Template:Short description Template:Redirect Template:Infobox mountain
Mount Cameroon is an active volcano in the Southwest Region of Cameroon next to the city of Buea near the Gulf of Guinea. Mount Cameroon is also known as Cameroon Mountain or Fako (the name of the higher of its two peaks) or by its indigenous name Mongo ma Ndemi ("Mountain of Greatness"). Mount Cameroon is ranked 22nd by topographic isolation.
It is the highest point in sub-Saharan western and central Africa,<ref>"Mount Cameroon", Encyclopedia Britannica</ref> the fourth-most prominent peak in Africa, and 31st-most prominent in the world. The mountain is part of the area of volcanic activity known as the Cameroon Volcanic Line, which also includes Lake Nyos, the site of a disaster in 1986. The most recent eruption occurred on February 3, 2012.
DescriptionEdit
Template:Moresources Mount Cameroon is one of Africa's largest volcanoes, rising to Template:Convert above the coast of west Cameroon.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
FloraEdit
The mountain's natural vegetation varies with elevation. The main plant communities on the mountain include:<ref name = management>The Management Plan of the Mount Cameroon National Park and its Peripheral Zone, 2015 - 2019. The Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, Republic of Cameroon.</ref>
- Lowland rain forest predominates on the lower slopes, from sea level to Template:Convert elevation. The lowland forests are part of the Cross-Sanaga-Bioko coastal forests ecoregion. They are composed of evergreen trees with a dense canopy Template:Convert high, with taller emergent trees rising above the canopy. Many trees have buttress roots. The forests are diverse and species-rich, with numerous lianas. Much of the lowland forest has been converted to agriculture and agroforestry, including oil palm plantations.
- Lower montane forest, also known as submontane forest or cloud forest, grows between Template:Convert elevation. The lower montane forests are composed of evergreen trees, which form a Template:Convert canopy that is either closed or discontinuous. There are scattered areas of meadow and scrubland, with grasses, herbs, tall herbaceous plants (including Acanthaceae), tree ferns, woody shrubs, and low trees. Frequent clouds and mists sustain profuse epiphytes, including mosses, ferns, and orchids. The lower montane forests are diverse and species-rich, with characteristic Afromontane plants and endemic species. Impatiens etindensis<ref name=etindensis>Template:Cite iucn</ref> and I. grandisepala<ref name=grandi>Template:Cite iucn</ref> are herbaceous epiphytes endemic to the montane forests of Mount Cameroon. The lower montane forests, together with the higher-elevation forests, scrub, and grasslands, are part of the Mount Cameroon and Bioko montane forests ecoregion.
- Upper montane forest grows from Template:Convert elevation. Trees up to Template:Convert high form an open-canopied forest with numerous epiphytes. The upper montane forests are less species-rich than the lower-elevation forests, and fires are more frequent.
- Montane scrub grows between Template:Convert elevation. Low trees of Template:Convert form open-canopied forests, woodlands, and shrublands, with an understory of small shrubs, herbs, ferns, and climbers.
- Montane grassland occurs between Template:Convert elevation. The dominant vegetation is tussock grasses, with scattered fire-tolerant shrubs and low trees.
- Sub-alpine grassland is found at the highest elevations, from Template:Convert to over Template:Convert. Frost-tolerant tussock grasses, dwarf trees and shrubs, and crustose, foliose, and fruticose lichens predominate.<ref name = management/>
- Tropical rain forest Mount Cameroon.jpg
A view of the tropical rain forest on the mountain
- Mahogany mount Cameroon national park.jpg
Mahogany
- Disamara tree mount Cameroon 2.jpg
Disamara tree
- Arum Italicum mount Cameroon.jpg
Arum plant
- Agaricus Mushroom mount Cameroon national park 2.jpg
Agaricus mushroom
- Beautiful wild flower on Mt Cameroon.jpg
Wild flower
- Stinkhorn mushroom mount cameroon national park.jpg
Stinkhorn mushroom
FaunaEdit
Large mammals on the mountain include the African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis), with a population of over 100 individuals. Other herbivores include red river hog (Potamochoerus porcus), bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus), bay duiker (Cephalophus dorsalis), blue duiker (Philantomba monticola), and yellow-backed duiker (Cephalophus sylvicultor). The mountain is home to several species of primates, including chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), drill (Mandrillus leucophaeus), red-capped mangabey (Cercocebos torquatus), putty-nosed monkey (Cercopithecus nictitans), mona monkey (Cercopithecus mona), red-eared monkey (Cercopithecus erythrotis), Preuss' guenon (Cercopithecus preussii), and crowned guenon (Cercopithecus pogonias).<ref name = management/>
Two species of birds are endemic to Mount Cameroon, Mount Cameroon spurfowl (Pternistis camerunensis) and Mount Cameroon speirops (Zosterops melanocephalus).<ref name = management/>
Mount Cameroon National ParkEdit
Mount Cameroon National Park (Parc National du Mont Cameroun) was created in 2009. It covers an area of Template:Cvt.<ref>"Mont Cameroun". Protected Planet. Accessed 15 June 2020</ref> The park includes the former Etinde Forest Reserve and most of the Bomboko Forest Reserve.<ref>Martin, Alex ed. (2012) Interactive Forest Atlas of Cameroon, Version 3.0. Overview Report. World Resources Institute. Template:ISBN. [1]</ref> A portion of the Bomboko Forest Reserve remains outside the park, on the lower northern slopes of the mountain.<ref name = management/>
IUGS geological heritage siteEdit
In respect of it being 'one of the few volcanoes in the world located at the ocean-continent boundary in a passive tectonic margin', the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) included 'The Quaternary Cameroon Volcano' in its assemblage of 100 'geological heritage sites' around the world in a listing published in October 2022. The organisation defines an IUGS Geological Heritage Site as 'a key place with geological elements and/or processes of international scientific relevance, used as a reference, and/or with a substantial contribution to the development of geological sciences through history.'<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
AccessEdit
The peak is frequently ascended by hikers. The annual Mount Cameroon Race of Hope scales the peak in around 4½ hours. Sarah Etonge has won the race seven times and is also a tour operator. English explorer Mary Kingsley, one of the first Europeans to scale the mountain, recounts her expedition in her 1897 memoir Travels in West Africa.
GalleryEdit
- Mount Fako left view.jpg
Mount Fako, left view
- Top view at Mount Fako.jpg
Top view at Mount Fako
- Mount fako (mount Cameroon).jpg
Mount Fako
- Summit at mount Cameroon.jpg
Summit at mount Cameroon
- Landscape of Mount Cameroon.jpg
Landscape of Mount Cameroon
- Magnanimous Mt Cameroon, view from Ndongo, Buea.jpg
View of the mountain from the base
- Fako Mountain lodge Hut 2.jpg
Accommodation facilities on Mount Fako
- Mount Fako hut 2.jpg
Ditto
- Hut 3 mount Cameroon.jpg
Ditto
- Cameroon Mountain Race.webm
Cameroon Mountain Race
- Athele au Mont Cameroun.jpg
Hikers climbing down
- View of Mt Etinde.jpg
View of Mount Etinde
- Mount Cameroon tropical rocks 2.jpg
Mount Cameroon tropical rocks
- DOWN BEACH LIMBE CAMEROON.jpg
Limbe Beach
- Burning Plum.jpg
Grilled plums
See alsoEdit
NotesEdit
ReferencesEdit
- DeLancey, M. W. and M. D. DeLancey. (2000). Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Cameroon (3rd ed.). Lanham, Maryland: The Scarecrow Press.
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