Tro

PE

G N

ew

sletter N

o . 00

2 D

ecem

ber 2

01

3

Tro P

EG

New

sletter N

o. 00

2 D

ecemb

er 20

13

Issues:

1) HCV assessment for the establishmentof oil palm plantation (Consultancy)

2) Analog Forestry Landscape designtechniques

3) Scientific publications: A contributionto science

4) What we can do

5) Address

6) Grant Award

Editorial Board

CEO: ACHAH Robin ARIFIQUE

Rsearch Director:SAINGE N. Moses

Editing: Benedictta Jailughe, Sainge N.

Moses, Libalah Moses B.

Design and Presentation: NGOH Michael LYONGA

Tro

PE

G N

ew

sletter N

o . 00

2 D

ecem

ber 2

01

3

Tro P

EG

New

sletter N

o. 00

2 D

ecemb

er 20

13

TroPEG carried out a botanicaland High Conservation Value(HCV) assessment in the monthof October and November 2013.This is in accordance withTroPEG’s objectives of fundrais-ing and contributing to biodiver-sity conservation, throughassessment of important priorityareas of conservation valueswithin Tropical Forest Ecosys-tem. As the TroPEG name im-plies, this was an opportunity toexplore the rich and vast diver-sity of the Guinea-Congolianforest ecosystem. The work tookplace around the zones of Korupforest area, Rumpi Hills Forestarea and Ndongore Forest area,precisely closed to the villages of

Illor Balondo, Ngumu, Dibonda,and Ekumbako.

Working in this zone was reallya good platform for the trainingof some TroPEG members ondata collection and plant identi-fication, because TroPEG en-courages field oriented activities.The entire exercise was led bythe Research Director of Tropi-cal Plant Exploration Group –TroPEG, Mr. Sainge N. Mosesand supervised by Proforest.

Enumeration of some of themost strategic habitat that couldbe conserved was earmarked andall plant species with a dbh of 10cm and above were measured,recorded and identified.

Tro

PE

G N

ew

sletter N

o . 00

2 D

ecem

ber 2

01

3

Tro P

EG

New

sletter N

o. 00

2 D

ecemb

er 20

13

Voucher specimens were collectedproperly identified for the produc-tion of a checklist. Some of thefield operations were recordedthrough photo and can be seenhere:

Supervision of field operation byProforest Staff (Left). TroPEGworker Ekuka serving as recorder(Right).

Food stuff and equipments to betransported over Ndian River.

TroPEG team loading food stuffand equipments in a canoes atNdian Town beach

TroPEG filled with dynamic guys.Motto Moses a TroPEG teammember paddling canoe to trans-port workers and laggages acrossNdian River.

Boat transporting TroPEG Teamto Bulu beach from Ngumu

Tro

PE

G N

ew

sletter N

o . 00

2 D

ecem

ber 2

01

3

Tro P

EG

New

sletter N

o. 00

2 D

ecemb

er 20

13

roPEG through her part-ners was represented inKumbo by two members

for an international workshopnamed “Analog Forestry Design”held in November 2013. Theworkshop was organized by theInternational Analog ForestryNetwork (IAFN) in collaborationwith Centre for Nursery Develop-ment and Eru Propagation (CEN-DEP) and Cameroon AnalogForestry Network (CAFON). Thetraining took place at the RuralTransformation Center (RTC) atthe periphery of Kumbo. Partici-pant came from abroad and withinCameroon.

ameroon Analog ForestryNetwork (CAFON) withmission to contribute to

biodiversity conservation and in-fluence the conservation agenda atnational and international levelthrough the promotion of analogforestry (CENDEP report 2013).The workshop was made up of 23participants from 16 Civil SocietyOrganization, two from Nigeria,and fourteen from Cameroon, se-lected based on the fact that theypromote ecosystem restoration,forest conservation and agro pas-toral development activities.

