In Cameroon, NWFP of high commercial values such as Prunus africana and the African grey parrots are subjected to both national and international regulatory tools. The weaknesses embedded in the existing system of controls provide a quest for improvements at the local, national and international levels. Such improvements may be subjected to the recommendations that are listed in this section. Some of the recommendations are generic while some are specific to either to Prunus africana or the African grey parrots. Both Prunus africana and the African grey parrots are candidates earmarked under CITES Appendix II, implying that the respect for annual harvestable quotas forms the primary route to achieve the conservation and sustainable use of the species.
• Cameroon government authorities need to develop a coordinated and integrated permitting and information management system for the trade on Prunus Africana and the African grey parrots as well as other commercial NWFPs. Each permit holder should have a specified area from where to collect products indicated in his or her permit.
• There is need to harmonize information on NWFP produced in more than one country in Africa. This would require the creation of networks for Prunus africana and the African grey Parrots. The networks will assist in the development, execution, and evaluation of project proposals, and provide advice for government agencies and both local and international organizations (Snyder et al, 2000). For example, in order to increase the effectiveness of parrot conservation activities in Cameroon and Africa at large, there is need to build a network of interested individuals and organizations that will gather and distribute information in order to assist parrot conservation and transparency in trade.
• National baseline inventories must be conducted to establish reasonable exploitation quotas for both Prunus africana and the African grey parrots. In order to ensure sustainability, it is imperative that the competent authorities do an inventory of actual stock or refer to all available information on quantity of Prunus africana and yield estimates so that appropriate exploitation quotas are set.
• National and international policy frameworks are necessary to ensure that agreements between governments and international organizations and between companies and local communities are respected. For example, National Prunus africana Working Groups, or their equivalents in which government, industry and local communities participate, should develop strategies to review bark harvesting quotas and monitor compliance to harvesting standards across the country. This would be in alliance with certification (green-labelling) of bark from forests shown by monitoring to have been harvested strictly in accordance with the prevailing recommendations. At international level, there is currently insufficient coordination of effort between source countries or between these countries and the user industries in America, Australasia, Europe and the Far East. There is need for an International Prunus africana Accord involving all supplying countries and the industries receiving material for processing. To initiate the process and bring the Accord into operation, a relevant international body/organization such as the FAO or IPGRI should liaise with the parties concerned (Hall et al., 2000). The Accord should specify, in advance for five-year periods, balanced national harvest and supply quotas, to be met without contravening CITES regulations and should incorporate provision for certification.
• Independent third-party registration: The global bandwagon is the implementation of ISO 9000 and 14000 families to guide best practices in business activities of any kind that leads to international trade in any product or service for high quality and environmental management standards. There is need for an independent third-party registration to an internationally recognized environmental management system (EMS) standard known as ISO 14001. Registration to this standard attests to an organization's commitment to comply with applicable national regulations, to assess the significant effects of its activities, and to develop or improve its EMS (ISO Brief, ud).
• Some countries that are not yet signatories. to CITES but that do trade in significant numbers of wild-caught parrots and/or Prunus africana should be convinced to comply as a matter of urgency. However, considering that African Grey parrots and Prunus africana are both listed as CITES Appendix II species, one way to avoid the over-exploitation of resources from one country following more stringent measures in neighbouring countries, may be to establish a regional level export quota based on national quotas for Central Africa producing countries. For instance, the Eu raised concern on the increased level of the annual export quota of Prunus africana from DRC from 400 tons in 2003 to 1000 tons in 2004(TRAFFIC, 2005).
• Increase and improve cooperation amongst enforcement agencies. Establish joint patrol agreements amongst countries that are sharing borders to fight illegal trade and smuggling of products from one country to another.
• The role of importing governments remains pivotal in controlling the exploitation and trade on both the African grey parrots and Prunus africana. For example, over 80% of all grey parrots exported from the Democratic Republic of Congo between 1995 and 2003 were destined for the EU (TRAFFIC, 2005). However, at the 31st meeting of EU scientific Review Group on 13 December 2004, the EU decision-making process regarding the implementation of CITES article IV (relating to “non-detriment findings”) raised concerns on the suspension of the imports of Grey parrots, which was later adopted as an action plan at CoP13 (TRAFFIC, 2005).
As the concerns that led to its CITES listing have made clear, Prunus africana has been very heavily exploited in parts of its range even threatening local extinction in some places. Active management is now required and appears to be gaining ground in some of the major producing countries. The challenge now is to create circumstances under which more value of the Prunus africana trade accrues locally and nationally within source countries. This will involve major thrusts towards sustainable harvesting of wild populations and planting of trees on-farm, facilitated by national and international structures (Hall et al., 2000). The following recommendations may help in shaping the right policy directions.
• Land tenure systems need to be strengthened. The regulations that govern the land tenure in areas where NWFP are exploited also influence their conservation and the beneficiaries thereof. The land tenure system in Cameroon provides for three legal categories of tenure: state property, private property, and national lands, which can be communal holdings, or open access. Prunus africana is found in forests falling within all of these categories. In open access areas and common property areas, conflict and confusion might continue since it is not clear who holds exploitation rights. One way in which the GoC can minimize this problem is by specifying exploitation areas as well as the quantity to be harvested in each exploitation area. The exploitation of Prunus africana in well demarcated community forests, respecting stated roles within management plans, as currently being done in Oku mountain region seems a step in the right direction that can be replicated in other areas.
