Discovery: Wonders Of The Cameroon Montane Forests

By Robert Abunaw With Reports

Cameroon has been described as ‘Africa in miniature’. By every standard, the rich flora and fauna of its equally rich forest helps sum up to this acclamation.

Knowledge of what constitutes the forest cover of Cameroon as a Congo Basin country is available but limited to the offices of researchers, plant biologists and other university dons. In a nutshell, the Congo Basin is the world’s second largest river basin, next only to the Amazon, comprising an area of more than 2.3million square km. The Congo basin is also having the second largest rain forest in the world, with Cameroon accounting for 20 million hectares of this area. 75% is dense closed semi – deciduous tropical rain forest. Consequently, Cameroon is considered a biodiversity hot spot. The main characteristics of Cameroon’s biodiversity include, abundance, endemism, diversity, threat, invasion, over- exploitation.

A rich biodiversity like any other human activity, comes with its own challenges. In the case of Cameroon, human activity is a major threat compromising our biodiversity. Areas where this threat is progressing is on the montane forests. Simply put, a montane forest is any eco system found in mountains but at a sub montane level they are found on slopes from 600m above sea level as on the Cameroon Mountain, the Bioko Mountain and most of the Cameroon mountain volcanic line to include the coastal city of Limbe.

The Cameroon Mountain 4,095m, is home to montane and sub- montane forests. It is also the highest point in sub- Sahara, western and central Africa, the fourth most prominent peak in Africa and the 31^st most prominent in the world.

The wonders of the montane and sub- montane forests on the slopes of mount Cameroon include, richly diverse flora: 2300 species of plants in more than 300 genera and 20 families. In 2009, the government of Cameroon in a bid to protect flora and fauna on the mountain created the mount Cameroon National Park. Participant observation studies, on the mountain now confirm that the 58,178 hectares National Park play host to some 10 large mammals including over 260 African elephants, whose strive up to an altitude of over 2,700m above sea level, home also to 300 chimpanzee, unknown population of red river hog, bush buck, bay duiker, yellow back duiker etc. The montane slopes, also have small mammals including 22 species of bats etc.

The biggest challenge to the biodiversity of the wonderful montane forest of mount Cameroon is the relationship between the population surrounding the mountain and its flora and fauna.

Humans have lived in villages and hamlets surrounding mount Cameroon, over centuries but today humans are a big and permanent threat to its eco system. 

Latest research from the University of Buea, insists that ‘the biggest threat to date has been the way humans have reshaped natural habitats to make way for farmland or to obtain natural resources’. The same report from the university, warns that as ‘climate change’ worsens it will have a growing impact on montane forests eco systems.

Another study by the Carbon Brief Organization, says tropical forest on the slopes of Africa’s mountains, have more concentrated stocks of carbon, than the Amazon. The research on these montane forests was carried out by more than a hundred scientists and shows that their carbon stocks are about 2/3 higher than estimates used by the inter-governmental panel on climate change. 

The study also warns that ‘African cloud’ forests are being felled at a higher rate than previously thought, with more than 0.8m hectares lost since the turn of the century. If current levels of deforestation continue, the scientists estimate that another half a million hectares shall be compromised.