Volume 53, Issue 2, March 2021, Pages 106–115
Ganota Boniface1
1 Department of Geography, Ecole Normale Supérieure, University of Maroua, Cameroon
Original language: English
Copyright © 2021 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
This study focused on the sacred forests of anthropized areas in the southeast of Far North Cameroon. These are forests from a few square meters to a few hectares. The floristic data collected from the surveys showed that the average richness is 17 species. A total of 67 plant species grouped into 27 families have been identified. Formerly preserved for ritual practices, these forests are experiencing regressive changes both in terms of specific richness and diversity of species under the combination of anthropogenic actions and climatic variability. 2/3 of these sacred forests are experiencing a deterioration. The density and specific richness of the species have decreased by 60 to 80% compared to the well-preserved sacred forests. The diversity indices are only 1.36 bit for very degraded forests against 3.85 bits for those in good condition. Species such as Mytragina inermis, Daniellia oliveri and Celtis integrifolia have almost completely disappeared with a rarity index above 80%. Faced with the current socio-economic and environmental changes, actions to raise awareness and collective appropriation through land titles in favor of local populations should be undertaken by the State.
Author Keywords: Evolution, Sacred forests, Human pressures, Climatic variability, Far North Cameroon Region.
Ganota Boniface1
1 Department of Geography, Ecole Normale Supérieure, University of Maroua, Cameroon
Original language: English
Copyright © 2021 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
This study focused on the sacred forests of anthropized areas in the southeast of Far North Cameroon. These are forests from a few square meters to a few hectares. The floristic data collected from the surveys showed that the average richness is 17 species. A total of 67 plant species grouped into 27 families have been identified. Formerly preserved for ritual practices, these forests are experiencing regressive changes both in terms of specific richness and diversity of species under the combination of anthropogenic actions and climatic variability. 2/3 of these sacred forests are experiencing a deterioration. The density and specific richness of the species have decreased by 60 to 80% compared to the well-preserved sacred forests. The diversity indices are only 1.36 bit for very degraded forests against 3.85 bits for those in good condition. Species such as Mytragina inermis, Daniellia oliveri and Celtis integrifolia have almost completely disappeared with a rarity index above 80%. Faced with the current socio-economic and environmental changes, actions to raise awareness and collective appropriation through land titles in favor of local populations should be undertaken by the State.
Author Keywords: Evolution, Sacred forests, Human pressures, Climatic variability, Far North Cameroon Region.
How to Cite this Article
Ganota Boniface, “Dynamics of sacred forests under the action of human pressures and climate variability in the South-East of the Far North Region of Cameroon,” International Journal of Innovation and Scientific Research, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 106–115, March 2021.
