Skip to main content

Advertisement

Springer Nature Link
Log in

Deforestation in the Buea-Limbe and Bertoua regions in southern Cameroon (1984–2000): modernization, world-systems, and neo-Malthusian outlook

  • Published:
GeoJournal Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper characterizes changes in land use and forest cover in southern Cameroon. In doing so, we use remotely sensed data to define the rates and area of forest loss and cover change in two reference areas over a period of 16 years (from 1984 to 2000)—the Buea-Limbe area in the southwest province and the Bertoua area in the east province. We relate socio-economic data of these study areas with results from the empirical spatial analysis to explain causes of deforestation. A second set of explanations, which we call the theoretical perspective, attributes deforestation in southern Cameroon to the intricacies of modernization, world-systems, and neo-Malthusian theories.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+
from $39.99 /Month
  • Starting from 10 chapters or articles per month
  • Access and download chapters and articles from more than 300k books and 2,500 journals
  • Cancel anytime
View plans

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

Explore related subjects

Discover the latest articles, books and news in related subjects, suggested using machine learning.

Notes

  1. A total of 4 weeks were spent in southern Cameroon observing and collecting data on different land covers and human-forest interactions. The trip was aided by workers from the Provincial Delegation of Environment and Forest for the East Province and the Divisional Delegation of Agriculture for Fako Division in the south west Province.

References

  • Acworth, J., et al. (2001). Towards participatory biodiversity conservation in the Onge-Mokoko forests of Cameroon. Rural Development Forestry Network paper No 25d. London: Overseas Development Institute.

  • Agarwal, D. K., et al. (2005). Tropical deforestation in Madagascar: Analysis using hierarchical, spatially explicit, Bayesian regression models. Ecological Modeling, 185(1), 105–131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Agrawal, A. (1995). Population pressure = forest degradation: An oversimplistic equation? Rome: FAO. Unasylva, 181.

  • Allen, J. C., & Barnes, D. F. (1985). The causes of deforestation in developing countries. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 75(2), 163–184.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Amissah-Arthur, A., & Miller, R. B. (2002). Remote sensing applications in African agricultural resources: Highlighting and managing the stress of increasing population pressure. Advances in Space Research, 30(11), 2411–2421.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Angelsen, A., & Kaimowitz, D. (1999). Rethinking the causes of deforestation: Lessons from economic models. World Bank Research Observer, 14(1), 73–98.

    Google Scholar 

  • Atangana, D. (1999). A qui profi te l’exploitation forestière? Bubinga, 25, 8–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barbier, E. D. (2003). The role of natural resources in economic development. Australian Economic Papers, 42(2), 253–272.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barbier, E. D., & Burgess, J. C. (1996). Economic analysis of deforestation in Mexico. Environment and Development Economics, 1(2), 203–239.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bhattarai, M., & Hammig, M. (2001). Institutions and the environmental Kuznets curve for deforestation: A crosscountry analysis for Latin America, Africa and Asia. World Development, 29(6), 995–1010.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bikié, H., et al. (2000). An overview of logging in Cameroon. Washington, DC: World Resources Institute, Global forest Watch.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, D. (1998). Participatory biodiversity conservation: Rethinking the strategy in low tourist potential areas of tropical Africa. ODI Natural Resource Perspectives Number 33.

  • Brown, K., & Ekoko, F. (2000). Forest encounters: synergy among agents of forest change in southern Cameroon. Society and Natural Resources, 14(4), 269–290.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brunner, J., & Ekoko, F. (2000). Cameroon. In J. Brunner, N. K. Dubash, F. Ekoko, C. Files, H. Kartodikardjo, J. Mugabe, & F. J. Seymour (Eds.), The right conditions: The World Bank structural adjustment and forest policy reform (pp. 59–82). Washington, DC: World Resources Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bryant, D., Nielsen, D., & Tingley, L. (1997). The last frontier forests: Ecosystems and economies on the edge. Washington, DC: World Resources Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bunker, S. (1985). Underdeveloping the Amazon: Extraction, unequal exchange, and the failure of the modern state. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bunker, S. (1996). Raw material and the global economy: Oversights and distortions in industrial ecology. Society and Natural Resources, 9, 419–429.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buschbacher, R. J. (1990). Natural forest management in the humid tropics: Ecological, social, and economic considerations. Ambio, 19(5), 253–258.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cameroon’s annual report of provincial statistical service. (1981/82). Divisional delegation of agriculture, Fako.

