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This study was conducted in the Mandara Mountains in Cameroon and aimed to assess the effects of human activities on woody vegetation in gallery forests, based on floristic inventories and observations made by the government. Firstly, the inventories were carried out in 150 plots of 1000 m2 each, installed on the banks of watercourses following the band of plant formations. In each plot, woody species were counted and those showing at least one sign of degradation were noted. Secondly, the survey was conducted in 18 administrative structures made up of delegations (MINFOF, MINADER, MINEPDED, and MINEPIA) and town halls. One hundred woody species, grouped into 63 genera and 30 families, have been inventoried, in which 45 species showed at least one sign of damage caused by human being. The species most affected are Anogeissus leiocarpus (67 stems), Azadirachta indica (46 stems), Diospyros mespiliformis (43 stems), Acacia albida (42 stems), Andira inermis (30 stems), Acacia sieberiana (23 stems), Khaya senegalensis (19 stems), Ficus sycomorus (13 stems), and Acacia polyacantha (10 stems). The most recurrent activity in the gallery forests is pruning (212 stems), followed by cutting (93 stumps), then picking (71 individuals). However, there are fewer debarked trees (11) and trees with fire trail (6). According to the responses provided, logging (77.78%), agriculture (72.22%), population growth (44.44%), grazing (33.33%), and bush fires (33.33%) are the main causes of the degradation of plant formations in the Mandara Mountains. These main factors could have a negative impact on biodiversity if appropriate integrated management measures are not taken. To maintain these vital ecosystems, an integrated management plan must be put in place, limiting human activities to a minimum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the colonial discourse on populations living in the Mandara Mountains in Cameroon, and the way in which they practiced mimicry to appropriate symbols of the dominant culture, diverting them from their original significance and reinterpreting them to promote their own cultural experiences. It shows how the clichés of rebels and savages through which the colonial power strove to define them were reinvested to defend the image of the mountain dwellers as strong, hard-working people. This process of reappropriation continued during the big tourist boom that began in the 1950s and continued until the mid-2010s, which saw the first forays of Boko Haram in the region. During this period, people staged the supposed cultural authenticity of the Mandara Mountains to fuel the tourism industry. The article is based on archival data collected in various archives in Cameroon, notably in the National Archives in Yaoundé, as well as on data from oral interviews conducted with thirty-nine participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the societies of the northern Mandara Mountains (North Cameroon), the dog has kept a part of humanity up to sharing with the family the sacrifices to the ancestors’ manes and standing like a kind of guardian of the family morality.“Myths” set out to recall the eminent services dog rendered to mankind. The patterns of matrimonial alliances have widely addressed this in the past.To kill a dog with iron is a crime, to let it starve to death, a heavy infamy. Yet humans had, not long ago, to sacrifice dogs during peace oaths and, still today, to satisfy a cynophagy which relates more to therapeutic care than to diet.

This study was conducted in the Mandara Mountains in Cameroon and aimed to assess the effects of human activities on woody vegetation in gallery forests, based on floristic inventories and observations made by the government. Firstly, the inventories were carried out in 150 plots of 1000 m 2 each, installed on the banks of watercourses following the band of plant formations. In each plot, woody species were counted and those showing at least one sign of degradation were noted. Secondly, the survey was conducted in 18 administrative structures made up of delegations (MINFOF, MINADER, MINEPDED, and MINEPIA) and town halls. One hundred woody species, grouped into 63 genera and 30 families, have been inventoried, in which 45 species showed at least one sign of damage caused by human being. The species most affected are Anogeissus leiocarpus (67 stems), Azadirachta indica (46 stems), Diospyros mespiliformis (43 stems), Acacia albida (42 stems), Andira inermis (30 stems), Acacia sieberiana (23 stems), Khaya senegalensis (19 stems), Ficus sycomorus (13 stems), and Acacia polyacantha (10 stems). The most recurrent activity in the gallery forests is pruning (212 stems), followed by cutting (93 stumps), then picking (71 individuals). However, there are fewer debarked trees (11) and trees with fire trail (6). According to the responses provided, logging (77.78%), agriculture (72.22%), population growth (44.44%), grazing (33.33%), and bush fires (33.33%) are the main causes of the degradation of plant formations in the Mandara Mountains. These main factors could have a negative impact on biodiversity if appropriate integrated management measures are not taken. To maintain these vital ecosystems, an integrated management plan must be put in place, limiting human activities to a minimum., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Hinémé Fanday and Tchobsala.)

