list of figures - Terry Sunderland

the reserve has no management plan (Thomas, 1994; ERM, 1998; Sunderland and
Tchouto, 1999).
3.3.2.2 Climate
Annual precipitation on the Western flank of Mount Cameroon varies between
3,000mm and 4,000mm and declines further east of Mokoko in a rain shadow caused
by the Mount Cameroon massif. There is a single rainy season between March and
October. December, January and February are all relatively dry months, often with no
rain falling at all. The annual mean temperature is 27°C.
3.3.2.3 Topography, geology and soil type
The Mokoko FR is situated at an altitude between 120 to 360m, on the north west
inferior slope of Mount Cameroon. The majority of the reserve is seated on ancient
volcanic rocks, basalts and trachites. Nearer the sea, there are small areas of more
recent alluvial deposits. The soils that predominate within the reserve have been
formed by an association between ancient and recent volcanic material with a small
area of non-volcanic sedimentary sandstone-derived soil nearer to the Boa Plain
(ERM, 1998).
3.3.2.4 Vegetation
The majority of the lowland forests in the hinterland of Mount Cameroon have been
converted to industrial plantations, and the forests of the Mokoko area currently
constitute the only pristine and most extensive forest formation in the region. As such,
they are extremely important, both in terms of biodiversity value (Cable and Cheek,
1998) and for indigenous use and management (Sharpe, 1998; Sunderland and
Tchouto, 1999).
The vegetation of the Mokoko Reserve was originally described by Letouzey (1985)
as being of the “Atlantic Biafran evergreen forest with numerous Caesalpiniaceae”
formation. Whilst this general description certainly encompasses the general
physiognomy of the area, Letouzey’s classification, at 1:500,000 scale with limited
ground-truthing, does not allow for more subtle variations in vegetation that are
characteristic of the forests around Mount Cameroon. As such, subsequent field-work
177