Mount Cameroon

 ( Active Volcanoes ) 

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, "Mount Cameroon", Encyclopedia Britannica the fourth-most Prominence 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 eruption of 28 April-June 1909 caused the German colonial government of Kamerun to temporarily move from Buea to Douala. The most recent eruption occurred on February 3, 2012.

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Description Mount Cameroon is one of Africa's largest volcanoes, rising to above the coast of west Cameroon.

The volcano known in the ancient Mediterranean as Theon Ochema, the "chariot of the gods", is often identified as Mount Cameroon, which could have been seen by the explorer Hanno the Navigator.

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Flora The mountain's natural vegetation varies with elevation. The main plant communities on the mountain include: The Management Plan of the Mount Cameroon National Park and its Peripheral Zone, 2015 - 2019. The Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, Republic of Cameroon.

• Lowland rain forest predominates on the lower slopes, from sea level to elevation. The lowland forests are part of the Cross-Sanaga-Bioko coastal forests ecoregion. They are composed of evergreen trees with a dense canopy high, with taller emergent trees rising above the canopy. Many trees have buttress roots. The forests are diverse and species-rich, with numerous . 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 elevation. The lower montane forests are composed of evergreen trees, which form a 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 , including mosses, ferns, and orchids. The lower montane forests are diverse and species-rich, with characteristic Afromontane plants and endemism species. Impatiens etindensis and I. grandisepala 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 elevation. Trees up to 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 elevation. Low trees of form open-canopied forests, woodlands, and shrublands, with an understory of small shrubs, herbs, ferns, and climbers.
• Montane grassland occurs between elevation. The dominant vegetation is , with scattered fire-tolerant shrubs and low trees.
• Sub-alpine grassland is found at the highest elevations, from to over . Frost-tolerant tussock grasses, dwarf trees and shrubs, and crustose lichen, foliose lichen, and predominate.

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Fauna 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), Cape 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).

Two species of birds are endemic to Mount Cameroon, Mount Cameroon spurfowl ( Pternistis camerunensis) and Mount Cameroon speirops ( Zosterops melanocephalus).

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Mount Cameroon National Park

Mount Cameroon National Park ( Parc National du Mont Cameroun) was created in 2009. It covers an area of . "Mont Cameroun". Protected Planet. Accessed 15 June 2020 The park includes the former Etinde Forest Reserve and most of the Bomboko Forest Reserve.Martin, Alex ed. (2012) Interactive Forest Atlas of Cameroon, Version 3.0. Overview Report. World Resources Institute. . [3] A portion of the Bomboko Forest Reserve remains outside the park, on the lower northern slopes of the mountain.

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IUGS geological heritage site

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.'

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Access

The peak is frequently ascended by hiking. 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.

==Gallery==

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See also

• Debundscha
• List of volcanoes in Cameroon

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Notes

• 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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External links

• Mount Cameroon Research Foundation

Categories: Active Volcanoes, Afromontane, Four-thousanders Of Africa, Highest Points Of Countries, Mountains Of Cameroon, National Parks Of Cameroon, Southwest Region, Holocene Stratovolcanoes, Volcanoes Of Cameroon, First 100 Iugs Geological Heritage Sites, Stratovolcanoes Of Africa, Ultra-prominent Peaks Of Africa

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