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Online ISSN : 2349-8080 Issues : 12 per year Publisher : Excellent Publishers Email : editorinchiefijcrbp@gmail.com |
There has been rampant encroachment on Cameroons protected forest landscapes in the last few years. This has resulted to the loss of substantial parts of the forest cover through cultivation for agriculture, settlements, charcoal processing, logging and hunting. The principal target group for this research was the local forest community in and around Tubah Upland Forest who wrestle their living from this forest. The data collection involved an oral interview and questionnaire administration. The results showed that Gender and the awareness of wildlife laws in Tubah region correlated significantly (r2=0.726 at p<0.05) gender. Also, the importance of forest resources had a significant correlation with solutions to wildlife conflict (r2=0.379 at p<0.05). In addition, the reason for settlement also had a significant relationship with organizations mitigating human-wildlife conflict (r2=0.863 at p<0.05) with NGO'S such as CIRMAD (The Care for Indigenous Resources Management and Development) working to raise conservation awareness in the area. Furthermore, the investigation on the importance of forest resources recorded 67.88% on forest exploitation. Edible plants rich in protein accounted for 16.57% in the survey. Moreso, the solutions to human-wildlife conflict also recorded 77.78%, confirming very little help is given to local people by the government authorities. Finally wildlife contact rate recorded 11.52%, 8.08%, 44.24%, and 36.16% respectively for very frequent, infrequent, frequent, and no contact rates. This survey revealed the importance of the corporation and integration of the local community in forest conservation decision-making.
