3 New Threatened Trees Identified In Mt. Cameroon Area
Three new threatened trees species have been identified in the Mt. Cameroon area.
By Asa’a Lemawah
A team of foresters from the Environment and Rural Development Foundation (ERuDeF) found the species Cola suboppositifolia, Oxanthus montanus and Draceana bueana in the Buassa and Sanje forests. The species are all classified threatened by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The species add to the 17 previously identified threatened trees species, which ERuDeF has been propagating in order to replace them. The threatened species have suffered massive exploitation by humans over the last decades causing their population to reduce drastically.
Following the identification of the threatened trees, ERuDeF in partnership with the Ministry of Forestry will put in place measures to propagate the species as well as ensure their conservation appropriately.
The survey on the identification of the threatened trees within the wild forest was strenuous given that the trees were once located and geo-referenced some years in the protected areas- forests. However, given that most of the protected areas within the Mt. Cameroon National Park such as the Bomboko Forest Reserve have been depleted, spotting these trees has become very difficult.
ERuDeF started these tree surveys in 2011 where the forests of some 21 out of 41 communities around the Mt. Cameroon National Park were assessed and threatened trees identified. Eight forests were augmented to be assessed to better explore and identify these threatened trees.
Within this context, teams have to trek for days in the forest to identify trees. ERuDeF foresters have to tackle difficult terrain to arrive in some of the areas where the endangered or threatened species are located. It is even more difficult during the rainy season when the roads become inaccessible by vehicles. Canoes are used to get across to some villages especially when separated by a water body. From Sanje, for instance, where one of the threatened trees was identified, to Eyenge, access to the forest was by a locally made canoe.