  • Canters, F. (1997). Evaluating the uncertainty of area estimates derived from fuzzy land-cover classification. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, 63(4), 403–414.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carr, D. L., Suter, L., & Barbieri, A. (2005). Population dynamics and tropical deforestation: State of the debate and conceptual challenges. Population and Environment, 27(1), 13–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chirot, D., & Hall, T. (1982). World system theory. Annual Review of Sociology, 8, 81–106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Contreras-Hermosilla, A. (2000). The underlying causes of forest decline. Occasional Paper No. 30. Bogor, Jarkata:CIFOR.

  • Country Statistics Database, Cameroon (2006). http://www.statoids.com/ycm.html. Accessed June 20, 2006.

  • Cropper, M., & Griffiths, C. (1994). The interaction of population growth and environmental quality. American Economic Review, 84(2), 250–254.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deacon, R. T. (1994). Deforestation and the rule of law in a cross-section of countries. Land Economics, 70(4), 414–430.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eba’a-Atyi, R. (1998). Cameroon’s logging industry: Structure, economic importance and effects of devaluation. CIFOR Occasional Paper No.14. Bogor, Wageningen: CIFOR; Tropenbos Foundation.

  • Ehrhardt-Martinez, K. (1998). Social determinants of deforestation in developing countries. Social Forces, 77, 567–586.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ehrhardt-Martinez, K., Edward, M. C., & Jenkins, J. C. (2002). Deforestation and the environmental Kuznets curve: A cross-national investigation of intervening mechanisms. Social Science Quarterly, 83(1), 226–243.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ehrlich, P., & Ehrlich, A. (1990). The population explosion. New York: Simon and Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ehrlich, P., & Ehrlich, A. (2004). One with Nineveh: Politics, consumption, and the human future. New York: Island Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ekoko, F. (1999). Environmental adjustment in Cameroon: Challenges and opportunities for policy reform in the forestry sector. Washington, DC: World Resources Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Essama-Nssah, B., & Gochowski, J. (2000). Cameroon forest sector development in a difficult political economy. Operations evaluation department. Washington, DC: World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferrer, V., & O’Halloran, E. (1997). The evolution of Cameroon’s new forestry legal, regulatory and taxation system. Washington, DC: World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) Database (2006). http://foastat.foa.org. Accessed 15 June, 2006.

  • Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (1996). Forest resources assessment 1990: Survey of tropical forest cover and study of change processes. Forestry Paper No 130. Rome: FAO.

  • Gartlan, S. (1992). Cameroon. In A. S. Sayer, C. S. Harcourt, & M. N. Collins (Eds.), The conservation of tropical forests: Africa (pp. 110–117). London: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gbetnkom, D. (2005). Deforestation in Cameroon: Immediate causes and consequences. Environment and Development Economics, 10(4), 557–572.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geist, H. J., & Lambin, E. F. (2001). What drives tropical deforestation? A meta-analysis of proximate and underlying causes of deforestation based on sub-national case study evidence (p. 116). Louvain-la-Neuve Belgium: LUCC International Project Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Geist, H. J., & Lambin, E. F. (2002). Proximate causes and underlying driving forces of tropical deforestation. BioScience, 52(2), 143–150.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gibson, C., McKean, M. A., & Ostrom, E. (2000). Explaining deforestation: The role of local institutions. FAO: Forest Resources and Institutions.

    Google Scholar 

  • Global Forest Watch (GFW). (2001). Interactive forestry atlas of Cameroon.Global Land Cover Facility (GLCF) (2006). Landsat in web interface. http://glcf.umiacs.umd.edu. Accessed 22 January 2006.

  • Godoy, R., O’Neill, K., Groff, S., Kostishack, P., Cubas, A., et al. (1997). Household determinants of deforestation by Amerindians in Honduras. World Development, 25(6), 977–987.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grimes, P. E. (1999). The horsemen and the killing fields: The final contradiction of capitalism. In W. L. Goldfrank, D. Goodman, & A. Szasz (Eds.), Ecology and world-system (pp. 13–42). Wesport CT: Greenwood Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hardin, G. (1968). The tragedy of the commons. Science, 162(3859), 1243–1248.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huguenin, R. L., Karaska, M. A., Blaricom, D. V., & Jensen, J. R. (1997). Subpixel classification of bald cypress and tupelo gum trees in Thematic Mapper imagery. Photogramm. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, 63(6), 717–725.

