Tropical Rain Forest of Southern Cameroon

Project Overview | Activities & Products

Cameroon has the highest population density among all Central African countries (approximately 32 people/km2); it also has one of the highest rates of forest loss.  As in other Central Africa nations, the majority of forests are state properties, with less than 6% of the forested area owned and managed by the local people.  Pressure on landowners to convert forest to agricultural land is high, and illegal logging, both large-scale (by timber corporations) and small-scale (by local poachers), is widespread throughout the country.  Tropical rainforests are found in the southern half of Cameroon; most of the remaining rainforest area has been logged at least once.

In collaboration with the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and various Central African Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE) partners, the WHRC in Cameroon has focused on mapping deforestation and assessing aboveground forest biomass. 

Natural Environment

The country of Cameroon is home to a diversity of ecological zones and habitats, ranging from a Sahel-like climate in the northern-most part of the country to dense rainforest in the south.  The north-to-south vegetation gradient also includes zones of wooded savanna and thorn steppe; this continuum of vegetation is driven by the increase in rainfall moving southward towards the equator.  There also exist strong west-to-east climatic and vegetation gradients in the country.  Cameroon’s southwestern border is comprised of 402 km of Atlantic coastline where mangrove swamps and coastal forests dominate the vegetation.  The western part of the country also straddles the Cameroon Volcanic Line, a chain of rounded volcanic mountains stretching northeastward from Mt. Cameroon, which is the highest peak in West and Central Africa at 4,095 m.  The coastal forests of western Cameroon grade eastward into dense, inland tropical forest in the southern portion of the country.   

Cameroon’s southern zone is located between 2° and 6° north, and is characterized by a four season climate with rainfall exceeding 1,500 mm annually and a maximum of two dry months.  The forest in this area is predominantly closed tropical broad-leaved rainforest containing both evergreen and semi-deciduous vegetation assemblages. 

Land Use

For the last thirty years, Cameroon’s forest domain has been largely controlled by the timber industry, which is comprised of both international and Cameroonian companies.  Logging in this region has become particularly important to Cameroon’s national economy since the mid-1980s, when the country’s petroleum resources began to dwindle.  In 1998 the logging sector comprised 10% of Cameroon’s gross national product, supplied 9% of its tax revenue, and directly or indirectly employed 55,000 people.  As of 2003, almost one-half of southern Cameroon’s rainforests were dedicated to logging concessions. 

The second most dominant land use in the forests of southern Cameroon is shifting cultivation and perennial cacao farming.  This area is home to approximately 14,370 people; over 95% of the population is Bantu, with Bagyeli pygmy groups comprising an additional 2-4%.  Although the population density within the closed forest is relatively low (8.6 people per square kilometer), deforestation due to agricultural clearing and forest degradation along major roads and around villages can be significant.  Hunting and gathering within degraded closed rainforests further disturbs the ecological functioning of these areas and can preclude proper regeneration and forest recovery.        

Conservation Threats

Illegal logging, conversion of forests to agriculture, and commercial hunting of bush meat for consumption are the major threats to forest conservation in Cameroon.  Today, the forest domain is highly fragmented and degraded, with pressures from both selective logging and agricultural land clearing.  Rapid urbanization in other regions of the country has put a greater demand on the rainforests of Cameroon for timber and fuelwood, as well as food and other non-timber forest products. 

©Woods Hole Research Center, 2007