Ethnic and Geographic Distribution of Natural Resource Management Strategies in the Tchabal Mbabo Region, Cameroon

Abstract

Conservation and development projects in Africa are now attempting to implement participatory approaches to protected area management. These approaches remedy many past sources of conflict between local communities and conservation projects, but also potentially cause as many problems as they remedy when user groups are not accurately defined. Lack of appropriate definition of pastoral and some agropastoral groups commonly occurs due to limitations in projects' funding and time as well as specific characteristics that make these groups difficult to work with in participatory projects. More efficacious methods of user group identification focused on traditional divisions in social structures or geographic distribution of communities could possibly assist in project implementation. This study explores whether differences of natural resource management (NRM) behaviors in Tchabal Mbabo (Cameroon) are positively associated to social divisions. The three groups of interest here are subethnic divisions of Fulße agropastoral groups: the Djafoun Mbororo, Akou Mbororo, and Huya Fulße subethnic groups.

Fifty-five behaviors were chosen from a survey of 205 households. Data were coded and analyzed using Pearson's Chi-square test and the Kruskal-Wallis rank sum test (α=.05). Thirty-seven of the 55 variables showed significant differences according to subethnic group. A second part of this study uses data collected during 20 months of participant-observation to create a series of descriptive profiles focused on NRM. Finally, all data is geographically referenced in order to assist further policy development, to create an historic reference for future research, and to lay the groundwork for longitudinal and exploratory research on the spatial distribution of ecological indicators and demographic characteristics. The results of this study are particularly relevant for the Gashaka Gumti-Tchabal Mbabo Transboundary Conservation Project, an integrated conservation and development project, in the region. The policy implications are explored.