SUMMARY

Abongphen Highland Forest (also called Misty Mountain Forest) in Kedjom-Keku, Bamenda Highlands, Northwest region of Cameroon, belongs to Guinea forest, a world-impact biodiversity hotspot of the highest possible ecological and societal value. Moreover, the waters of the Misty Mountain forest supply two major African basins, the basin of Niger, fifth largest in Africa, and the Sanaga river basin, the largest in Cameroon. The current level of destruction of this forest is alarming and has led to the serious decrease in water availability for the whole region. This water shortage is directly threatening livelihoods of thousands of people and, if sustained, could cause an ecological, economic and societal catastrophe. On top of this, the small remaining fragments of the forest provide habitat for the most endangered subspecies of chimpanzee Pan troglodytes ellioti; several endemic species of birds and extremely high diversity of amphibians and plants. The main threats to this forest were defined as: the pressure of fast-growing population, poor educational system, inefficient and unsustainable exploitation of natural resources, hesitance and poor effectiveness of certain local offices and authorities. We intend to restore the Misty Mountain forest and its capacity to catch and provide water and, in turn, we want to improve livelihoods of locals by means of forest-friendly micro-economic approach and grant them access to quality education. To ensure sustainability of our program we will establish the first 100% transparent cooperative in Cameroon to associate all stakeholders and participants into the conservation business structure.

Introduction

Misty Mountain forest used to cover volcanic mountain area in Bamenda highlands, in Cameroon’s Northwest region. The Misty forest, similarly to the whole Bamenda highlands, belongs to a biodiversity hotspot known as Guinea Forests of West Africa. Guinea forests spread from Sierra Leone and Guinea in the west to the Sanaga River in Cameroon in the east and are characterized as tropical moist broadleaf forests. These forests are scattered along the coast of West Africa and are extremely valuable for their staggering levels of biodiversity, endemism and climatic impact. Currently, in Western Africa, the Guinea forest vegetation covers only 2% of its original area. In Bamenda highlands, the forests are almost completely gone while in the 50’s of the 20th century they still covered around 50% of Bamenda highlands’ surface. Their very last remnants are now dispersed in Abongphen, a mountainous quarter of Kedjom-Keku village, and in the surrounding villages of Kedjom-Kethingu, Bambui, and Bambili, in Tubah subdivision. This is the Misty Mountain forest. Some 250 hectares of it are left of original 2500 hectares.

The small remaining fragments of the Misty Mountain forest are home to Pan troglodytes ellioti, the most endangered chimpanzee subspecies, two endemic bird species: Tauraco bannermani and platysteira laticincta and also provide habitat to high biodiversity of amphibians, reptiles, mammals and a diversity of plants. Some of the most endangered plants are Alchemilla fisher, or the massive Newtonia camerunensis. There are also many medicinal plants, e.g. the highly demanded Prunus africana. Its bark is used for curing benign prostatic hyperplasia, thus heavy illegal logging threatens the further existence of this species.

The highest value of the Misty Mountain forest for the local society is its ability to provide water and to prevent soil degradation. The forest retains water during heavy pouring in the rainy season (2500 mm/year on average) and helps prevent local floods and soil washouts. Additionally, the Misty forest catches mist on the leaves, lichens, and mosses which helps recover several extra hundreds of millimeters of rain every year. The retained water is then steadily released into the environment through creeks, springs, and rivers over the course of the year. Deforested hills and mountains lack these features - outflow of water is intense, short and detrimental for the quality of soil, leaving very little water in the region stored for the dry season. In the recent years, diminishing water levels, both underground and surface, have been highly correlated with massive deforestation. Direct effects can be observed on socio-economical, agricultural and health conditions of the local population. In a broader perspective, the Misty Mountain forest supplies water to two great African basins - the basin of Niger and Sanaga river basin. The impact of Misty Mountain forest thus extends far beyond the region itself.

In the region, the population growth rates are over 2%/year and natural resources are exploited in a highly inefficient and unsustainable manner. Extremely poor agricultural practices and land management gradually degrade soil quality at a rate resulting in each field being only used for one to few years. More and more new soil for agriculture is therefore deforested by slash and burn methods. Usage of foreign crops, which are not suited to be grown in the climatic and soil conditions, requires heavy use of fertilizers and other agro-chemistry products. These chemicals continuously poison water resources and severe deforestation leads to enormous depletion of water levels, further reducing farming productivity. In recent years, the climatic and environmental effects of this situation have already negatively affected the local population with water shortages in ever-longer dry seasons and health issues likely caused by consumption of polluted water. If no measures are taken the local communities would likely have to face a serious crisis as it is entirely dependent on the water in the local rivers and creeks sustaining quality suitable for drinking and quantities ensuring agricultural production. Informed predictions state that in the worst scenarios, the area could turn from once climatically stable to bold windy and dry mountain desert, possibly no longer liveable.