nalog Forestry Designconcept was handled by atrainer from United

States of America (Grover Stock),he is an Analog Forestry designspecialist. During the workshop,he drilled participants on how to

improve on good and attractiveenvironmental design and whereto get clues on specific designstructures. This he referred toMother Nature as the best and ul-timate clue provider when itcomes to design. A brief history ofAF was presented, as far back as1970, until when it was fully de-veloped in Sri-Lanka in 1983 byDr. Ranil Senanayake. The pre-senter further stated that the IAFNwas created in 1996 with the aimof popularizing the AF modelacross the world. AF was pre-sented as a silvicultural methodaimed at minimizing the use ofexternal inputs into a natural sys-tem. The facilitator and leadtrainer, Grover Stock went furtherto state that AF is a regenerativeprocess and not just a sustainableone (CENDEP 2013).

Tro

PE

G N

ew

sletter N

o . 00

2 D

ecem

ber 2

01

3

Tro P

EG

New

sletter N

o. 00

2 D

ecemb

er 20

13

articipants also had talkfrom a member (Roos) of aNetherland based organiza-

tion (BothEND/Rich Forest) whoelaborated on the important ofForest Garden products andMatchmaking for improvinglivelihood of the rural population.Roos Nipels cited the experiencefrom Asia and distributed a samplemagazine produced by Rich Forestto participant to digest and alsodownload more information on thelinks provided in this magazine.

Rich Forests representive RoosNipels, also explained that RichForest is a strategic partner ofIAFN and currently housed in theoffices of BothENDS Netherlands.She presented a brief history ofRich Forest citing its relationshipwith CORDAID and the Non-Timber Forest Product (NTFP) ex-

change group. She emphasizedthat Rich Forests aims to supportactivities that have both ecologicaland economic importance.

erry a member ofCAFON/CENDEP sharedon the issue of advocacy

and lobbying. He reminded partic-ipants that advocacy and lobbyingis the highest tool that we as pro-moters of Analog Forestry tech-nique can use to achieveconservation priorities. He alsoreiterated the fact that participantsfrom non-law background can alsobe good advocators and lobbyists,reacting from questions posed byparticipants. This point wasstrongly supported by the two par-ticipants from Nigeria (Owan andNtino), with Owan elaborating onan experience they went throughtrying to inform the authorities of

a state in Nigeria about a big Chi-nese company that was violatingenvironmental and biodiversitystandards. This practical experi-ence gave participants a more glar-ing picture about advocacy andlobbying.

rom left to right: Groverfrom USA, Sainge fromTroPEG - Cameroon, Roos

from BothENDS/Rich Forest andLyonga from TroPEG -Cameroon. Photo taken at the RTCKumbo

Tro

PE

G N

ew

sletter N

o . 00

2 D

ecem

ber 2

01

3

Tro P

EG

New

sletter N

o. 00

2 D

ecemb

er 20

13

-Frame Techniques: Thetrainer (Grover) briefedparticipants on how to cre-

ate contours using A-frame as wellas the writing of the physiognomicformula. According to his experi-ence wavy contours follow natures’pattern of organization as there ishardly a straight line in nature. Thisin tend harbours’ more crops thanstraight line contours.

emonstrating the use of A-frame in producing wavycontour lines in Analog

Forestry Design. TroPEG partici-pant doing practical exercise tograb the concept better.

ractical group exercise for apropose Analog Forestry De-sign for RTC with TroPEG

participant contibuting ideas on theproposed design by their group.

cosystem evaluation of soilmacro-fauna to check therichness of the soil. Photo

below is an investigation to seelevel of organic matter and pres-

ence of man’s best friend Earth-worms. A strong indicator of fertil-ity of soil.

TroPEG participant (Lyonga, NM)presenting the design concept oftheir group.

Tro

PE

G N

ew

sletter N

o . 00

2 D

ecem

ber 2

01

3

Tro P

EG

New

sletter N

o. 00

2 D

ecemb

er 20

13

Two TroPEG members werepartof two independent scientificinvestigation in 2012/2013 ofwhich the findings of these out-come where effectively pub-liched in two internationaljournals.

