Cameroon

Cameroon is a Central African country located on the Gulf of Guinea with a great diversity of peoples, landscapes, and wildlife. The majority of the northern 1/3 is comprised of semi-arid Sahelian savanna experiencing continued deforestation and desertification. The area is marked mostly by pastoral communities living off continuously marginalized and depleted soils and subsistence livestock production. As these lands continue to be overgrazed and overharvested, desertification threatens to spread further southward and food security becomes a serious challenge.

The West and Northwest regions are mountainous forested areas where tree harvesting and production dovetails with traditional agriculture practices. However, both activities have had destructive implications for the area’s burgeoning biodiversity, and the significant stock of forestry trees has fueled dramatic deforestation. Combined with sloping elevation, clear-cutting of forests for agricultural and timber exploitation has contributed to mass wasting of nutrient-rich top soils and fertility degradation, furthermore leading to diminished ground and potable water quality.