1. goal

To protect around 1000 ha of the degraded area which used to be forest some 50 years ago.

2. goal

To restore the 1000 ha of forest with the natural biodiversity and water providing capacities. These goals, in practice, will be based on the following cornerstones: i) planting over 2 million native trees, ii) fencing the key forest areas in order to gain protection against fire, lodging, and grazing, iii) intense awareness campaign for local inhabitants. We also planned to identify possible corridors between the neighboring forest biotopes to sustain biodiversity.

3. goal

To improve educational methods and introduce modern teaching aids and equipment. Seminars for teachers to improve their teaching skills and methods will be organized and carried out. 4. goal

To directly improve the livelihood of around a thousand of local people, and some 70.000 others indirectly. We will introduce farmers our model of 100% transparent agro-cooperative which, according to our calculations, should offer them a more rational, sustainable and forest-friendly way to generate higher yields and profit in comparison with what they generate now. The basis of those cooperatives will be micromanagement, high effectivity organic agriculture and mainly on beekeeping and agroforestry. Seminars and training will be organized to ensure professional as well as personal development of each participant. Demonstration farm will be established for each farming group of 25 people. These concepts should increase the income of involved individuals, while in the same time decrease the land requirement, leaving more room for restoring of the forest. Ideas and methods for processing of crops and other products will be introduced and offered for implementation. 5. goal

To establish research and eco-touristic site in the protected area. The process of implementation of our goals will be systematically documented, analyzed and evaluated. Our results w presented and published by local communication channels and in scientific as well as popular media. As a rule, we will be recording all our activities in order to create informative and documentary movies to promote fight against corruption and to serve as learning example. All our contracts, agreements etc. will be regularly published. We are committing to top-notch transparency, while the concept of transparency will be also introduced to the local authorities.

Statement of the problem

1. Urbanization and increase in population

Cameroonian mountains used to display long-term climate stability and therefore has become one of the most populated areas in Africa. Even without large agglomerations, the population density is reaching 150 people/km2. In Cameroon, the population has more than tripled in 35 years, rising from 7.1million in 1980 (FAO, 1981) to 24.4 million in 2016. Nowadays, the population growth is slowly decreasing but remains higher than 2 % every year. The average amount of children for one woman is more than 4. Tubah subdivision where the mountain forest is situated has 70.000 people on 500 km2. Traditionally, the forest was providing everything the local communities needed in open-source mode. E.g., foodstuffs, water, medicine, fuelwood, animal fodder and building materials. Forest, back then ten-fold larger in the area covered, was supplying for a population with the size of third of the current one. The still fast growing population is asking further land, roads to untouched areas were a high quantity of natural resources emerge. This development is not sustainable, for sure not with old paradigms of land use and without environmental thinking.

2. Education and resources

Education in Cameroon suffers from overcrowded classes with least 60 children per class. Teaching methods applied do not support the individual and self-conscious development of character. Reflective thinking, i.e. concerning the sustainability of lifestyles are not fostered. There is a lack of educational facilities and well as of qualified teachers. There is no didactic material and equipment for specialized classrooms. Students do not attend any field experiences or practical work. The result is fast growing not well-educated population without proper access to relevant information.

3. Natural resources management

In Tubah subdivision, mostly slash and burn farming methods is practiced by more than 70% of the population. Typically, only annual crops like corn, potatoes, beans are planted. These are imported species which prosper only with difficulties and with a battery of chemicals as support. Moreover, the soil after clearing of the forest only harbors 50 cm layer of hummus and gets exhausted and/or eroded in only a few years. This land then has to be abandoned or heavily treated with fertilizers. Rational, long-term cultivation on one farm with use of principles of organic agriculture, forestry and agroforestry would decrease erosion rates, spare the water sources of the poisoning chemicals, leave more room for forest and bring regular and sustainable income for the farmers, higher to their current incomes. Furthermore, virtually no marketing strategies are used by the farmers. Farmers are therefore cut from their revenues and their potential customers from their goods. On top of this, processing capacities and/or storage facilities are non-existent, therefore a huge amount of crop yields end spoiled (astonishing 150 kg per year of food per capita).

4. Involvement of local authorities

For decades, the local authorities did not display too much interest in forest conservation. This lack of involvement contributed to low success rate of conservation projects launched in Abongphen in the past. Under pressure of climatic and economic effect of the deforestation as well as other factors, the current representatives recognize the negative impact of the decline of the Misty Mountain forest and express their full concern. Their role can be especially in sensitization of their people.