A) Published by the InternationalJournal of Biodiversity and Con-servation.Title: Ethnobotany, in-digenous knowledge andunconsciouspreservation of the en-vironment: An evaluation of in-digenous knowledge in South andSouthwest Regions of Cameroon.By Fongod A. G. N., Ngoh L. M.,and Veranso M. C.

ABSTRACT A study was undertaken to understandthe contributions of indigenousknowledge in environmental manage-ment and to evaluate some use-ful plants in selected tribalvillages of South and SouthwestCameroon. Intensive field trips werecarried out and interviews were con-ducted with the indigenous peo-pleusing questionnaires thataddressed the use of each plantspecies for various purposes,local/traditional name of species,plant parts used methods of prepara-tion, prescription and administrationfor medicinal uses. The work resultedin the documentation of fifty twospecies of ethnomedicinal plants be-longing to thirty families. Among thedocumented plants, Asteraceae,Fabaceae, Acanthaceae, Euphor-biaceae, Apocynaceae, were the fivedominant families with three ormorespecies followed by Rubiaceae, Piper-aceae, Lamiaceae, Poaceae, and

Apiaceae with two species each.Plants used in traditional medicine areused as decoctions, infusions, macer-ations, powders, mixtures, squeezing,boiling, and direct eating. Thirtyseven species used for varied pur-poses ranging from cultural, culinary,ecological, and architectural, wereidentified spreading over 22 f amilies.Some of the species had some inter-esting uses such as plants as indi-cator species for rich soils, plantsbelieved to solve boundary con-flicts and witch craft, wrapping andpreserving food among others. Tradi-tions, customs, beliefs and culturalrights play an important role in envi-ronmental conservation and biodiver-sity of the South and South westregions of Cameroon. Hence, there isa need to utilize and vulgarize the eth-nobotanical information, encouragethe indigenous people as they con-tribute immensely in preserving thebiodiversity.

Tro

PE

G N

ew

sletter N

o . 00

2 D

ecem

ber 2

01

3

Tro P

EG

New

sletter N

o. 00

2 D

ecemb

er 20

13

B) Published by Official Journal of the RoyalBotanic Gardens, Kew. Title: Two new species ofAfrothismia (Thismiaceae) from southern Cameroon.By Moses N. Sainge, David Kenfack & George B.Chuyong

Summary:Two new species of Afrothismia are described withinthe framework of an intended revision of the genus inCameroon, A. fungiformis from the submontane forestof Mt Kupe and A. pusilla from Mt Kala. The newspecies are illustrated and the conservation status forboth is assessed as Critically Endangered.

Key Words:Burmanniaceae, Mt Kala, Mt Kupe,myco-heterotrophic plants.

-Transect sampling-Small plots sampling

-Establishment of permanent one hectare plot for biomonitor-ing

-Establishment of 50 ha plot for long term biomonitoring-Identification of all forms of Plant life within the Tropics

-Ecological research-Biodiversity and forest assessment surveys

-Ecological niche modeling-Environmetal Impact Assessment (EIA) Studies

-High Conservation Value (HCV) AssessmentData Analysis

-All forms of Data can be arranged and anlyzed using spe-cialised softwares such as SPSS, MINITAB and Microsoft

Excel-Biodiversity informatics in Data cleaning and data publishing.

5) TroPEG Web Address

P.O Box 18, MundembaE– mail: tropeg.cam@gmail.com, tropeg_cam@yahoo.com

Website: www.tropeg.orgTelephone: (237) 33 11 48 49

Mobile phone: (237) 77 51 35 99

Tro

PE

G N

ew

sletter N

o . 00

2 D

ecem

ber 2

01

3

Tro P

EG

New

sletter N

o. 00

2 D

ecemb

er 20

13