Patterns of land-use change and current vegetation status in peri-urban forest reserves: the case of the Barombi Mbo Forest Reserve, Cameroon

ABSTRACT Creation of protected areas is a cornerstone of nature conservation. However, with increasing population, the pressure on land for agriculture increases, especially in peri-urban areas. We investigated land-use changes in a peri-urban forest reserve subject to anthropogenic influence and assessed the extant plant community structure through various indices. The results show that there is active forest conversion into farmland, and this conversion affects surrounding waterbodies as well. A new guild of species dominates under anthropogenic activity and comprises cocoa farms and mosaic forest. Cocoa Farms were more diverse (H = 3.08) than Dense Forest (H = 2.75) yet both were strikingly dissimilar with high carbon stocks in Cocoa Farm (128 Mg/Ha) compared to Dense Forest (51.6 Mg/ha) indicating that the forest is highly degraded. Land cover change predictions indicate further increase in forest conversion to farmland and accommodation. Our results show that legislating protected areas needs to be accompanied by consistent monitoring, and poverty alleviation alternatives that relieve pressure from forests, if conservation is to be successful