Effects of Quarrying Activities on Environmental Sustainability in Makenene, Centre Region, Cameroon

Abstract

Quarrying activities has been regarded as one of the informal activities which has the potential of contributing to the development and economies of communities where ever the quarry companies are installed. But at the same time, the environmental and health impacts of mining on surrounding communities have been a major concern to governments, the general public and stakeholder organizations and individuals. This paper examines the effect of quarrying activities on environmental sustainability of the Makenene community especially at “quartier carrier” in the Center region of Cameroon. To achieve the main aim of the study, three objectives were set to access the environmental impact of quarrying activities on land degradation, water, air and soil quality in Makenene sub-division, examine the effect of quarrying activities on the health of the people of the study area and to appraise the measures which have been put in place for sustainable quarry extraction with focus on environmental sustainability. Purposive and systematic random sampling techniques were used to administer 155 copies of questionnaires drawn from Miller and Brews (2003) sample determination method. Data generated were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The major findings showed that quarrying activities have significantly affected the “quartier carrier” in Makenene countryside as it has led to environmental degradation, water and air quality distortion. The findings also proved that there have been considerable human health problems resulting from quarrying activities. Based on the findings, the study strongly recommends the government bench of Cameroon to effectively implement its mining/quarry laws and make sure prior Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), monitoring and evaluation are effective to see that quarry companies operate within the legal frameworks while maintaining environmental sustainability.

Keywords: Environmental degradation, Natural resource exploitation, Quarry, Sustainability

DOI: 10.7176/JEES/12-1-03

Publication date: January 31^st 2022