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Indigenous Strategies for Communual Resource Management in Oku, North West Region of Cameroon

Received: 23 April 2019     Accepted: 3 June 2019     Published: 15 July 2019
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Abstract

The exploitation of common property resources has often witnessed rapid degradation due to indiscriminate exploitation for selfish reasons. The Oku Community Forest is a replica of this type of forest that has been under human influence since time immemorial. Taking into consideration the fact that institutions have failed to meet up with sustainable management strategies, the management of these forest resources depends unavoidably on the holistic approach which requires local communities and institutions to make use of indigenous technology in resource management. This study focuses on the indigenous strategies in communal resource management in the Oku Community Forest. Data for the study were collected using both primary and secondary sources with much emphasis on the administration of questionnaires. The data were analysed in both qualitative and quantitative terms. The relationship between population increase, communal resource exploitation and the impact on the environment was correlated through the use of the chi square. From field evidence, there is a relationship between population increase, the over exploitation of communal resources and communal resource degradation. The study therefore recommends the community based resource management as a panacea for sustainable community forest resources in the Oku Community Forest. This will help to limit over exploitation and thus could enhance a sustainable management of the communal forest resources.

Published in Social Sciences (Volume 8, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.ss.20190804.13
Page(s) 160-169
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2019. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Indigenous Strategies, Communal Resources, Management, Oku Community Forest

References
[1] Sophie Chao (2012): Forest Peoples Programme.
[2] World Bank Annual Report 2006.
[3] World Commission of Forests and Sustainable Development (WCFSD) (1999): Our forest our future.
[4] World Resources, (2001): People and Ecosystems, UNDP, UNEP, World resources institute.
[5] FAO, (1986): National Resource and the Human Environment for Food and Agriculture in Africa.
[6] FAO, (2010): Global Forest Resources Assessment, Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations, 2010, Rome.
[7] Sergeant, C. (1992): Plantation Politics. Earthscan publication L td, London.
[8] CAMGEW (2012): A training Guide on Bee farming in the Oku Community Forest.
[9] White and Martin (2002): Who Owns the World’s Forests? Forest Tenure and Public.
[10] WWF (2002) Cameroon: Community Wildlife Management in the Lobeke Region.
[11] MC Neely (1990): Conserving the Worlds Biological diversity, PUCN, Gland, Switzerland, WRICI.
[12] WWF-US, World Bank, Washington DC.
[13] Cheo, V. N (2011) Evironmental Communicion and Forest Governance Strategy for Sustaianble Management in Cameroon: The Case of Anglophone Cameroon.
[14] Rural Development Forestry Network, (2001): A Conservation partnership; community forest at Kilum-Ijim, Cameroon, p 25.
[15] Oyono, P. R., Biyong, M. B. and Samba, S. K. (2012): Beyond the Decade of Policy and Euphoria: The State of Livelihoods under the New Local Rights to Forest in Rural Cameroon. Conservation and Society.
[16] Nkwe Jude, (2015); An Assessment of the Activities of Traditional Herbalists in Oku from 1980 to 2015. DIPES II Dissertation, Department of Geography, ENS Bambili, The University of Bamenda, North West Region of Cameroon.
[17] Hardin, G. (1968): The Tragedy of the Commons. Science Mannual.
[18] Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, (2007): Education at a Glance.
[19] www.panda.org/resourcesustainability/indigenous/proj_cameroon.htm
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Cordelia Givecheh Kometa, Livinus Vernyuy Wirnkar. (2019). Indigenous Strategies for Communual Resource Management in Oku, North West Region of Cameroon. Social Sciences, 8(4), 160-169. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20190804.13

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    ACS Style

    Cordelia Givecheh Kometa; Livinus Vernyuy Wirnkar. Indigenous Strategies for Communual Resource Management in Oku, North West Region of Cameroon. Soc. Sci. 2019, 8(4), 160-169. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20190804.13

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    AMA Style

    Cordelia Givecheh Kometa, Livinus Vernyuy Wirnkar. Indigenous Strategies for Communual Resource Management in Oku, North West Region of Cameroon. Soc Sci. 2019;8(4):160-169. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20190804.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ss.20190804.13,
      author = {Cordelia Givecheh Kometa and Livinus Vernyuy Wirnkar},
      title = {Indigenous Strategies for Communual Resource Management in Oku, North West Region of Cameroon},
      journal = {Social Sciences},
      volume = {8},
      number = {4},
      pages = {160-169},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ss.20190804.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20190804.13},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ss.20190804.13},
      abstract = {The exploitation of common property resources has often witnessed rapid degradation due to indiscriminate exploitation for selfish reasons. The Oku Community Forest is a replica of this type of forest that has been under human influence since time immemorial. Taking into consideration the fact that institutions have failed to meet up with sustainable management strategies, the management of these forest resources depends unavoidably on the holistic approach which requires local communities and institutions to make use of indigenous technology in resource management. This study focuses on the indigenous strategies in communal resource management in the Oku Community Forest. Data for the study were collected using both primary and secondary sources with much emphasis on the administration of questionnaires. The data were analysed in both qualitative and quantitative terms. The relationship between population increase, communal resource exploitation and the impact on the environment was correlated through the use of the chi square. From field evidence, there is a relationship between population increase, the over exploitation of communal resources and communal resource degradation. The study therefore recommends the community based resource management as a panacea for sustainable community forest resources in the Oku Community Forest. This will help to limit over exploitation and thus could enhance a sustainable management of the communal forest resources.},
     year = {2019}
    }
    

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    T1  - Indigenous Strategies for Communual Resource Management in Oku, North West Region of Cameroon
    AU  - Cordelia Givecheh Kometa
    AU  - Livinus Vernyuy Wirnkar
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    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20190804.13
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ss.20190804.13
    T2  - Social Sciences
    JF  - Social Sciences
    JO  - Social Sciences
    SP  - 160
    EP  - 169
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2326-988X
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20190804.13
    AB  - The exploitation of common property resources has often witnessed rapid degradation due to indiscriminate exploitation for selfish reasons. The Oku Community Forest is a replica of this type of forest that has been under human influence since time immemorial. Taking into consideration the fact that institutions have failed to meet up with sustainable management strategies, the management of these forest resources depends unavoidably on the holistic approach which requires local communities and institutions to make use of indigenous technology in resource management. This study focuses on the indigenous strategies in communal resource management in the Oku Community Forest. Data for the study were collected using both primary and secondary sources with much emphasis on the administration of questionnaires. The data were analysed in both qualitative and quantitative terms. The relationship between population increase, communal resource exploitation and the impact on the environment was correlated through the use of the chi square. From field evidence, there is a relationship between population increase, the over exploitation of communal resources and communal resource degradation. The study therefore recommends the community based resource management as a panacea for sustainable community forest resources in the Oku Community Forest. This will help to limit over exploitation and thus could enhance a sustainable management of the communal forest resources.
    VL  - 8
    IS  - 4
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Topography and Real Estate Management, Higher Technical Teachers’ Training College, University of Buea, Kumba, Cameroon

  • Department of Topography and Real Estate Management, Higher Technical Teachers’ Training College, University of Buea, Kumba, Cameroon

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