48 ‘Chop, but no broke pot’: the case of Prunus Africana on Mount Cameroon
provided with the opportunity to get more involved in this activity. As for
conservation, numerous international organisations such as Britain’s
Department for International Development, Germany’s Gesellschaft für
Technische Zusammenarbeit, the World Wildlife Fund, ICRAF, the Center for
International Forestry Research, etc. have had considerable impact in the
enhancement of research in various angles on P. africana. This has helped in
the organisation of communities for wise management.Key issues and problems
With the series of measures taken for the sustainable management of P. africana
within its range of distribution, Cameroon has emerged as an example in the
good management of this useful species. To date, within the raw material
production sector in Cameroon, there already exists at the national level an
organisation of P. africana exploiters, which brings together all exploiters and
exporters of Prunus products in annual meetings to discuss issues of common
concerns. The organisation is more than five years old and consists of around
60 members. While there are no social or economic barriers, both technological
and regulatory barriers seriously impede the functioning of this organisation.
The exploiters in this organisation are not trained foresters and therefore the
majority of them are unaware of good forest management practices.
Furthermore, they do not have any permanent field qualified forest technician
in the teams operating in their forest concessions, as required by the forestry
law. In the raw material production area, there are in general customary laws
in relation to access and use of natural resources as a whole, but during our
research, we did not come across rules with specific references for P. africana.
At the government level, there exist regulations that influence raw material
production, but their impact on the promotion of equitable sharing of outcomes
deriving from P. africana or really influencing the production of raw material
have been mitigated. A key problem the policy and regulatory should solve is
setting measures that facilitate better access to exploitation permits and other
licensing procedures for the local communities that have already proven their
commitment to sustainable management of the species. The government also
should give regulatory incentives to professional private operators (with an
agreed limit) who need to transform Prunus bark collection locally. By so doing
we shall move gradually to equitable sharing of outcomes deriving from P.
africana.
Apart from this regulatory aspect, further research is urgently needed that
will provide a scientific base for the development of better harvesting methods
of Prunus bark. The harvesting methods being applied are suggested from
observations made during field surveys and have no scientific base, though
they have so far proven their efficiency so far as bark recovery has already
been observed. The study currently being undertaken by the National Museum
of Paris in conjunction with Université de Jussieu Paris 6 of Paris, France, on
the physiology of P. africana bark recovery will throw more light on this issue.
Other gaps and studies underway include research into the understanding of
the reproductive biology of P. africana and the mechanisms involved in the
flowering and fruiting of the species (Pouakouyou personal communication).03prunus.p65 48 22/12/2004, 11:04