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Profiling climate change vulnerability of forest indigenous communities in the Congo Basin

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Abstract

The livelihood strategies of indigenous communities in the Congo Basin are inseparable from the forests, following their use of forest ecosystem goods and services (FEGS). Climate change is expected to exert impacts on the forest and its ability to provide FEGS. Thus, human livelihoods that depend on these FEGS are intricately vulnerable to climate impacts. Using the livelihood strategies of the two main forest indigenous groups; the Bantus and Pygmies, of the high forest zone of southern Cameroon; this paper examines the nature and pattern of their vulnerability to different climate risks as well as highlights how place of settlement in the forest contributes to the vulnerability of people in forest systems. Forests provide different capitals as FEGS and make direct and indirect contributions to livelihoods which are exploited differently by the two indigenous groups. The results show that vulnerability of forest communities is structured by lifestyle, culture and the livelihood strategies employed which are largely shaped by the place of settlement in the forest. The Pygmies living within the forests are engaged in nomadic gathering and foraging of non-timber forest resources. The Bantus prefer forest margins and are mostly preoccupied with sedentary farming, using the forest as additional livelihood opportunity. The contrasting lifestyles have implications on their vulnerability and adaptation to climate impacts which need to be taken into considerations in planning and implementation of national climate change adaptation strategies.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Ednah Zvinavashe and Carolyn H. Peach Brown for their valuable comments on the earlier drafts of this manuscript. The authors also wish to acknowledge that this paper has been produced with financial contributions from the Canadian International Development Research Center (IDRC) and the UK Department for International Development (DFID) through the African Climate Change Adaptation (ACCA) Programme, to the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). The views expressed herein are those of the authors and does not represent their respective institutions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Nairobi, Kenya

    Johnson N. Nkem

  2. Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Yaoundé, Cameroon

    Olufunso A. Somorin, Cyprian Jum, Youssoufa M. Bele & Denis J. Sonwa

  3. Forest and Nature Conservation Policy Group, Wageningen University, Netherlands, Yaoundé, Cameroon

    Olufunso A. Somorin

  4. African Union Commission, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

    Monica E. Idinoba

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  1. Johnson N. Nkem
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Nkem, J.N., Somorin, O.A., Jum, C. et al. Profiling climate change vulnerability of forest indigenous communities in the Congo Basin. Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change 18, 513–533 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-012-9372-8

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