The extraction of lineaments from spaceborne data is invaluable for a regional tectonic evaluation of rocks. In this study, a hybrid approach consisting of an automated and manual lineament extraction routine was applied for lineament generation using the Mandara Mountains as a case study. The workflow consists of filtering of a high-resolution digital elevation model, automatic extraction of lineaments, Euclidean distance analysis, binary discretisation, spatial integration and manual digitisation. Spatial and statistical techniques such as lineament orientation, lineament length distribution analysis, spatial density and fractal analysis were used in the evaluation of tectonic attributes. A total of eighty lineaments were extracted using the hybrid approach and a rose plot analysis suggests the dominance of NNE-SSW trend alongside less prominent alignment to the WNW-ESE, NE-SW and E-W. The statistically analysed lineament lengths displayed a mean length value of 9.4 km accompanied by a negatively skewed histogram pattern. The spatial density analysis of lineament trends suggests a mean lineament density of 0.68 and mean intersection density of 0.16. Fractal analysis of high lineament density zones suggests a relatively moderate to low fractal dimension value for both lineament trends and lineament intersection patterns. The lineaments within the Mandara Mountains are characterised by a poly deformational tectonic episode accompanied by relatively low fractal dimension which may advance possible reasons for its poor mineral resource potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

“I, a Ngwazala” is a cross-examination of the Ngwazla caste of Mafa society. It gives valuable insight into the lives of blacksmiths and how their culture is currently exposed to rapid transformation. This documentary presents Zayadai our key character who although trained as a blacksmith by his father, was able to study. And on the death of his father, he abandoned his studies to practice the profession of blacksmith, a profession passed down from father to son. Helped by his three young brothers, he exercises his art in order to meet the demand of the inhabitants of Djinglia Kongoche and by extension to meet the needs of his wife, his mother and his 11 brothers. Thus it gives access to important transformation processes in the Mafa society. Although the old strict separation of the Ngwazla is still present, but the increased contacts with the outside world and the influences of locally established institutions, such as the modern school system, Christian mission and Islam, are revealing new identities of Ngwazla . The Ngwazla are proud of their identity and are trying to reshape it in line with the rapid societal transformation underway.

Since the early 1980’s, no leopard (Panthera pardus) had been spotted in the Mandara mountains. Leopards were fearsome felines, they represented leadership in the animal world and were a symbol of power for human leaders. Leopards have shaped the mentality of the mountaineers, from their daily behaviors to the development of their habitats; not to mention their predominance in the tales and fabliaux. Their disappearance gave way to “mystical” panthers, created by sorcerers, and their image is already beginning to fade in these very fabliaux.

