRONTIERS: LIVELIHOOD DYNAMICS, RESOURCE DEPENDENCE, AND HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTIONS IN THE MOUNT CAMEROON FOREST LANDSCAPE, SOUTHWEST CAMEROON
Abstract
Forests and trees have an important role to play in poverty reduction. Man exploits forests for timber and other non-timber products. The forest has thus for the past years been the main source of subsistence for communities living in or near it. They have depended on the forest for livelihood needs such as food, shelter, healthcare, clothing, energy and source of income. This has led to his continuous exploitation of nature for food and other livelihood options, a practice which continues to have an unintended but damaging effect on the environment. The study suggests mechanisms and strategies for integrating community participation in sustainable forest resource management in the Mt. Cameroon forest reserve area in Buea Sub-Division. This research is qualitative ethnographic research that made use of qualitative techniques like; in-depth-interviews, observations and the focused group discussion as tools for data collection. Both primary and secondary sources of data collection were employed, the convenient sampling technique was used to choose the sampling population and a purposive sampling approach was adopted as the main sampling method for the study. Content analysis was the main technique used in analyzing data. Data analysis was based on the research questions and objectives of the work. Findings shows that actors concerned with management of forest resource have failed in their policies and activities with their target communities in forest conservation making them ineffective in the introduction and follow-up of other income-generating activities. Community Participation should be globally recognised as an effective strategy in the management and conservation of forest resource in the Mt. Cameroon forest reserve area in Buea Sub-Division. It is therefore recommended that participation should be taken as a 2-way learning process of dialogue, negotiation and decision-making between government and local communities concerning activities of forest management. Any participatory approach should therefore aim at local empowerment and accountability of individuals within the community.
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