Cameroonians’ attachment to their natural environment for food, habitat and health could be curtailed by harmful human activities.
The attachment between Cameroonians and their natural environment or biodiversity is reflected in all facets of life. According to a study on biological resources undertaken in 2000, Cameroon’s rich biodiversity, considered fifth in Africa, includes about 8,260 plant types, 409 species of mammals, 542 fish species, 850 bird species and 330 reptile species.
Biodiversity therefore is a source of employment for several categories of people. Besides providing vegetal resources for modern and traditional medicine, biodiversity offers ecological services for human survival. It provides oxygen, absorbs carbon gases, cleanses water bodies, regulates climate and provides the setting for the growing ecotourism industry. Cameroonians also draw benefits from biodiversity through fibres for clothing, wood for fuel and construction of houses. Biodiversity also contributes to soil fertility and protection.
However, the extinction of some flora and fauna at a faster pace by human activities is of prime concern. In marine and coastal ecosystems, degradation is caused by human activities like industrial pollution, demographic pressure and uncontrolled fishing methods. In the dense forests, the overexploitation of forestry resources, poaching as well as slash-and-burn farming methods have been blamed for being environmentally-unfriendly. Similarly, in the Savannah and Sahel areas, unsustainable agriculture, bushfires, and uncontrolled cutting of trees for fuel wood have also been identified while in the mountainous areas, activities like erosion, exploitation of quarries and unsustainable agricultural practices are to blame. Other environmentally harmful activities that include road construction and rapid urbanisation have also been held responsible for threats to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in Cameroon although they remain pertinent indicators of socio-economic growth.
Cameroonian authorities have not remained indifferent. Measures to reverse biodiversity degradation have been reinforced in Cameroon by the creation of institutional, legal and regulatory frameworks implemented jointly by several ministerial departments. Besides sensitisation of the public on biodiversity preservation, several policies, strategies and action plans have been adopted, all aimed at the management and sustainable use of the environment. Featuring prominently is the Sectoral Programme for Forest and Environment adopted in 2003.
Efforts to put environmental protection at the centre stage will reach high gear next week. A five-day forum on the state of the environment in Cameroon that starts in Yaounde on Monday 24 October aims, amongst others, to present a diagnosis of the state of the environment and environmental policies as well as draw attention of different actors on the dangers of uncontrolled exploitation of environmental resources.
