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An overlay of the crops thematic layer with the topographic layer (altitude) showed that crops have 
been planted up to 150m above sea level and this area has been tested suitable for crops (oil palm) from 
0 — 400m above sea level. The suitable area for plantation expansion was digitized and stored in the 
GIS database as a thematic layer. A map was produced showing the boundary of the leasehold and the 
suitable areas for plantation expansion was very visible on the map. This map was brought to the 
(EIA) Environmental Impact assessment of CDC plantation expansion meeting attended by all 
stakeholders within the study area. 
It was evident that though, the area in question falls within the CDC leasehold land, it was not useful 
for plantation expansion. It was agreed in the meeting that a protected forest should be developed 
within this area not suitable for plantation development. 
GIS technology has brought the forest to a common table of discussion. 
Forest reserves are in the study area table 2 
  
  
Year of creation Name of Forest reserve Area Remarks. 
(Hectares) 
1939 Bomboko Forest reserve 26 677ha Hunting, poaching, production 
FR Partly degraded for farms 
with a foodstuff market in it. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
1952 Mokoko river Forest reserve | 9065ha Production forest reserve . 
1952 Bakweri Forest reserve 9324ha Production forest reserve not 
existing again occupied by 
farmland 
- Meme river forest reserve 28ha existing. 
1933 Buea fuel plantation 300 ha Planted with eucalyptus trees. 
exploited for fuel wood 
  
6.1.2 Agriculture sites location: 
One of the themes in the GIS database is the soil map of the mount Cameroon region produced by IRA 
Ekona (Institute de la Researche Agricole). This map was digitized and serves as a background for 
\various crops location. By overlaying the crops on the soil map, it is visible that certain crops, like oil 
palm, tea, rubber and banana have specific soils on which the yield is high. The GIS will assist to 
locate some soil types as potential areas for similar crops development. Pixel dusters will be created 
based on similarity of multispectral reflectance characteristic of the image to locate various soil types 
and their suitability for plantation development. 
6.1.2 Urban Planning: 
6.1.3 With the high cost involved in aerial photography, remote sensing data and GIS are important 
tools in urban planning. Buea, headquarters of the South West Province is looking forward to 
using Spot images in mapping its urban expansion and landuse. 
This image will be at scale 1:25000 and will be available in digital and analogue formats. Essential 
foundations of planning for long-termed measures of urban development can be gained very promptly 
by remote sensing. Development measures cannot be planned in a well-founded way if there is no 
basic inventory of the present land use potentials and limiting factors. Remote sensing is advantageous 
because optical information can be received with a temporal overview and a sectoral overlap. The 
monitoring of urban expansion and the analysis of settlements without planning can be accessed from 
  
International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Vol. XXXIII, Part B7. Amsterdam 2000. 951