• Expansion of markets: The market for Prunus africana extract is likely to be maintained and could increase significantly following clinical indications of non-toxicity and efficacy for treating benign prostate hyperplasia. There would be a much-increased market if products based on the extract were approved for prescription as medicines by the Federal Drug Administration (USA) and as dietary supplements and medicines in the UK. An appropriate international organization, acting on behalf of the parties to the International Prunus africana Accord, should lobby for the relevant approvals to be given; ensuring benefits are clearly directed towards the people of exporting countries.
• Improvement in in-country processing: Very little value is added to Prunus africana products by the limited processing carried out within Africa. The feasibility of more or all processing being routinely undertaken in source countries, with more economic benefit accruing to stakeholders there should be evaluated.
• Awareness raising on environmental impacts of wild unsustainable harvest: Dialogue with industries and awareness-raising on harvesting impacts, benefit-sharing issues and the changing legal and policy frameworks in which these activities take place, as specified under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
• Respect for CITES recommendations by both exporting and importing countries. This requires the CITES Scientific Authorities to contact importing countries and all companies selling herbal preparations based on Prunus africana to give them information on the impact of wild sourced bark, and the potential need for commercial cultivation in Africa as a sustained source of bark and revenue for the countries involved. CITES also recommended that the IUCN/SSC Medicinal Plant Specialist Group liaise with the European-American Phytotherapeutic Coalition (EAPC) to increase awareness about the conservation implications of bark exploitation from wild populations.
Many efforts by individuals, governments, conservation and animal welfare organizations have been put in place to curb or bring sanity in the international trade of wild-caught birds including the African grey parrots. However, a key problem has been the lack of appropriate legislation, and the lack of enforcement of such legislation where it exists. Addressing this issue and those related to it will be necessary before African Grey parrots can be considered safe from being threatened with extinction. The generic recommendations alongside those that are listed hereunder should be consider while addressing policies that may govern the sustainable management of African grey parrot populations in Cameroon.
• Review of the contents of permits allocated to Licensees: There is need to indicate the names of assistants authorized to carry out activities in the field on the back of each license. The trappers are those who go to the forest to trap the parrots not the licensees, which means that each licensee should name the trappers with whom he is going to work and their names and national identification card numbers reflected in each license. This would exclude illegal trappers who may not understand the applicable laws and policies.
• Enforcement of national laws and regulations. National laws and regulations governing the trade in African grey parrots in Cameroon exist and need to be enforced. More stringent penalties need to be put on government officials found to be conniving with illegal trappers and smugglers. Proscribe the installation of any bird quarantines near a national park or an area under protection against this activity;
• Reexamining the potentials for eco-tourism instead of trapping for the pet trade especially inside the park. The forest clearings in Lobeke National Park and its environs seem to have the potential for eco-tourism development considering the massive flocks of parrots and other animal species present. This potential has not been assess in economic terms. There is need to do so in order to estimate how much revenue can accrue from ecotourism compared to the present illegal trade in parrots. It seems a booming local eco-tourism industry involving the local communities would guarantee long-term support of these communities to conservation initiatives than the present pet trade that currently benefits only about 90-120 local people. General community benefits are lacking and the trade is disorganized and clandestine in nature.
• Long-term monitoring programme: Development of a long-term programme for monitoring of African grey parrot populations to assess the extent to which trapping may be impacting on wild populations. The will also the need to specify and determine hunting/trapping seasons and locate and delimit the trapping areas to be allotted to each authorized trapper through a call to tender.
• Education campaigns to educate and inform parrot trappers and local communities adjoining the LNP on the present and potential value of the African grey parrots. Local participation in a collaborative approach in protection of bais and possibilities in development and management of a benefit-sharing scheme.
• Assess the influence of local, national and international institutions in management and conservation of Prunus africana in Cameroon.
• Income analysis to give the structure of the financial benefits accrued to stakeholders along the trade chain, with special emphasis on the evaluation of the contribution of such incomes to poverty alleviation at the local level. This may answer the question of whether the sustainable production and trade of highly commercialized NWFP can bring local people out of poverty.
• Wider market survey, to estimate volumes of cultivated bark coming onto the market from existing plantings of Prunus africana, especially in the North West province where over 3500 farmers have already engaged in planting activities.
• Comparative economic analysis of the present and potential income contributions of African grey parrots to local livelihoods and poverty alleviation in the light of trapping for the pet trade and ecotourism. Income analysis to give the structure of benefits accrued to stakeholders along the pet trade chain for better policies that can ensure equitable benefit sharing.
• Biological studies on the reproductive ecology, estimate of total African grey parrot population within the LNP.
• A thorough study on imports from neighbouring countries and export volumes procedures as well as on the present liaison with the CITES Secretariat
