SPECIES COMPOSITION AND ABUNDANCE OF NON-TIMBER FOREST PRODUCTS AMONG THE DIFFERENT-AGED COCOA AGROFORESTS IN SOUTHEASTERN CAMEROON

Abstract

The study has been conducted to clarify the species composition and abundance of Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) of the cocoa agroforests in the Gribe village, southeastern Cameroon. A total of 40 cocoa-farmed plots were sampled and divided into four age-classes. The number of sampled plots by age class are : (a) 10 plots with 0–10-year-old plot, (b) 10, 10–20-year-old, (c) 10, 20–30-year-old and (d) 10, over 30-year-old. A vegetation survey on these plots recorded a total of 3, 879 individual trees. They were classified into 166 species, 131 genera and 45 families. The most diversified families were Rubiaceae (including 13 species), Annonaceae (12) Sterculiaceae (10), Euphorbiaceae (9), Caesalpiniaceae and Moraceae (8 for each). The top ten leading dominant species were Musanga cecropioides, Terminalia superba, Ficus mucuso, Celtis mildbraedii, Pterocarpus soyauxii, Triplochiton scleroxylon, Margaritaria discoidea, Markhamia lutea, Trilepisium madagascariense, and Ficus exasperata. The mean values of the Shannon-Wiener diversity index (H') increased with the age of cocoa plot : 4.8 for the age class of 0–10-year-old, 4.7 for 10–20-year-old, 5.1 for 20–30-year-old and 5.6 for over 30-year-old. An ethnobotanical survey revealed that majority of the recorded species were used either as food (54%), medicine (33%) or for other purposes. We conclude that the cocoa agroforests, maintained by the Gribe people, include a high diversity of NTFP species.