Dam, Environment and Regional Development: Case Study of the Logone Floodplain in Northern Cameroon

The purpose of this paper is a study of environmental change in the Logone floodplain in northern Cameroon following the construction in the 1970s of a dam for a rice irrigation project. This unique ecosystem, designated as a biosphere reserve for supporting an impressive wildlife population, depends on the annual overflowing of the lowland. Several communities living in the plain rely upon water and natural resources of the floodplain to support recession agriculture, the fisheries, wetland rice and livestock. But both persistently poor rainfalls in the Sahel and the adverse impacts of the dam have devastated the area, forcing a large number of people to leave. This paper gives the scope of this situation based on geospatial information and field investigation, and also early results of the floodplain rehabilitation programme conducted since 1994 under the supervision of the World Wildlife Fund. In addition to demonstrating the potential of geomatics technology in environmental hazard assessment, this case study highlights the complexity of water-related issues in areas of conflicting interests. Despite significant improvements achieved by the rehabilitation programme, there is still much work to complete for the area to recover its former biodiversity.