Geomorphosites inventory in the Eboga Volcano (Cameroon): contribution for geotourism promotion

Abstract

The Cameroon Volcanic Line (CVL) is a series of volcanic and plutonic morphologies crossing Cameroon at N30° E orientation. Between volcanoes, there is Mount Manengouba that is composed of two nested volcanoes, Eboga and Elengoum. Eboga volcano (EV) reaches 2,391 m with a well-defined caldera (4x5 km). Several geotouristic assets comprising a set of geomorphosites are located in the caldera floor, rims, and slopes. These landforms are lakes (Female, Male and Child), broken scoria cones, a dome (Mboriko), and a depression. We used an integrated approach for the inventory and management of geomorphological heritage (Reynard et al., 2016). The average scientific value of the geomorphosites is 0.75, since they are well preserved (0.96), rare (0.79) and representative (0.82) of the whole geomorphology of EV. They also play an important role in the geographical history (0.43) as well have significant use and management characteristics. These assets attract local and foreign tourists, and researchers. This study could raise the EV to a potential geotouristic destination with the implementation of sustainable management policy. The promotion of geotourism in the EV is an utmost opportunity for the alleviation of poverty and rural migration in the entire Manengouba region. This study can encourage more geoheritage studies in volcanic landscapes of Cameroon and Africa.