Vegetation surveys were carried out at 24 sampling stations distributed over four land use types, namely near-primary forest, secondary forest, agroforestry systems and annual crop lands in the northeastern part of the Korup region, Cameroon, to assess the impact of forest conversion on trees and understorey plants. Tree species richness decreased significantly with increasing level of habitat modification, being highest and almost equal in secondary and nearprimary forests. Understorey plant species richness was significantly higher in annual crop lands than in other land use types. The four land use types differed in tree and understorey plant species composition, the difference being smaller among natural forests. Tree and understorey plant density differed significantly between habitat types. Density was strongly correlated with species richness, both for trees and understorey plants. Five tree and 15 understorey plant species showed significant responses to habitat. A 90% average drop in tree basal area from forest to farmland was registered. Our findings support the view that agroforestry systems with natural shade trees can serve to protect many forest species, but that especially annual crop lands could be redesigned to improve biodiversity conservation in agricultural landscapes of tropical rainforest regions.

In many traditional societies, beliefs and taboos influence human behaviour towards the natural environment. Such beliefs and taboos are informal institutions where norms rather than official laws determine land use and nature protection in general and wildlife in particular. The present study on beliefs and taboos of the people of the northern periphery of the Korup National Park is an attempt to reveal how norms influence their relation to the environment. A total of 195 households were sampled through a household survey conducted in four villages. The results revealed that before the application of “modern” approaches for wildlife protection and management, the people relied on norms to establish a relationship with wildlife and nature. The enactment of the 1994 legislation on forest, wildlife and fisheries resulted in stiff resistance as it contradicts traditional norms. It was found that 57.4 % of the respondents still perceive wildlife as a resource that can never get extinct. Traditional norms had a differentiated impact especially on game protection. The study recommends that a wildlife benefiting code of beliefs and taboos is developed to provide a basis for establishing a synergy between park management laws and traditional belief/taboo systems that drive the management of wildlife.

Recent studies have shown that a relatively high number of individuals and species from the natural forest fauna can still be found in land use systems. To detect key parameters for population development and preconditions for long-term suitability of different land use systems for forest bird populations, we investigated patterns of species richness and abundance of understorey birds using mist-net data, in 24 study sites equally distributed over two types of natural and two types of agricultural habitats. We also assessed arthropod availability, nesting sites, parasite loads, and fault bars for trapped birds. We recorded high numbers of birds in all habitats but with a tendency for smaller species with increasing habitat modification. Our data support the idea that arthropod richness and density attract many understorey forest birds in agricultural areas but that environmental stress in these habitats might be high since numbers of bird species and individuals presenting fault bars were significantly higher in the agricultural matrix. In the Afrotropical context, the management of agricultural areas should consider preserving some aspects of natural habitats, and a fallow period of five to eight years, to avoid biodiversity loss.