0456-B1
Leke Gabriel[1]
The Montane forest of the Mount Cameroon region has a good quantity of Prunus africana. This medicinal plant of international repute is used in the manufacture of a drug for the treatment of prostrate cancer. Commercial exploitation of Prunus bark that started in this region in the early 1970s brought about wanton destruction of many plants as a result of unsustainable harvesting of the plant bark. Through participatory problem analysis the root cause of this unsustainable bark exploitation was identified to be from illegal exploiters. A series of consultations were held that led to an action plan that put in place a community management model in the region. This model, which began with just two villages, has now evolved to include fifteen other villages. With a good monitoring and evaluation system, the model has so far shown to improve on the resource base and on the livelihoods of community members. The challenge now is to make this model sustainable in the face of high tax and an unstable policy environment. Working with the facilitation of Conservation Without Frontiers (CWF) the umbrella management body Mount Cameroon Prunus Management Organisation (MOCAP) is pursuing its own exploitation permit from the government of Cameroon. Presently they are solely responsible for the management of this resource in the region by monitoring illegal exploitation and carrying out regeneration.
Prunus africana is a very valuable medicinal plant of the family rosaceaea. It is widely distributed on afro-montane forests of Madagascar, Central east and southern Africa. In Cameroon it occurs mainly on mount Cameroon, in the Bamenda highlands, on mount kupe and around Yaounde. The mount Cameroon region retains the highest Prunus population in Cameroon. It grows well in the sub-montane and montane forests at an altitude of 900-2,500m above sea level, though it has been observed to grow at lower altitude of 600m.
Prunus africana is one of the most threatened species of the Mount Cameroon region. International Board for Plant and Genetic Resources (IBPGR) has identified it as a priority plant for both ex-situ and in-situ conservation due to its economics value.The Convention on Internation Trade on Endanger Species(CITES) and WCMC (1994) classified it as a very valuable plant(Laird and Lisinge, 1999). Locally it is used for medicine (fever and stomach ache), timber, furniture, pole, fuelwood, charcoal, axe and handle. For about 30 years it is a major source of income for the local people. Its bark is exploited and exported to Europe where it is used in the manufacture of the Drug used in the treatment of prostrate cancer. It is also food and home for many endemic birds and rare primates, insects and vascular and non-vascular epiphytes such as ferns and mosses. It is a very good canopy plant in the montane and sub-montane forests.
Prunus exploitation in the Mount Cameroon region started since 1972 and many trees have been harvested about six times with a four years interval. Legally, exploitation is by harvesting two quarters stripe, each on the opposite side of the trunk from about 30cm diameter at breast height (DBH) right to the first branch. Initially these harvesting norms were respected but when very many people became involved in the sector as an income source, controlled harvesting was far fetched. By 1985, many untrained villagers became involved in the exploitation of Prunus in the region. This resulted to unsustainable practices that ranged from harvesting small and young plants, total debarking, debarking from branches to even felling of trees to debark. In consequent of these many trees died. This paper seeks to point out how community management has affected the resource base of Prunus africana in the Mount Cameroon region. It will highlight the approaches used, the modification in the management system and the impact on the resource base and community livelihoods.
The wide spread over exploitation and unsustainable harvesting of Prunus in the region warranted urgent actions. As early as 1976 the government of Cameroon realized this and as a resulted established one Prunus nursery in the region. This was however grossly unsatisfactory to counteract the fast rate of destruction. The ideal approach would have been to tackle the root cause of the problem. With the coming to force of the 1994-forestry law that allows community members to participate in the management of forest resources, steps were taken to involve communities in the Mount Cameroon region in Prunus management. The Mount Cameroon Project (MCP) Limbe undertook the very first step. It reviewed the prevailing situation at that time through participatory problem analysis and brought together all stakeholders to agree on a common action plan (Glyn et al 1997). This culminated to the formation of two community harvester unions in the region at Mapanja and Bokwaongo. Members of these unions were trained to sustainably manage Prunus in the region. Arrangements were also reached with PLANTECAM (a company with exploitation permit in the region) to harvest through these unions. This system had a monitoring and evaluation system that checked poor harvesting and punishes defaulters. Monitoring was done through field visit by supervisors after every harvest. Also the impact of this exploitation on the livelihoods of community members was also monitored. This monitory and evaluation system led to gradual improvement in the whole exploitation system.
