Mount Cameroon is an active

volcano A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most oft ...

in the Southwest Region of

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

next to the city of Buea near the

Gulf of Guinea The Gulf of Guinea (French language, French: ''Golfe de Guinée''; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Golfo de Guinea''; Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Golfo da Guiné'') is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean from Cape Lopez i ...

. 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 The topographic isolation of a summit is the minimum geographical distance, horizontal distance to a point of equal elevation, representing a radius of dominance in which the peak is the highest point. It can be calculated for small hills and is ...

. It is the highest point in sub-Saharan western and central Africa, 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.

Description

Mount Cameroon is one of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

's largest volcanoes, rising to above the coast of west Cameroon.

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

liana A liana is a long-Plant stem, stemmed Woody plant, woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the Canopy (biology), canopy in search of direct sunlight. T ...

s. Much of the lowland forest has been converted to agriculture and agroforestry, including

oil palm ''Elaeis'' () is a genus of palms, called oil palms, containing two species, native to Africa and the Americas. They are used in commercial agriculture in the production of palm oil. Description Mature palms are single-stemmed, and can gro ...

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 Acanthaceae () is a Family (biology), family (the acanthus family) of dicotyledonous flowering plants containing almost 250 genera and about 2500 species. Most are Tropics, tropical Herbaceous plant, herbs, shrubs, or twining vines; some are epip ...

), tree ferns, woody shrubs, and low trees. Frequent clouds and mists sustain profuse

epiphyte An epiphyte is a plant or plant-like organism that grows on the surface of another plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphyt ...

s, including mosses, ferns, and orchids. The lower montane forests are diverse and species-rich, with characteristic Afromontane plants and

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

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 tussock grasses, 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 Crustose is a Habit (biology), habit of some types of algae and lichens in which the organism grows tightly appressed to a substrate, forming a biological layer. ''Crustose'' adheres very closely to the Substrate (biology), substrates at all poin ...

, foliose, and fruticose lichens predominate. File:Tropical rain forest Mount Cameroon.jpg, A view of the tropical rain forest on the mountain File:Mahogany mount Cameroon national park.jpg, Mahogany File:Disamara tree mount Cameroon 2.jpg, Disamara tree File:Arum Italicum mount Cameroon.jpg, Arum plant File:Agaricus Mushroom mount Cameroon national park 2.jpg, Agaricus mushroom File:Beautiful wild flower on Mt Cameroon.jpg, Wild flower File:Stinkhorn mushroom mount cameroon national park.jpg, Stinkhorn mushroom

Fauna

Large mammals on the mountain include the

African forest elephant The African forest elephant (''Loxodonta cyclotis'') is one of the two living species of African elephant, along with the African bush elephant. It is native to humid tropical forests in West Africa and the Congo Basin. It is the smallest of the ...

(''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 The chimpanzee (; ''Pan troglodytes''), also simply known as the chimp, is a species of Hominidae, great ape native to the forests and savannahs of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed one. When its close rel ...

(''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'').

Mount Cameroon National Park

Entrance to the Mt Cameroon National park

Mount Cameroon National Park (''Parc National du Mont Cameroun'') was created in 2009. It covers an area of . The park includes the former Etinde Forest Reserve and most of the Bomboko Forest Reserve. A portion of the Bomboko Forest Reserve remains outside the park, on the lower northern slopes of the mountain.

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 The International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) is an international non-governmental organization devoted to global cooperation in the field of geology. As of 2023, it represents more than 1 million geoscientists around the world. About Fo ...

(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.'

Access

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''.

Gallery

File:Mount Fako left view.jpg, Mount Fako, left view File:Top view at Mount Fako.jpg, Top view at Mount Fako File:Mount fako (mount Cameroon).jpg, Mount Fako File:Summit at mount Cameroon.jpg, Summit at mount Cameroon File:Landscape of Mount Cameroon.jpg, Landscape of Mount Cameroon File:Magnanimous Mt Cameroon, view from Ndongo, Buea.jpg, View of the mountain from the base File:Fako Mountain lodge Hut 2.jpg, Accommodation facilities on Mount Fako File:Mount Fako hut 2.jpg, Ditto File:Hut 3 mount Cameroon.jpg, Ditto File:Cameroon Mountain Race.webm, Cameroon Mountain Race File:Athele au Mont Cameroun.jpg, Hikers climbing down File:View of Mt Etinde.jpg, View of Mount Etinde File:Mount Cameroon tropical rocks 2.jpg, Mount Cameroon tropical rocks File:DOWN BEACH LIMBE CAMEROON.jpg, Limbe Beach File:Burning Plum.jpg, Grilled plums

Notes

References

* DeLancey, M. W. and M. D. DeLancey. (2000). ''Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Cameroon'' (3rd ed.). Lanham, Maryland: The Scarecrow Press. *

External links

Mount Cameroon Research Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cameroon Active volcanoes Afromontane Four-thousanders of Africa Highest points of countries Mountains of Cameroon National parks of Cameroon Southwest Region (Cameroon) Holocene stratovolcanoes Volcanoes of Cameroon First 100 IUGS Geological Heritage Sites Stratovolcanoes of Africa