    Google Scholar 

  • Inkeles, A., & Smith, D. H. (1974). Becoming modern. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jensen, J. R. (1996). Introductory digital imagepProcessing: A remote sensing Perspective. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jorgenson, A. K. (2003). Consumption and environmental degradation: A cross-national analysis of the ecological footprint. Social Problems, 50(3), 374–394.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jorgenson, A. K. (2006). Unequal exchange and environmental degradation: A theoretical proposition and cross-national study of deforestation. Rural Sociology, 71(4), 685–712.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaimowitz, D., Erwidodo, O., Ndoye, P., Pacheco., & Sunderlin, W. (1998). Considering the impact of structural adjustment policies on forests in Bolivia, Cameroon and Indonesia. Unasylva, 49(194), 57–64.

  • Karsenty, A. (2000). Étude sur la fiscalité forestière en Afrique Centrale. En vue de favoriser un developpement durable dans la sous région. CIRAD-Forêt, Libreville. (Study on forest taxation in Central Africa. The aim of promoting sustainable development in the region).

  • Karsenty, A. (2001). Forêt tropicale, réformes et état de droit. Le cas du Cameroun. CIRAD-Forêt, Montpellier, Paris. (unpublished paper). Tropical forests reforms and legislation, the case of Cameroon.

  • Keys, E., & McConnell, W. J. (2005). Global change and the intensification of agriculture in the tropics. Global Environmental Change, 15(4), 320–337.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kleinbaum, D. G., Kupper, L. L., Muller, K. E., & Nizam, A. (1998). Applied regression analysis and other multivariable methods (pp. 111–119). North Scituate: Duxbury Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuznets, S. (1955). Economic growth and income inequality. American Economic Review, 45(1), 1–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lambin, E. F. (1994). Modeling deforestation processes: A review. Trees, tropical ecosystem environment observation by satellite. Report No. 1. Brussels: European Commission Joint Research Center/European Space Agency.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lehto, E., & Palo, M. (1996). Modeling underlying causes of tropical deforestation. In G. Mery & M. Palo (Eds.), Sustainable forestry challenges for developing countries (pp. 27–62). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lomberg, B. (2001). The skeptical environmentalist: Measuring the real state of the world. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mahendra, J. (1998). Innovative financing for sustainable forest management. New York: UNDP, PROFOR.

    Google Scholar 

  • Malthus, T. (1926). First essay on population. London: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mama, T. (1996). Crise économique et politique de déréglementation au Cameroun. Paris: L’Harmattan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marcoux, A. (2000). Population and deforestation. Rome: FAO.

  • Mather, A. S., & Needle, C. L. (2000). The relationships of population and forest trends. Geographical Journal, 166(1), 2–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mather, A. S., Needle, C. L., & Fairbairn, J. (1998). The human drivers of global land cover change: The case of forests. Hydrological Processes, 12(13), 1983–1994.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mbatu, R. S. (2009). Forest policy analysis praxis: Modelling the problem of forest loss in Cameroon. Forest Policy and Economics, 11(1), 26–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mertens, B., & Lambin, E. F. (1997). Spatial modeling of deforestation in southern Cameroon. Applied Geography, 17(2), 143–162.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mertens, B., Forni, E., & Lambin, E. F. (2001). Prediction of the impact of logging activities on forest cover: A case-study in the East province of Cameroon. Journal of Environmental Management, 62(1), 21–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, T. (1995). The object of development: America’s Egypt. In J. Crush (Ed.), Power of development (pp. 129–225). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mount Cameroon Biodiversity Conservation Centre (MCBCC). (2002). Conserving biodiversity and improving livelihoods: A business plan. Limbe: Limbe Botanical and Zoological Gardens.

  • Myers, N. (1994). Tropical deforestation: rates and patterns. In K. Brown & D. W. Pearce (Eds.), The causes of tropical deforestation (pp. 27–41). London: University College London Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • National Centre for Forestry Development (NCFD) (1979). Ecological map of the vegetation cover of south Cameroon. Pilot project on tropical forest cover monitoring, United Republic of Cameroon, United Nation Environment Program (UNEP) & Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO).

