Land Use and Land Cover Dynamics in the Eseka Alluvial Gold Mining District, Centre Region, Cameroon

Local populations in Cameroon thrive on forest resources and the flow of ecosystem services they provide are pivotal in sustaining national economy, improving people’s lives, safeguarding biodiversity, and mitigating the impacts of environmental changes. The exploitation of these resources invariably leads to deforestation and forest degradation. This study was designed to evaluate land use land cover change (LULCC) in the Eseka alluvial gold mining district with the aid of Landsat images. In the investigation of forest cover change, four Landsat satellite images for (1990, 2002, 2015 and 2022) were used. Ground-truthing also helped to identify the activities carried out by the local population and to determine agents, drivers and pressures of land use and land cover change. Four main land cover classes namely: forest, agricultural land, settlement/mining camps and water bodies were selected. Between 1990 and 2022, the proportion of forest decreased from 98% to 34% while those of agricultural land and settlement/mining camps increased from 2% to 60% and 0.54% to 6% respectively. Analysis showed ongoing deforestation with forest cover loss of ~98,263 ha in 32 years giving a cover change percentage of 63.94%. Kappa coefficient for the study period ranged from 0.92 to 0.99. Forest cover loss could be attributed to farming activities, wood extraction and alluvial gold mining activities. Economic motives notably the need to increase household income from a frequent demand for farm and wood products in neighbouring towns and the quest for gold were the main drivers of these activities. Hence, this study assesses the impact of human activities from the mining sector on the forest ecosystem in a bid to inform mitigation policies.

Mining Threats to Ancient Anthropogenic Soils and other Resources Associated to Indigenous Food Security in the Middle Caqueta River, Colombia

Mining is encroaching upon Protected Areas and Indigenous Reserves in the Colombian Amazon. In the Middle Caqueta region small-scale, illegal gold mining is eroding riverbanks, affecting water quality, and jeopardizing the livelihoods of indigenous peoples. In addition, mining also threatens the integrity of pre-Columbian anthropogenic soils （terra preta） created between 500 years to 2,000 years B.P. on the bluffs of the Caqueta . River. These soils are the only, non-flooded fertile soils present in the region, and as such are important for local indigenous communities. In Colombia, there is little knowledge about Terra Preta soils. This work assesses the present and potential dangers artisanal mining has for terra preta soils and other natural resources that are central to indigenous peoples＇ food security. Results posit that more knowledge is needed about the way terra preta soils are related to the livelihoods of indigenous people so that informed policy decisions can be made about the desirability of mining in the region.