Fisheries in the Southern Border Zone of Takamanda - Impact ...

Distribution, Utilization, and Sustainability of NTFPs
Figure 1. Location of NTFP surveys in the Takamanda Forest Reserve, Cameroon.
2.1 Recent trends in NTFP trade in TFR
Until the 1980s, most of TFR and its environs were
relatively inaccessible, except through pedestrian access.
The majority of NTFPs were traded locally or were
carried on the heads of residents across the Cameroon-
Nigeria border. Logging in the late 1980’s logging
activities, particularly to the south of the Reserve, led to
the construction of access roads that reached as far as
Bache and Okpambe (Figure 1) These roads facilitated
greater access to TFR and its resources, with a
corresponding increase in the harvest and trade of many
NTFPs by both indigenous peoples and Nigerian traders.
By early 1994, many Nigerians began “invading the
forest” (Ebot 2001) to harvest Gnetum, Carpolobia, bush
mango, and Garcinia chewing stick, with the complicity
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of the local population. More recently, construction of the
Akwaya road, albeit sporadic, has led to the opening of
rural markets from Mamfe to Mbu (the latter operates
only in the dry season), providing additional means of
selling forest products. These changes in infrastructure
and marketing conditions, coupled with the absence of
any formal controls, have led to the “significant overexploitation
of NTFPs” within the study area (Ebot
2001).
This paper is based on the findings of a study of
NTFPs in Takamanda Forest Reserve as part of the GTZfunded
Protection of the Forests around Akwaya
(PROFA) project. It reviews the NTFP sector with
emphasis on the few forest resources that contribute
significantly to household incomes. Each of these
SI/MAB Series #8, 2003