Forest Products, Livelihoods and Conservation

Nouhou Ndam and Mahop Tonye Marcelin 39

Figure 1. Concentration of Prunus africana on lava flows

proportion of children being sent to school. As the commercial value of P. africana

in the international trade continues to increase—it currently stands at US$220

million annually, representing roughly 3,600 tonnes of raw material (Cunningham

et al. 1997)—owing to the gradual inclusion of the plant’s products in the U.S.

health care system as a dietary supplement, the population of the Mount

Cameroon area community based organisations are becoming more organised

to secure more benefit for themselves and future generations.

THE PRODUCTION-TO-CONSUMPTION SYSTEM

The resource base

Three major forest types are reported to occur in the Mount Cameroon area,

namely agricultural fallow (15%), secondary forest (35%) and closed-canopy

primary forest (50%) (Ndam 1998). P. africana is an evergreen species occurring

in montane areas at a minimum elevation of approximately 900 m (Hutchinson

and Dalziel 1958). In the Mount Cameroon region, the raw material production

area represents 2,000 km^2 with mixed distribution patterns of isolated and

clustered individuals (ONADEF unpublished report). The distribution of the species

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