Forest Products, Livelihoods and Conservation

Nouhou Ndam and Mahop Tonye Marcelin 43

The mean duration of flowering of P. africana reported to date is 10 days

(Pouakouyou personal communication). P. africana is an outbreeding species,

and insects and the wind reportedly are the main pollinators (Hamilton 1972).

In the Mount Cameroon area, birds and mammals feeding on the fruits are

reported as major dispersers of Prunus seeds (Cunningham and Mbenkum 1993).

Light is seemingly required for the regeneration of P. africana (Sunderland

and Nkefor 1997), and Ndam (1998) found that regeneration of Prunus seedlings

is greater in secondary forest.

Raw material producers and the socio-economic context

The Bakweri people are the major ethnic group on Mount Cameroon, the

Bambuko and Balundu also being indigenous to the region. However, there are

significant numbers of migrant labourers also involved in non-timber forest

products (NTFP) exploitation, and particularly in P. africana harvesting. At the

outset when Plantecam was launching Prunus activities in the area, skilled

workers were brought from the north-west and western provinces of Cameroon,

where exploitation had first started. Gradually, the communities around Mount

Cameroon began to realise the economic importance of the species and became

increasingly involved in its exploitation. Today, the sale of Prunus bark is one

of their major sources of periodic income. The communities in this area are

mostly living from farming activities, growing food crops such as coco-yam,

pepper, plantains etc., which are sold in the nearby periodic markets. Farming

Photo 2. Stripped stem of P. africana. (Photo by T.C.H. Sunderland)

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