5. Non-sustainable approach to development

However investments of local organizations are necessary for the development of the area, the current directions of those investments go directly against the rational understanding of the situation. Instead of steps ensuring sustainability of human lives and actions in the area, investments are made to mechanize and chemicalize agricultural practices in the forest area. Since the market-farm road was constructed in 2016, more farmers use the new opportunity to open their own farm in the mountain and serious land grabbing is taking place too. Approximately 200 farmers and grazers are practicing their agriculture all over the mountain, water catchments areas included. In past 25 years, the forest area decreased by 80%. Currently, the area is covered by approx.: 250 hectares of primary forest, 500 hectares of secondary forest, 750 hectares of farming land and 1000 hectares of grazing land.

6. Lack of implementation of environmental laws and policies

While a law (No. 94/01 of 20th January 1994) 'To lay down forestry, wildlife and fisheries regulations' was approved no actions are taken to implement it. Overall, it seems that while the Ministry of forestry and wildlife is in charge of forest protection it displays no signs of interest in environmental conservation. The only objective seems to be to sell Cameroonian wood, generating immediate incomes in highly fraudulent and corruption-friendly transactions.

7. Water and fertility level decreasing

In Tubah subdivision, the forest springs directly supply drinking water to all four villages, Kedjom-Keku, Kedjom-Kethingu, Bambili, and Bambui (70 000 people), indirectly to millions of other people downstream including the largest city around, Bamenda with some 800 000 people. In the past two decades, events and practices described in the previous paragraphs altogether led to a serious decrease of water levels. Direct observations by indigenous witnesses describe a decrease in water flow levels by 80% in the last 25 years. This drop in water supplies struck heavily on the population of North West Region of Cameroon in past few years, 2014, 2015 and 2016. Almost half of Bamenda suffers periodic drinking water shutdowns these years. In Kedjom-Keku village, the tap goes off very soon after the rainy season ends. As an alternative, locals are drinking water from a heavily polluted stream that goes through the village. Yet villages often face raids from the city people searching for drinking water. On top, the dry seasons are getting longer and drier than ever. In 2016, no rain came for 128 days which is unprecedented in this area. Instead of protecting natural water resources new water pipelines are being constructed to fast-growing villages as Bambili. Those new pipelines are taking water from relatively less destroyed areas (lake Awing – 20km East of Bamenda) where already the construction itself is causing serious damage. The ongoing continuous forest destruction also causes rapid loss of soil fertility, since no source of organic nutritions is thus present.

8. Water pollution

Exhausted and heavily eroded fields motivate people to overuse pesticides (herbicides, fungicides, and insecticides) to save their production. Grazing is now very common directly in watershed zones. As result, water contamination by dangerous chemicals from agricultural products and fecal contamination is an increasingly serious problem in all four villages - Kedjom-Keku, Kedjom-Kethingu, Bambili, and Bambui. Obviously, this severely affects health condition of humans as well as domestic and wild animals and crops.

9. Increasing of poverty

All these changes have greatly fueled poverty which further accelerates deforestation.

10. Biodiversity loss

The loss of habitat has a detrimental effect on once rich biodiversity of the forest in Tubah subdivision. The last refuge of the most endangered subspecies of chimpanzee Pan troglodytes ellioti, endemic bird Touraco banermani or Platisteira laticyncta are that the brink of local extinction. Many other, not well-described species are equally threatened and local extinctions are a sadly common phenomenon.

HOW WE ARE GOING TO SAVE THE FOREST

Forest Friendly Family cooperative

All of our investment based protection and development activities will be carried out under the auspices of FFF. It is important to us that we ensure the programme is sustainable by bringing people together.

Njangi

The Rotating Savings and Credit Association is a form of local bank, which is based on trust and a family-like community. A given number of people (in our case 25) meets up regularly to both save up and lend money to people within the group.

Women

Women are the main force driving Cameroon’s development, as well as the best guarantee of the sustainability of all activities. This is why we will predominantly focus on them. 70% of all people who will join our protection and sustainability-related activities will be women.

Traineeship

Although you can find essentially all types of modern technology in equatorial Africa, nobody can use the machines, appliances and technological products effectively. We will, therefore, teach the locals how to use them properly.

Blockchain

Utilising the blockchain technology where opportunities arise. The decentralized nature of the technology coupled with the ability to store transparent and verifiable information relevant to the project makes it a good fit. It has potential for performing as a ledger of activities, and also the potential to act as an incentive in the carbon offsetting activities of local farmsteads.

WHAT WE HAVE ACHIEVED

1. We have physically built and launched a nursery and primary school. The teachers are from Cameroon and it has 20 pupils (all the children living in the mountains).

2. We increased awareness of the importance and different functions of the forest and slowed down (unfortunately not halted) its decrease. 3. We taught twenty local farmers beekeeping. We also provided them with the necessary equipment in a form of investment so they could become beekeepers themselves.

4. We planted 5,000 trees, which are slowly restoring 5 hectares of the deforested area around one of the hundreds of water springs in Abongphen.

5. We launched an ecotourism programme called Holidays That Matter that helped us bring in hundreds of locals and foreigners.