Dr Seraphine Mokake

Forests and trees play a crucial role in human society and are cited as key elements in the strategy towards sustainable development for Africa. Forests and tree-based systems also provide support services for developing other sectors such as tourism, agriculture and fisheries, all of which contribute to rural livelihoods, and local and national economies.

Forest monitoring underlies all planned forest management. Only practical and well-implemented management plans will guarantee the sustainable use of natural systems such as forests. Appropriate knowledge of the resource is vital to prepare and revise existing management plans.

The COVID-19 pandemic may have changed the dynamics of people-forest interaction and the use of forest/biodiversity resources. As household income decreases and food availability decreases, people in rural areas have turned to forest products for subsistence, leading to the over-harvesting of natural resources, thus causing deforestation. Illegal logging in the Congo Basin has soared, and where poverty prevents the purchase of modern medications, natural medications are collected from forests without monitoring systems. More people will turn to the forests to support their livelihoods and for medicines to fight the effects of the COVID-19 virus, because Cameroon is poor and citizens cannot afford healthcare.

Most tropical forests are found in developing countries where the struggle for development often takes place to the detriment of natural resources. Infrastructure – such as roads and human settlements – aids the creation of access points into the forests in search of non-timber forest products, such as edible and medicinal plants, that are in high demand. With many being dependent on the forest, the need for research that focuses on forest dynamics changes with the interplay of natural ecosystem processes, climate and anthropogenic influence is vital. Not to be excluded is the manner in which forests and tree systems serve communities by contributing to their well-being for a resilient livelihood and alleviating poverty.

As part of Dr Seraphine Mokake’s research, forest modelling through inventories will be conducted in half of the 12 permanent forest monitoring plots in the East region of Cameroon. This wet semi-deciduous tropical forest forms part of the Congo Basin. The research will be carried out within forest concessions in close collaboration with logging companies to provide basic ecological information to prepare management plans for sustainable timber yield. This will reveal the forest’s composition, structure and carbon stock. Dendrochronology – the scientific method of dating tree rings – will be used to predict climate change, as scientists can benefit from the area’s historical climate information.

Long-term monitoring of forests is one of the most important tools for providing information on forest dynamics. Baseline information will be produced on the state of the forest before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. This will inform policymakers and enhance forest management decisions.