Degradation of useful plants in Oku tropical montane cloud forest, Cameroon

Abstract

An ethnobotanical survey was carried out in some villages of Oku in the Cameroonian tropical montane cloud forest. Farmers and their relatives were interviewed on how they use indigenous plant species. The uses of plant species were studied with regard to life form, habitat or ecosystem and knowledge of these plants by mountain people. The study made an inventory of 86 useful plants and identified threats to their survival. It concluded that the use of the native species is under serious biological stress and socio-economic pressure, and it identified the ethnobotanical parameters required for future studies.