Cameroon conservation checklists

The fifth and sixth books in the Cameroon Conservation Checklist series have been published, covering the regions of Dom and the Lebialem Highlands of Cameroon.

View on map: Cameroon,

14 Feb 2011

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Plant collecting on a precipitous slope in Kowi forest in Dom, Cameroon. Right to left: Dr Jean-Michel Onana, Kenneth Tah, Madame Nana and Marcella Corcoran (Image: Yvette Harvey).

Sponsored by the Darwin Initiative and compiled by botanists at RBG Kew and IRAD-Herbier National Camerounais, the fifth and sixth volumes of the Cameroon Conservation Checklist series cover Dom and the Lebialem Highlands, two highly threatened evergreen forest areas in the Cameroon Highlands. The checklists result from direct requests by local conservation NGOs ANCO and ERUDEF.

Both forests are in difficult terrain and required adventurous botanists to reach them, for example in crossing rivers with motorbikes. Exciting discoveries include the only known obligate epiphytic Cyperaceae (Coleochloa domensis, endemic to Dom and published in Kew Bulletin in October) and new and threatened species such as coffee relative Argocoffeopsis fosimondi which is published in the Lebialem book. These are among the 22 threatened plant species assessed for Dom and the 42 for Lebialem.

A seventh volume, for the Mefou-proposed National Park near Yaoundé in Central Cameroon, will be the next volume in the series, and a Red Data book for the Plants of Cameroon will follow.

Item from Dr Martin Cheek (Head of the Wet Tropics Africa team, RBG Kew)
Originally published in Kew Scientist, issue 38

Article references:

Cheek, M., Harvey Y. & Onana, J.-M. (2010). The Plants of Dom, Bamenda Highlands, Cameroon: A Conservation Checklist. Kew Publishing (order book).

Harvey, Y,. Tchiengué, B. & Cheek, M. (2010). The Plants of the Lebialem Highlands (Bechati-Fosimondi Besali), Cameroon: A Conservation Checklist. Kew Publishing (order book).

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