Agricultural expansion and land use land cover changes in the Mount Bamboutos landscape, Western Cameroon: implications for local land use planning and sustainable development
Ewane Basil Ewane, Asabaimbi Deh-Nji, Njiaghait Younchahou Mfonkwet, Louis Nkembi
Abstract
This paper reports the extent of degradation and pattern of land use land cover change (LULCC) in the Mount Bamboutos landscape in Western Cameroon, using Landsat satellite images of 1980, 2000 and 2018. The researchers surveyed 261 household farmers to understand the different agricultural activities in the landscape. Grassland, sparse primary forest and sparse secondary forest decreased by a magnitude of 818%, 101% and 53%, respectively, from 1980 to 2018. Farmland, tea plantation, eucalyptus plantation and built-up areas increased by 16,799.8 ha (69%), 1009.6 ha (84%), 3757 ha (94%) and 3385.5 ha (97%), respectively, from 1980 to 2018. Agriculture, settlement and grazing land expansion are the key drivers of the LULCC. A conceptual model to increase inclusive stakeholder participation and sustainability in local land use planning is proposed.