ASSESSMENT OF THE RESTORATION POTENTIAL OF THE LOGONE FLOOD‐PLAIN (CAMEROON)

Abstract

Over the last thirty years, floodplain ecosystems in West Africa have been extensively damaged or destroyed by the construction of major agricultural and hydro‐electric infrastructure. In many cases this has induced a serious loss of biodiversity and reduced the potential to produce economic benefits for the local population from fishing, flood‐recession agriculture, dry‐season grazing and groundwater recharge. In 1993, in order to address the degradation of the Logone floodplain, the World Conservation Union initiated a floodplain‐restoration project.In order to study the feasibility and effectiveness of a larger‐scale restoration, a sophisticated one‐dimensional hydrodynamic model was developed. This paper describes the results of modelling various options for this restoration under three climatic scenarios (good, average, poor). Results indicate that, for ‘good’ years, up to 93% of the degraded floodplain can be re‐inundated through a major adjustment of the existing infrastructure, without compromising other floodplain uses such as the irrigated agriculture and reservoir fisheries. The extension of model use for restoration assessment in other floodplains is also examined.