Forest landscapes in Cameroon provide critical environmental services at a local, regional, and global scale. But forest ecosystems in Mbalmayo, Cameroon are under immense strain from rapid urbanization and environmental pressures including climate change, pollution, and logging. These stressors destabilize habitats, and put the health and well-being of humans, biodiversity, and the provisioning of ecosystem services at risk.
Applying nature-based solutions to restore degraded, damaged, or destroyed urban ecosystems can help to address such challenges. Our Practicum team is collaborating with staff and students of the National Forestry School of Cameroon to research forest degradation and opportunities for rehabilitation. We plan to establish a land cover map using GIS and satellite imagery to delimit potential sites for reforestation. In March-April of 2024, our team will travel to Cameroon establish plots in forests of the NFS located in three agro-ecological zones in what we hope will be a generations-long restoration project for 100 hectares of degraded land. We plan to then continue to support the NFS in the monitoring of the planted saplings and efforts to address poor soil quality at the sites.
Student Team: Jordan Corral, Kate Heine, Anna Novoselov, Laine Nowak, Alexandra Preston, Davina Truong, and Kimmy Wong
Client: National Forestry School of Cameroon
Advisor: Dr. Kevin Njabo