Ecotourism is increasingly accepted as a suitable alternative for sustaining rural livelihoods. In spite of this trend, quantitative assessments of relationships between household assets and ecotourism choices, and the policy implications thereof, currently account for only a negligible number of studies in sub-Saharan Africa. This paper contributes to this evidence gap by analyzing the extent to which households’ assets drive ecotourism choices on a representative sample of 200 households in Cameroon. The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and the Human Development Index (HDI) were used to construct indices for ecotourism choices. The ordinary least square and logit models were also employed to estimate the effect of various household assets on ecotourism choices. A high preference was observed for the production and sale of arts and crafts items and the promotion of cultural heritage sites as key ecotourism choices. More women are found to participate in conservation education, as opposed to culture-related activities such as arts and crafts. Access to education and training were inversely related to cultural festival promotion. The results suggest the need to: (i) stem the overdependence on conservation sites for wood supply to the arts and crafts sector, (ii) enforce endogenous cultural institutional regulations, including those that increase female participation in guiding future ecotourism choices. This paper contributes to ecotourism development and conservation theory, with regards to unbundling household level predictors of ecotourism choices, and has implications on the design of policies to implement environmentally less-demanding ecotourism activities.

No abstract

This study aims at analyzing the effects of climate variability on bee farming in Mount Oku. The guiding premise is that climate variability has brought about environmental changes causing a fall in the quantity and quality of honey. A mixed research approach was adopted in collecting data. Questionnaires were administered to 90 purposively selected bee farmers and interviews conducted with key actors in honey production. SPSS, version 20.0 was used to analyze data while the cumulative difference index helped establish climatic anomalies and trends. Findings revealed falling rainfall trends with marked seasonal variations. Temperatures show a rising trend with little but sensitive anomalies. This has affected periods of flowering for bee plants as acknowledged by 97% of bee farmers. Hive colonization rate has been decreasing (74% - 55%), with an increasing rate of abscond (34% -46%), resulting in a reduction in honey yields. Climate variability has increased the magnitude of other environmental stressors such as bush fires and forest degradation, while reducing the growing period of some bee plants. The coping strategies put in place by bee farmers are limited and policies need to address this situation so as to maintain the quality of OKU honey.

The setbacks of deforestation over the years have given light to awareness on the importance of regeneration. The benefits of forest regeneration are numerous both to the environment and man. The main objectives of this study were to assess forest regeneration dynamics and its implication on landscape projection in Oku. This study adopted both primary and secondary methods of data acquisition. This involved the administration of questionnaires, field visits, focus group discussions, observation and key informant interviews. This was practicable based on the accessibility and the potentials of the study area. In addition, satellite images of the study area were exploited to portray the rate of deforestation over the years and extent of tree planting within the area. Collected data was expected to enhance an understanding of endeavours of the local population to protect and regenerate exploited areas. The study found out that the local population are conscious, appreciative and encourage forest regeneration activities. Questionnaire exploitation revealed that 91% of the population plant trees in their farms. These trees range from soil fertilizer species, fruit trees and suitable trees for wood carving. The study equally revealed that 80% of local NGOs present within the matrix area are involved in forest regeneration. As a result of this, the cumulating local efforts of forest revival respects mitigation designed on climate change. The fact that local communities accept the canons of forest regeneration is of maximum importance in guaranteeing environmental benefits.