Post on 18-Dec-2014
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transcript
Land-use change and
local forest dynamics in the forest-savannah boundary
in Central Cameroon
Taking stock of smallholders and community forestry Session 13
Impact of local forestry practices on landscapes
Let’s go to Central Cameroon
Fairly recent introgression of forest onto savannah
Ongoing afforestation on African forest margins
Attested throughout Western and Central Africa
Bioclimatic origin of this phenomenon that started 1,000 years BP
Local perceptions and attitudes vis-à-vis spontaneous afforestation are poorly documented
Humans are hardly responsible for past bioclimatic events…
… But they have co-influenced the impact of such events on the environment…
… Humans are becoming a major driving force in the dynamics of ecosystems
Multidisciplinary evidence of this extensive phenomenon
• Phytogeography • Botany • Phytosociology • Remote sensing • Pedology • Dendrochronology • Isotopic biochemistry • Sedimentology • Phytolites • Palynology • Ecology • Archeology • Anthropology
Forest-savannah ecotone
• Rich ecosystem - Diversified mosaic
- Forest plants and animals meet with savannah plants and animals
- Life forms specific to the ecotone
• Dynamic ecosystem - Afforestation: 1 to 3 meters per year
- Changes perceptible in just a few years
- Ideal conditions to question adaptation to change
Ecological heterogeneity of the ecotone
forest/savannah ecotone in the southern area
forest/savannah ecotone in the northern area
Tikar…
• Warlike and conquering stratified
society
• Originally cereal cultivators
• Brought their ecology with them
• Sorghum progressively replaced
by maize
• “Absorption” of populations met
along migration
• Initiated into forest by Bedzan
Pygmies
and Bedzan
Forest swiddeners and savannah cultivators
Intercropped swidden under forest
Monocultural (cassava) field in the savannah
Non agricultural activities
hunting fishing
gathering
Afforestation between 1950 and 1989
Sectors of faster afforestation: former village settlements
Accelerated afforestation near residential sites Villages were built right up against the forest edge
Accelerated afforestation near residential sites
Temporary swidden camps
Accelerated afforestation near residential sites
Seasonal fishing camps
Accelerated afforestation near residential sites
In 35 years
Fragmented swidden area ⇒ fast afforestation
Single swidden area ⇒ slowed afforestation
Local strategies to control afforestation
Selective tree cutting by forest swiddeners
Local strategies to control afforestation
Seed rain and nucleation
Local strategies to control afforestation
Coffee agroforest
1970s: Permanent agroforest belt as a fence against afforestation
Local strategies to control afforestation
Agroforest trees as safety net Ictyotoxic bark of Albizia coriaria
Medicinal bark of Enantia chloranta
Storage of cola nuts in termites’ nests
Local strategies to control afforestation
Pan-tropical invasive shrub
Good for agronomy • Voluntarily introduced as a cover crop
• Improves soil structure (stops the leaching of mineral elements, increases the depth of
the humus stratum, reduces soil acidity)
• Green manure
• Nematicide properties
Bad for ecology • Compromises forest regeneration
• The African variegated grasshopper (Zonocerus variegatus, Orthoptera,
Pyrgomorphidae)
1980s: invasion by Chromolaena odorata (Asteraceae)
Local strategies to control afforestation
Suffrutescent plant: architecture smothers fire and protects tree seedlings of the forest edge
Abundant faunal circulation underneath (rodents) Early burned savannahs
Chromolaena facilitates afforestation Early burning of savannahs
Local strategies to control afforestation
Exhausting clearing of young fallows invaded by Chromolaena
Delayed burning of fallows
Local strategies to control afforestation
High caloric return of Chromolaena burning
Chromolaena compromises afforestation Delayed burning of fallows
Local strategies to control afforestation
Effect of Chromolaena on the fallowing rotation
• No more forest regrowth • Fallowing period reduced to 5 years
Local strategies to control afforestation
Socio-political system of savannah farmers more adapted to Chromolaena
Community farming activities and mutual aid
Increased man-days per hectare
Local strategies to control afforestation
In brief
1980s Invasion by
Chromolaena odorata
• Coupled human-nature shaping of ecosystems
• Analysis of biocultural interactions needed to catch local understanding
and influence of ecosystem dynamics (socioecological systems)
• Local rationality differs from the scientific and conservationist views
• Indigenous peoples are not de facto “conservationists”, but may
elaborate adaptive responses that are environmental-friendly
• “Conservationist” does not mean “conservative”. Adaptive responses
may be stimulated by external factors (cash crop plantations ; invasive
shrub)
• Innovative adoptions depend on socio-political features of the
considered community
Where do we go from here… … well, let’s go back to there!
Thank you for your attention!