Landscape change in the bamenda highlands of Northwestern Cameroon: Modeling the driving forces of smallholder deforestation

This study uses remote sensing and spatial modeling to quantify and analyze land-cover change in one of Cameroon´s rich ornithological montane forest biomes, the Kilum/Ijim mountain forest and surrounding watersheds. Change trajectories are identified over the entire watershed for a thirty year period (1978-2008). The role of satellite imagery, biophysical variables, locational context, and household socioeconomics factors in driving land-cover change were assessed. Overall, the documented land cover changes increase provisioning services such as crops and cattle that are characteristic some of the cultural landscapes in the area but may cause an irreversible loss of biodiversity and a depletion of other ecological services provided by forests and shrublands. The explanatory variables of the spatial model suggests that land-cover change in the region is explained many variables including proximity to road and land suitability. The implications for conservation of this area and the need for territorial planning and adapted land-use strategies are discussed.