The Kilum-Ijim Forest is an area of mountain

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfo ...

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west- central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; th ...

's North-West Region. It is found on

Mount Oku Mount Oku, or Kilum Mountain, is the largest volcano in the Oku Massif, in the Cameroon Volcanic Line, located in the Oku region of the Western High Plateau of Cameroon. It is the second highest mountain in mainland Central Africa. The stratovol ...

and the nearby Ijim Ridge in the

Cameroon mountains The Western High Plateau, Western Highlands or Bamenda Grassfields is a region of Cameroon characterised by high relief, cool temperatures, heavy rainfall and savanna vegetation. The region lies along the Cameroon line and consists of mounta ...

, with

Lake Oku Lake Oku is a crater lake on the Bamenda Plateau in the Northwest Region of Cameroon. It is located at on Mount Oku, and is completely surrounded by cloud forest. The lake lies in an explosion crater formed in the last phase of development of ...

lying in a crater in its center. It is the largest area of

Afromontane The Afromontane regions are subregions of the Afrotropical realm, one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms, covering the plant and animal species found in the mountains of Africa and the southern Arabian Peninsula. The Afromontane regions ...

forest left in

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mau ...

. The area is an important one for

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic ('' genetic variability''), species ('' species diversity''), and ecosystem ('' ecosystem diversity' ...

, including the

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

Bannerman's turaco Bannerman's turaco (''Tauraco bannermani'') is a species of bird in the family Musophagidae. It is endemic to Cameroon. In French it is known as ''touraco de Bannerman'' or ''touraco doré''. Its scientific and common names honour the ornitholog ...

and

banded wattle-eye The banded wattle-eye (''Platysteira laticincta'') is a species of bird in the family Platysteiridae. It is endemic to the Bamenda Highlands in western Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Ca ...

. The forest is the focus of a successful

community conservation A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, town ...

project, the Kilum-Ijim Forest Project, which works to protect the forest. The project is a collaboration between the Cameroon Ministry of the Environment and

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

, and focuses on sustainable use of the forests, local management, working to benefit both the biodiversity and local development. The programme works so well that the boundaries of the forest, as mapped by satellite imagery, are expanding, and the success of the idea has led to another sister project in Cameroon, the Bamenda Highlands Forest Project. The Kilum-Ijim Forest is an area of massive land which has extreme biodiversity, ranging from tropical rainforest to lake Biomes. To keep the rainforest sustainable and available for future use, control of areas of the Kilum Forest have been handed over to the locals to preserve and sustain.

External links

BirdLife International: Kilum-Ijim Forest Project, Cameroon
Afromontane forests Forests of Cameroon Rainforests of Africa Northwest Region (Cameroon) {{Cameroon-geo-stub