With insight drawn from the above background concepts on the interactions between habitats, humans and species and with respect to the problems and justification for this study, a conceptual model was developed to emphasize the link between habitat heterogeneity, human activities and large mammal species. The model particularly emphasizes the conservation needs of large mammals in the Deng Deng National Park (Figure 1). This model emphasizes the importance of the complex vegetation formation (habitats) within the park to the large mammal and took into account the fact that management of this park cannot be effectively implemented in isolation from the surrounding human landscape.
Hunter and gatherer:are diverse group of people living in a wide range of ecological, social or political conditions whose subsistence are based on hunting of wild animals, fishing and collection of wild edible plants materials (Richerson et al.1996). This group of people share intimate relationship with nature and view themselves as inseparable from the natural ecosystems and wildlife around them (Hill et al. 2011, Bettinger 1991). They are sometimes not involved in cultivation of crops or domestication of animals except dogs that may assist in the hunting of wild animals (Lee and Daly 1999).
Horticultural societies: major portion of the dietary intake of the members is obtained from crops which are grown on land. They cultivate crops but do not use advance ploughs. They rely on the use of wood and stone tools. However, advanced horticultural societies use metal tools and weapons to execute their activities (Grenier 2002).
Pastoral societies: are societies in which the major portion of the livelihood of members is derived from the products obtained from herds of domesticated animals („Societies‟ n.d.).
Agrarian society:
a) Simple agrarian societies: cultivate crops and often use affordable and less expensive materials.
b) Advanced agrarian societies: use weapons and tools made from a bit expensive but affordable materials (e.g. iron) (Grenier 2002).
Industrial society:
The most advanced human society; rely heavily on machine technology and inanimate sources of energy. They combine science and technology to run machines for the execution of their activities(Grenier 2002).
http://www.tomcravens.com/h-soc.htm (http://www2.fiu.edu/~grenierg/chapter4.htm
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Figure 1: Conceptual model of research (adapted from Sanderson et al. 2002, Liu et al. 2001, WCS 2001)
It places large mammal survival in the park in the context of its potential success in utilizing the entire park landscape. The model delimits four major components including habitat, large mammal, human and a management component, and show how they are related to each other.
First of all, defining a conservation landscape for large mammal in the Deng Deng National Park requires meeting the diverse habitat needs of the mammal species present. This model allowed for the identification and characterization of the habitat of large mammals within the park. The type and characteristic of habitats, discloses the physical state of the park‟s landscape within which large mammal population are embedded. Geographic Information System and remote sensing techniques as well as landscape metrics were applied for habitat delimitation.
Landscape metrics (e.g. richness, area, size) set broad limits in habitat opportunity for large mammals and may exert direct habitat selection pressure on the large mammal populations. An
Deng Deng National Park
Ecological landscape
Habitat Heterogeneity Identify and characterize
habitats
Human landscape Identify and characterize human
activities Large mammal species
Density, abundance, frequency, distribution
Conservation landscape Identify spatially explicit areas of
threats and opportunities
Define focused conservation activities and
Policies
Monitoring State of habitat, performance of mammals, level of human threat
and management activities Management
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understanding of the park‟s landscape physiognomy, pattern and characteristic metrics are therefore vital in the understanding of its landscape opportunities and capacity for large mammals.
Secondly, defining a conservation landscape also requires defining the human society around the park and identifying their activities in its landscape. This model contends that the types and intensity of human activities may have an overriding influence on the concentrations of large mammal species and the capacity of habitats to support high concentrations of species in the park.
Therefore by understanding the type of human society, the type of human activities carried out, why activities are carried out and where there are carried out, actions to minimize key conflict between humans and wildlife would be quickly implemented to ensure species survival. Also policies could be derived for a long term conservation of the park.
Defining the roles that habitat and humans play in structuring the large mammal in the park also requires assessment of the performance of large mammal population. Definitive measures of large mammal species performance such as density, abundance, frequencies of occurrence, and distribution within the diverse habitats in the park were essential for the definition of the conservation landscape.
With regards to the management component of the research framework, the model explains that, by meeting the diverse habitat needs of large mammal, understanding the performance of large mammal species in the park‟s landscape, and identifying direct and indirect human threats on the park, a conservation landscape could be defined showing areas of threats and opportunities where focused conservation actions could be implemented to minimize threats to the survival of large mammal species in the park. Inbuilt in this concept, a geographic information system modeling approach is applied for the spatial presentation of areas of threats and opportunities.
Monitoring of the performance of large mammal species and habitats in the park and effectiveness in the implementation of conservation actions are fundamental part of the management component of this framework. Routine monitoring of the different component of the research model will advance the relevance of the park for the conservation of biodiversity with selected large mammals serving as „umbrella species‟6.
6 „Umbrella species‟ is defined as „charismatic species, the conservation of which also confer protection to a large number of naturally co-occurring species (Spitzer et al. 2009, Roberge and Angelstam 2004)
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3 Description of study region
This study was carried out in Cameroon precisely in the Eastern Region of the country and specifically in the Deng Deng National Park. This chapter provides an overview of Cameroon‟s biophysical environment and the conservation status of the country. It briefly describes the Eastern Region and its conservation status, followed by a presentation and detailed description of the Deng Deng National Park where this study was conducted.