The Mandara Mountains constitute a particular morphological unit in the west of the Far North region of Cameroon. This uniqueness compared to the border plains is linked to its altitudinal, geological, geomorphological and pedological specificities. Similar to a set of rocky ledges with thin regosolic and lithosolic surface formations that do not exist in places, this sector is very often apprehended as a hostile framework in terms of water conservation, since the populations who live there face a glaring problem. of his poverty in the dry season. As this water problem is based on the climatic characteristics marked by droughts, the morpho-pedological parameters characterized by the dissection of the relief and the porosity of the soils are very often associated with it. Its altitude overlooks all the neighboring plains with an average drop of nearly 500 m. This part characterized by steep slopes, valleys compartmentalizing the entire landscape, the curvilinear topography, the rocky substratum flush with the surface and very porous soils prove to be limits to natural retention (without assistance) in surface water. Paradoxically, thanks to this strong dissection of the relief with important valleys for the base of the healthy massif, little covered by permeable alterites and the presence of basic materials necessary for the construction of dams, this sector could offer possibilities for the development of artificial retention of surface water necessary in this environment marked by a persistent dry season (7 months). In order to achieve the objective which is to show the morphostructural and pedological capacity of the Mandara Mountains to retain surface water in this semi-arid mountainous environment with rocky substratum, the search for secondary and primary data and laboratory analyzes have been carried out. At the end of this work, it emerges that the previously restrictive factors without human intervention have a positive aspect that can turn into an advantage for the construction of surface water retention structures already very present in this part. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that changes in architectural practices related to the emergence of modern elites in the Mandara Mountains blur the relationship between them and the village's permanent residents. Probably because they spend much of their time in urban cities, modern elites prefer building their main houses in those locations. Villagers interpret their behavior as a message of rejection. In turn, this interpretation significantly affects the reciprocal relationships between modern elites and the villagers. Although the former would built houses in the village also, this practice does not remove the suspicion they attract from the latter. On the contrary, the massive character of the houses combined with their emptiness contribute to reinforce the villagers' belief that they are the fruit of occult practices. Relying on these observations, I argue that elites' houses are not only the sites of production of social relations, as Claude Lévi-Strauss theorized, but they are also the site of tensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

25 species of Pteridophyta were collected in Northern Nigeria (mainly the Lake Chad Basin and the Mandara Mts.) and in the neighbouring parts of Cameroon. 11 of them have not been recorded previously from this area: Isoetes schweinfurthii A. Br. in Bak., Selaginella tenerrima A. Br. ex Kuhn, Ophioglossum gomenzianum Welw. ex A. Br., Marsilea coromandeliana Willd., M. distorta A. Br., M. nubica A. Br., M. subterranea Lepr. ex A. Br., Azolla africana Desv., Ceratopteris richardii Brogn., Adiantum capillus-veneris Linn., and Actiniopleris semiflabellata Pic. Ser.

This article demonstrates how the ethnie categories used by peoples of the Mandara Mountains in Cameroon change from one period to another, and from one space to another. It is particularly interested to observe how mountains dwellers handle different ethnic facets by associating them with particular architectural features in particular social contexts. Sometimes they choose to focus on their ethnic identity, sometimes they reduce it to the benefit of their mountain identity, and sometimes they do away with any reference to their ethnic origin. The article thus confirms the common insight that ethnic identity is the product of social processes rather than a given culture, made and remade rather than self-evident, chosen on the basis of circumstances rather than attributed by birth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is conceived as an extension of that published in JATBA 38, 1996, « Les Mofu et leurs insectes », by C. Seignobos, J.-Ph. Deguine and P.H. Aberlenc. It aims at answering the following question: is the Mofu’s particular interest in their insects also found among their neighbours in the Mandara mountains? And what about the views on insects among the people of the plains?Tackling society through insects is always indicative of their history and their social structure. However, the classification of insects according to human society is only attested in the Mandara mountains, particularly in the sphere of influence of the Mowo people, the alleged founders of the Gudur chiefdom (16th–beginning of the 20th cent). The Mowo even claimed to « reign » by the means of rituals allowing them to control the rain as well as crop pests.

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Basketry is worthy of archaeologists’ attention for its own sake and because variations in techniques and typology complement those evident in pottery, stone tools and other domains of material culture. In this paper I first focus on the basketry of the Mandara Mountains of Nigeria and Cameroon where both men and women make and use baskets but employ different techniques of manufacture. This class of material culture correlates with gender and ethnicity very differently than in other artefact classes. A survey of other studies of African basketry suggests that in any region at any one time gender and basketry technique are highly correlated, although there is variability both across space and through time. There is also variation in the extent to which African basketry is charged with symbolism. The examination of these techniques, raw materials, tools, workspace, uses and related objects reveals the complexity of ‘the world according to basketry’. It is a world to which recent approaches to material culture and technology can profitably be applied and into which archaeologists have more access than they perhaps suppose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]