Activités anthropiques et dynamiques du couvert forestier de la réserve forestière de melap dans l’arrondissement de Foumban

Abstract

The continuous degradation of forest reserves in Cameroon remains a major concern, despite all the efforts made by the State through MINFOF state structures like ANAFOR in terms of development, restoration, and sustainable management of forest landscapes. This situation raises concerns about the future of forest resources, particularly in the global context of climate change and biodiversity loss. It is within this context that our study, entitled "Anthropogenic Activities and Forest Cover changes in the Melap Forest Reserve, Foumban Subdivision (West Cameroon)," is set. The main objective is to assess the influence of human activities on the dynamics of vegetation cover, while proposing sustainable management approaches to mitigate these effects. In order to achieve this, the methodology that we have adopted combines quantitative and qualitative analysis. A diachronic analysis of Landsat satellite images was conducted to map the land and monitor the health of vegetation via the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). This approach was sustained by a literature review and field surveys that help us to understand the local socio-economic dynamics and the perceptions of the various stakeholders involved. Fields surveys were carried out on 358 households distributed in 5 villages namely Njiloum, Koupa Gangou, Machinka, Njiketnkie and Njitout. At the end of these investigations, it was found out that the Melap Forest Reserve is the scene of numerous human activities, including agriculture, hunting, livestock farming, as well as the exploitation of Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs), firewood and timber. These activities are directly responsible for the depletion of forest in the RFM. Indeed, the reserve is suffering a continuous and increasing loss of its forest area. While it covered 1479.65 ha in 1990, it fell to 1135.49 ha in 2002, then to 869.42 ha in 2014, to reach only 664.33 ha in 2024. This represents an overall loss of 814.72 ha, or 55.06% of its initial area over a period of 34 years. Confronted to this situation, ANAFOR has implemented several management initiatives to try to limit the influence of these activities. However, these efforts remain limited. This study therefore proposes to assess in more details the effectiveness of current management initiatives and explore in depth the socio-economic motivations of local populations. Furthermore, this study integrates more sophisticated remote sensing techniques, such as data analysis for quantifying forest carbon stocks,