Status of Large Marine Flagship Faunal Diversity Within Cameroon Estuaries of Central African Coast - The Land/Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone of West and Central Africa - page 96

facing many threats. By-catches in gillnets and other fishing gears and the potential for
increasing direct takes may be the most severe threats and causes of significant mortality
rates. Other threats of varying magnitude of concern include the following: habitat
encroachment through coastal development (e.g. port and road construction), over-fishing,
chemical and acoustic pollution, ship collisions and ghost nets. The almost complete lack of
scientific data on the biology, distribution, stock structure and abundance of sea turtles and
cetaceans in Cameroon waters makes it difficult to properly assess the impact of these threats,
let alone addressed them. An acceleration of research is urged with the involvement of
national Universities and Research Institutes. More faunal surveys are needed to unveil the
potentials of the area and the need for the establishment of important relationships between
species abundance, site temporal conditions (sandbank dynamics) and socio-economic
activities with a view to identifying sustainable wetlands ecosystem utilization options.

Keywords

Cameroon estuaries Cetaceans Flagships Marine mammals Sea turtles Waterbirds

Introduction

The Cameroon section of the Central Africa coastline
hosts an important marine biodiversity, especially sea turtles,
marine mammals and water birds. Yet, very little is known
about the importance and status of these species. Certain
information has been documented on the status of these
species along the Cameroon estuary from limited surveys.
Atangana ( 1996 ) presents the biogeography of these eco-
systems in general aspects; Fretey ( 1998a , b , c , 2001 ) present
the different species of sea turtles occur in this zone and the
need of their conservation; Angoni ( 2005 ) and Angoni et al.
( 2010 ) present the ecology of sea turtles related to their
habitats; Ayissi ( 2000 ), and Ayissi et al. ( 2006a , b , 2007 ,
2013 ) present also these species but insisting on the need of
their conservation by developing alternative sources of
income through ecotourism; Ajonina et al. ( 2002 , 2003 ,
2007 ), Ajonina and Ayissi ( 2012 ) present avifaunal diversity
in this area with the aim of the wetlands management. This
also includes those undertaken recently under some conser-
vation-based institutions working within the zone including
Specialized Research Center of Marine Ecosystems
(CERECOMA), Cameroon Marine Biology Association
(CMBA), Cameroon Wildlife Conservation Society
(CWCS), WWF and other partners who have also carried out
some rapid assessments of the status of large marine flagship
faunal diversity along the Cameroon coastline.
However, these studies have often been scattered without
any clear consolidation to build up any baseline information
on these flagship species, especially the evaluation of dif-
ferent impacts necessary for any conservation measures
needed for long-term management of these species and their
habitats. The present study sets to achieve this aim and
drive recommendations in future for sustainable manage-
ment of Cameroon's estuary.

In international literature, an estuary is defined as a semi-
enclosed coastal body of water which has a free connection
with the open sea and within which sea water is measurably
diluted with freshwater derived from land (Cameron and
Pritchard 1963 ; Pritchard 1967 ). Estuaries is a partially
enclosed permanent water body, either continuously or
periodically open to the sea on decadal time scales,
extending as far as the upper limit of tidal action or salinity
penetration. During floods, an estuary can become a river
mouth with no seawater entering the formerly estuarine area
or when there is little or no fluvial input an estuary can be
isolated from the sea by a sandbar and become a lagoon
which may become fresh or hyper-saline.
Estuaries constitute one of most heavily utilized and
productive zones on our planet. Their integration processes
weave a web of complexity far out of proportion to their
occupation of less than 1 % of the planet's surface area
Welsh (1984). Estuary management is a complex task, for it
deals with the use and care of the interface between the
land, rivers and the sea (UNEP/MAP/PAP 1999 ).
Rapid industrialization and burgeoning population have
caused a related increase in the demand for freshwater and a
resultant alteration in the flow regime of many of Camer-
oon's rivers. Estuaries are also at the receiving end of poor
catchment practices, such as pollution, erosion, excessive
water abstraction and impoundments. Poorly regulated
activities have led to the destruction of Cameroon estuaries
habitats by physical development such as land reclamation,
pollution, deforestation, agriculture, urbanization of Douala
and

correlated towns, all of these affect the rich and

important bio-diversity in this area.