Because of some lapses that were revealed by the monitoring and evaluation report, it became clear that there was need to get every village in the region involved in the management of the resource. This holistic approach was necessitated by the fact that, while these two villages were managing, the other villages that were left out kept perpetuating unsustainable practices. Therefore this community management system has actually gone a bit further. In has gone beyond those two villages to involving about seventeen other villages. Also, instead of independent village harvester unions, there is an umbrella organization in the region called the Mount Cameroon Prunus Management Organization (MOCAP). The reason of this is to harmonize Prunus management model in the entire region. MOCAP's goal is to entirely take over the responsibility of Prunus management in the region (from harvesting through processing to exporting). Being a community initiative in the sustainable management of a very valuable resource, it is worth supporting. MOCAP is presently pursuing its exploitation permits with the ministry of the Environment and Forests. This process is being facilitated by Conservation Without Frontiers (CWF), a local Non-Governmental Organization (NGO).
In the mean time there are controlling illegal Prunus exploitation in the region and carrying out regeneration.
This Community management has actually put a place a management model for Prunus africana in the Mount Cameroon region. It has already yield some positive results worth sharing through this paper.
Besides the marked general improvement on the resource base as s result of sustainability, as revealed by the 1997 and 1999 Prunus inventories in the region(MCP Limbe,2000),there were other benefits brought by this community management system;
There was an increase in the price of the harvested bark. The price rose from 55 -80FCFA per kilo of wet bark depending on the humidity, that it used to be before the system to about 250FCFA per kilo.
Money was made available for village development. Statistics indicate that in 1998 about 1,580,000FCFA went in the development coffers of Mapanja (Ndam and Ewusi, 1999). This was an innovation because previously nothing was given to the village development fund.
More money went to individuals as a result of this organized harvesting. In 1998, any Prunus harvester who was very active was able to make about 500,000FCFA from sustainable Prunus exploitation. This was far greater than what was gotten before the system came in to place.
There was improved collaboration between the local community and the government ministry of the Environment and Forests. Previously they used to be antagonists rather than partners. They were constantly at war against each other.
Illegal bark harvesting and sale to unauthorized middlemen was reduced to a bare minimum.
A sustainable exploitation quota of about 300tons per annum base on participatory exploitation inventory was maintained in the region as opposed to the 1500tons that was before the system.
There was better organization in the village. There were village base harvesters unions as oppose to unorganized harvesting that prevailed before the system.
There was improved communication between these village communities and conservation agencies and other stakeholders in the sector
There has been a marked improvement in the livelihood of the community members. Most of them have acquired permanent houses, electricity, household equipment and even gotten married from income from this activity.
In the meantime they are actively involved in Prunus regeneration in the region. Two communities Prunus nurseries are being set up in the region.
Regular joint control of illegal exploitation is also being done by MOCAP with the collaboration of the local agent of the ministry of the environment and forests and the facilitation of CWF.
Though handicapped by the lack of logistics, the community management system has greatly checked unsustainable Prunus exploitation in the region and maintained the resource base for a few years. There are prospects that the resource base will be improved in the coming years if this management system is enhanced. Most importantly the idea that community livelihood is improved by the system is most interesting. There are however fears that high tax and an unfavorable policy environ may hinder the sustainability of the management model. In this light therefore, CWF calls for global support for this local management initiative for a very vital resource.
Gly, D., C. Tekwe and J. Gami, 1997. A strategy for the conservation of Prunus africana in the Mount Cameroon region. A report of MCP limbe
Laird, S.A. and E. Lisinge, 1999. Benefit sharing case studies: Ancistroclaudus korupensis and Prunus africana. A United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) contribution to the fourth meeting of the conference of parties (COP) to the convention on Biological Diversity, May 1998, in response to the decision of the third meeting of the COP calling for benefit sharing case studies
Mount Cameroon Project Limbe, 2000. Annual report.
Ndam, N, and B. Ewusi, 1999.An assessment of Prunus africana situation in Cameroon, Kenya and Madagascar. A report for International Center for research in Agro-forestry (ICRAF) and the university of Bangor,UK.
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