Mangroves for Livelihood Resilience Along the Coast of Cameroon

Mangroves provide vital ecosystem services across more than 118 tropical and sub-tropical countries, encompassing over 15 million hectares worldwide. Unfortunately, these critical ecosystems face threats from human activities, such as urbanisation, pollution, and fish smoking, which have led to a 20% reduction in their total area over the past four decades. Moreover, mangroves are crucial for the livelihoods and localised blue economies of coastal communities, enhancing their resilience, supporting achieving some Sustainable Development Goals, including the eradication of poverty (SDG-1), zero hunger (SDG-2), good health (SDG-3), gender equality (SDG-5), sustainable cities and communities (SDG-11), climate action (SDG-13), and life below water (SDG-14). In the Central African sub-region, Cameroon stands out for its abundant mangrove ecosystems along the Atlantic Coast. Despite their significant role in supporting livelihood resilience, research on this topic has been limited. This chapter seeks to explore the contribution of mangroves to livelihood resilience along the coast of Cameroon, emphasising the current state of research and identifying potential avenues for future empirical studies. The work is grounded in empirical evidence and a comprehensive review of relevant literature. The results indicate that mangroves are instrumental in fostering sustainable livelihoods and facilitating climate change adaptation within Cameroon’s coastal communities. They provide essential resources, including food, shelter, fuelwood, medicines, and both wood and non-wood forest products, as well as income. To gain a profound understanding of the contribution of mangroves to livelihood sustainability, future empirical research could focus on: investigating mangrove ecosystem services, assessing the value of mangrove environmental services for ecosystem service payments, exploring nature-based solutions for mangrove conservation, and highlighting the significance of ecotourism and environmental education in promoting the sustainability of these crucial ecosystems.