  • Ndoye, O., & Kaimowitz, D. (2000). Macro-economics, markets and the humid forests of Cameroon, 1967–1997. The Journal of Modern African Studies, 38(2), 225–253.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nepstad, D., Schwartzman, S., Bamberger, B., Santilli, M., Ray, D., et al. (2006). Inhibition of Amazon deforestation and fire by parks and indigenous lands. Conservation Biology, 20(1), 65–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nganje, W., Eric, C. S., Debazou Y., & Emmanuel A. (2001). Farmer education and adoption of slash and burn agriculture. Agribusiness & Applied Economics Miscellaneous Report No. 190.

  • Ngwa, N. E., & Fonjong, L. N. (2002). Actors, options and challenges of forest management in anglophone Cameroon. GeoJournal, 57(1/2), 95–111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oyono, P. R. (2005). The foundations of the conflict de langage over land and forests in southern Cameroon. African Study Monographs, 26(3), 115–144.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pimentel, D. (1991). Global warming, population growth and natural resources for food production. Society and Natural Resources, 4(4), 347–363.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pokam, J., & Sunderlin, W. D. (1999). L’impact de la crise économique sur les populations, les migrations, et le couvert forestier du sud-Cameroon. CIFOR Occasional Paper 25. Bogor, Indonesia: Center for international Forestry Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ravenel, R. M., & Granoff, I. M. E. (2004). Illegal logging in the tropics: A synthesis of the issues. Journal of Sustainable Forestry, 19(1/2/3), 351–371.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rew, A., Barnes, C., Clarke, G., & Voysey, B. (1997). Final report of the consultancy to prepare astrategy for participatory bio-diversity conservation. A report to MCP, Limbe and DFID, London.

  • Sayer, A. S., Harcourt, C. S., & Collins, N. M. (Eds.). (1992). The conservation atlas of tropical forests: Africa. Basingstoke: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sedjo, R. A. (1999). The potential of high-yield plantation forestry for meeting timber needs: Recent performance, future potentials, and environmental implications. New Forests, 17(1/3), 339–359.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shandra, J. M. (2007). Economic dependency, repression, and deforestation: A quantitative, cross-national analysis. Sociological Inquiry, 77(4), 543–571.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sieböck, G. (2002). A political, legal and economic framework for sustainable forest management in Cameroon: Concerted initiatives to save the rainforests. Masters Thesis, Lund University. http://www.lumes.lu.se/database/alumni/01.02/theses/sieboeck_gregor.pdf.

  • Southgate, D. (1994). Tropical deforestation and agricultural development in Latin America. In K. D. W. Brown (Ed.), The causes of tropical deforestation (pp. 134–145). London: UCL Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner, B. L., II, & Meyer, W. B. (1991). Land use and land cover in global environmental change: Considerations for studies. International Social Science Journal, 130, 669–679.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner, B. L., II, Villar, S. C., Foster, D., Geoghegan, J., Keys, E., et al. (2001). Deforestation in the southern Yucatán peninsular region: An integrative approach. Forest Ecology and Management, 154(3), 353–370.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). (1991). Environmental Data Report. Oxford: Basil Blackwell Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Verbelen, F. (1999). L’exploitation abusive des forêts equatorials du Cameroun et le role du commerce belge du bois. Bruxelles: Greenpeace Belgique. (Abusive exploitation of the equatorial forests in Cameroon and the role of the Belgian timber trade).

  • Walker, R. (2004). Theorizing land-cover and land-use change: The case of tropical deforestation. International Regional Science Review, 27(3), 247–270.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wallerstein, I. (1974). The modern world-system. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wallerstein, I. (1999). Ecology and capitalist cost of production: No exit. In W. L. Goldfrank, D. Goodman, & A. Szasz (Eds.), Ecology and world-system (pp. 1–11). Wesport, CT: Greenwood Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Bank’s World Development Indicators database (2006). http://devdata.worldbank.org. Accessed June 12, 2006.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, USA

    Richard Mbatu

Authors
  1. Richard Mbatu
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Richard Mbatu.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Mbatu, R. Deforestation in the Buea-Limbe and Bertoua regions in southern Cameroon (1984–2000): modernization, world-systems, and neo-Malthusian outlook. GeoJournal 75, 443–458 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-009-9312-7

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-009-9312-7

Keywords