Masters Thesis Abstract: Martin Korndoerfer
Fulani pastoral practices and their environmental impact around the Ngel Nyaki Forest Reserve
The remaining stand of Afromontane forest in the Ngel Nyaki Forest Reserve is under increased pressure from unsuitable pastoral practices of the local Fulani people. Although being a reserve that seeks to exclude cattle from entering and grazing, often cattle can be found within its periphery. On the Mambilla plateau, pastures are often overstocked, resulting in gullying and landslides through soil erosion. Within the reserve, illegal cattle grazing, browsing and trampling is leading to the invasion of grasslands into the forest which in conjunction with the current fire regime is very effective at reducing this remaining fragment of Afromontane forest even further.
This MSc research aims to explore the drivers behind the Fulani grazing patterns and to offer some perspective on how grazing might be managed more sustainably. To this end, the social, cultural and biophysical factors that contribute to the current pastoral regime will be investigated