A species of hardwood unique to the Mt. Cameroon area is in danger of becoming extinct. Its very life and its natural habitat are threatened by activities that devastate the population of the tree – illegal logging and conversion of forest to farmland.
Tiger wood, otherwise called Zebrawood also known as Zingana is a legume with nitrogen-fixing bacteria that enrich the fertility soil for the growth of other plants.
It also prevents soil erosion with its extended buttress roots that can grow up to 5 metres high above ground and extend to 50 metres in opposite directions.
Hunting for this rare tree species for its beauty is pushing one of the world’s most expensive trees towards extinction.
Fuelled by rising demand for Tiger wood, the tree species is becoming incredibly rare and threatened in the wild. Tiger wood takes up to 50 years to mature.
High quality Tiger wood can cost more than …. cubic metre on the black market.
The disappearance of Tiger wood will contribute to soil erosion and degraded soils which will subsequently lead to low crops yields even to the farmers who cut them down to make way for farmland.
