Abstract

Conflicts between people and wildlife are currently ranked amongst the main threat to people’s livelihoods and conservation in Africa. In Cameroon, for instance, with much of the wildlife living inside protected areas with multifunctional stakeholders involved in its management, one of the real challenges faced is crop destruction and livestock depredation which also post serious threat to food security.

The expansion of human society and agricultural plantations   has forced people to infringe on wildlife habitats and have converted lands to other uses which are incompatible with wildlife. An understanding of how these stakeholders involved deal with human wildlife conflicts is critical in establishing a sustainable coexistence between the wildlife population and humans. This study investigated the causes, nature of conflicts, the impact of human wildlife conflict on food security and strategies put in place to mitigate human wildlife conflicts.

This study presents and analyses data from case studies of human wildlife conflicts in the North western slopes of mount Cameroon. Questionnaires were distributed amongst households in the four villages, focus group discussions were conducted with villagers and interviews were carried out with some stakeholders involved in the management of wildlife. Data was analysed using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS).

Remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) techniques were all used in the analysis of satellite images between 2000 and 2021. The study revealed that the dominant animal involved in the destruction of crops was the elephant with damages estimated to be over 400.000FCFA per affected farmer with significant impact on food security.

This has a significant impact on food shortages as crops were said to be destroyed at all stages (fruiting, flowering and mature). The findings of this study recommends the need to address the issue of human wildlife conflicts in the context of sustainable conservation practice through a combination of indigenous efforts and the stakeholders involved so that wildlife and coexist with people.

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