The Role of Urban Forest in Flood Risks Management in Yaoundé VII, Centre Region of Cameroon

The alarming rate of flooding in urban centres continues to inflict untold suffering and placed the urban poor in precarious living conditions across most Cameroon towns and cities. In the diverse metropolis of the country's urban cities like Yaoundé, Douala, and Limbe, peoples of basic living standards are living in non-habitable flood-prone environment where their vulnerability remains to worsen at any given flooding event. The study examines the role of urban forest in preventing flood risk and management in Yaoundé VII. To achieve the aim of the study, sub-objectives where inevitably of utmost importance, the objectives included: To ascertain the causes and environmental hazards of flooding in Yaoundé VII Municipality; to identify measures put in place to control flooding; to examine the level of preparedness by the urban dwellers of Yaoundé VII to cope with increased exposure to flooding events and hazard mitigation. The primary data sources constituted direct information from structured and unstructured questionnaire, key informants interviews included most stakeholders of the municipality such as the Divisional Officer, the Mayor of the municipal council and those directly involved in flood hazards. A cross-sectional and descriptive research design was employed in the study. Purposive, stratified, and systematic sampling techniques were used as platform for questionnaire administration of which a sample of 400 was drawn from the population using Taro Yamane sample determination method. The data generated were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. A null hypothesis was formulated and stated as follow: There exist no significant measures put in place to control flooding in Yaoundé VII Municipality. The hypothesis was tested using a One Way ANOVA test at 0.05 levels of significance. The major findings showed that there is significant flood measures put in place to control flooding in Yaoundé VII Municipality and also there exist a significant level of preparedness by the urban dwellers of Yaoundé VII to cope with increased flooding events. Based on the findings, the study recommended that the Urban Municipality of Yaoundé VII should organize massive campaign to sensitize the urban populace of the study area against improper dumping of refuse in the drainage systems while severe fines should be placed on violators. The government through the municipal council should Channelized and dredge the River Mefou which has tributaries in the study area so that the river can accommodate more volume of water whenever there is excess rainfall. The government should provide more funding for studies on hazards management in Cameroon as a whole; and for disaster management bodies and agencies in order to carry out their duties when necessary.