Tata Precillia Ijang 239Leisure, health and food and nutrition
The living standards of the people have improved through involvement in the
fuelwood sector, as it increases household income. This in turn enables the
household to buy more and more nutritious food, better clothes, medications,
and household supplies. Though neither extra health services nor relaxation
spots were observed as a consequence of the fuelwood sector, it did contribute
to existing ones. The fuelwood product has particular impact on the quality of
food, as it aids in food preparation. The fact that all villagers have access to
cheap and easily manipulated domestic fuel for heating food, cooking and
carrying out other activities is very important.Community facilities
The housing conditions of the study area, in terms of living conditions, crowding
(number of people per room), sanitation, upkeep and appearance, were not
developed. Villagers had mostly traditional houses with at least two persons
in a room, which in most cases served both as a kitchen and living area.
Transportation services between the villages and Maroua consisted of old,
dilapidated vehicles travelling on muddy, poorly maintained roads.
Transportation within the villages was on foot, animal or bicycle. Most of the
villages have neither electricity nor piped water; some villagers were obliged
to travel more than 5 km to obtain water. The few public services existing in
the villages were inadequate.Forest management and exploitation patterns and modalities
The management of the forest resource is difficult, because people do not
feel ownership of the trees or the land and have no incentive to care about
what happens to it in the future. Government and NGOs find it difficult to
conserve forests and forest resources and are forced to put guards around
some forests (such as Waza National Park) in order to meet their management
and conservation objectives. In other cases, NGOs are called to build fences
to protect forests from encroachment by farmers, as the forest is destroyed
when a new farm is opened up. The lack of land tenure surely played a role in
the fact that few farmers in the study area made an effort to maintain or
plant trees on their farm plots—despite the encouragement from some projects
that gave incentives to farmers who maintained or planted the highest numbers
of trees on their plots (DPGT 1996).
Forest exploitation in the study area was mainly rudimentary, with no real
effort at managing the various forest resources, as harvesters cut
indiscriminately, without regard for the tree’s age, size and location within
the forest and little consideration for the future. Harvested trees were mostly
used as fuelwood, though some were used for artisan and building purposes.Ecological sustainability
Considering the exploitation patterns and lack of rational management,
there is no guarantee that the ecosystem will be maintained. What is left13fuelwood.p65 239 22/12/2004, 11:05