The Mt. Cameroon Threatened Trees Project of ERuDeF is accelerating the collection of wildings of the critically threatened and endemic Tiger wood (Microberlinia bisulcata) to meet its restoration target of at least 10,000 trees within the Mt. Cameroon National Park borders and the Mokoko River Forest Reserve by June 2016.
By Tengem Adeline
In its effort to restore the vanishing Tiger wood species, on September 18-22, 2015, the Mt. Cameroon Threatened Trees Project team worked with the Bonjare community of Mokoko River Forest Reserve (a low land forest in the Mt. Cameroon area) to collect wildings of Tiger wood, also known as Zebra wood or Zingana.
The collection of planting stocks for the threatened Tiger wood species was done following the seed collection protocol established during a forest survey of the species in 2011.
According to the protocol, the species start dropping seeds in September every fruiting year. Within this period, the ERuDeF team goes out hunting for sprouting seeds.
In 2012 and 2013, 12,000 seeds were collected; September 2014, 6000 seeds were collected and this year the team gathered 3000 wildings. Over 16,000 seedlings of the species and other threatened trees have been raised and planted in two community forests in Woteva and Bakingili villages on the flanks of Mt. Cameroon.
This year’s collection took place immediately after a workshop was organized by ERuDeF in the Mokoko area on September 17, 2015 to build the capacities of local Chiefs of Forestry and Wildlife Posts, Village Forest Management Committee presidents, and traditional authorities around the Mokoko area on Cameroon’s 1994 Forestry Code partnering to the management of Tiger wood in the Mokoko Forest area.
These endeavors were all to ensure that the remnants of Zingana are maintained to serve as a seed bank for continual seed collection for propagation purposes. At maturity, the seedlings will be planted into secured areas, including the encroached borders of the Mt. Cameroon National Park, community forests and forest reserves like Mokoko.
Hopefully, together with these communities, the ERuDeF-Global Trees Campaign and Mohamed bin Zayed-sponsored Mt. Cameroon Threatened Trees Project will ensure the propagation of a viable population of threatened species which will be used to restore the degraded landscape of Mt. Cameroon Forest area especially the low land forest in Mokoko.
In addition, ERuDeF together with the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife (MINFOF) services hopes to partner with the logging company at the Southern Bakundu and the Mokoko Forest Reserves for aggressive regeneration of the degraded forests with threatened trees like Tiger wood.
To this end, the project’s vision is to ensure that protected areas management officials and local communities have the skills, understanding and support to safeguard populations of globally threatened trees found in the Mt. Cameroon National Park, and its surrounding forest reserves is attained to a measurable and appreciable level.
