Balancing Ecosystem Services in Northern Cameroon: The need for sustainability measures on land degradation

Abstract

This paper reports on the situation of land degradation and desertification in Northern Cameroon. Lack of appropriate sustainable agro-forestry measures for firewood, erosion, wild life management and good farming approaches to preserve dry land Ecosystem Services (ES) is a big challenge to landscape management in the region. The argument is that encouraging agro-forestry measures that support cropping alongside planting of tree that grow quickly to supply biomass for energy production, fruits for extra income and conservation of the natural ecosystem (trade-off between nature and human activities) can be introduce in Northern Cameroon as efforts towards improvement of the situation. This can support measures to management the landscape and sustain the region. It can be possible when the population in the region participate in agro-forestry measures with enough ethical reasoning. Thereby contributing to efforts towards the preservation and sustainability of dry land ES that need long term observation and appropriate management systems to support the global fight against land degradation, desertification and climate change. The objective is to open ground for investigating dry landscape management support systems for balancing ES through agro-forestry measures that can contribute to their sustainability especially in North Cameroon. The conclusion is that research capacity is needed in the region requiring cooperation with different scientist for example sharing, learns learned from other region and practices.