Abstract
Forest conservation around protected areas includes among others sustainable management of natural resources. This study was conducted in the area of the northern outskirts of the Boumba-Bek National Park in order to evaluate the potential use of plants in traditional medicine. Ethnobotanical surveys were conducted with local people using AFLORA survey forms. A total of 132 plant species used in traditional medicine for primary health care were identified. These plants belong to 109 genera and 45 families. 224 treatments for 101 disease symptoms were collected. These diseases include the nervous system, excretory system and nutritional function. The most recurrent diseases are cough, sexual weakness, back pain, abscess, general tiredness, malaria. Some plants such as Baillonella toxisperma , Alstonia boonei, Annonidium mannii, Ricinidendron heudelotii, Klainedoxa gabonensis, Scorodophloeus zenkeri, Swartzia sp . treat several diseases at once. The plant parts mostly used are stem bark, leaves, seeds, sap, the marrow of the bark, the pith of the stem. The main method of preparation of these recipes is decoction while the most common method of administration is oral administration. The plant resources of this village have a high potential in traditional medicine for primary health care. The importance index varied from plant to plant. Keywords: NTFPs, AFLORA, medicinal plants, traditional medicine, primary health care. DOI: 10.7176/JBAH/11-4-07 Publication date: February 28 th 2021
Highlights
African forests cover a surface area of close to 241 million hectares (FAO, 2003) and the Congo Basin is the second largest tropical rain forest area in the world after Amazonia that is 12% of the tropical forest area (Tchatat & Ndoye, 2006)
This has enabled the ecosystems to maintain a more or less stable balance (Koyeu et al, 2014; FAO, 2013; Nkongmeneck et al, 2007; Helms, 1998). Cameroon belongs to this bloc and is endowed with 22.5 million hectares of rain forests that make up 48% of the national territory and which contain close to 10 000 floristic species (Fongnzossie et al, 2014). Populations living in these forest areas have been exploiting these resources for ages with remarkable empirical knowhow in solving their health and nutritional problems as well as meeting their daily needs (FAO, 2015; Jamnadass et al, 2011; Sunderland, 2011)
Gribé village is located in a forest area and a total number of 224 recipes based on plants were registered for 101 diseases or symptoms mentioned by the local populations
Summary
African forests cover a surface area of close to 241 million hectares (FAO, 2003) and the Congo Basin is the second largest tropical rain forest area in the world after Amazonia that is 12% of the tropical forest area (Tchatat & Ndoye, 2006) In addition to this dimensional importance, this forest is endowed with an exceptional biological diversity that has been preserved for ages through a rational exploitation. Widespread knowledge within the domain of primary healthcare is still confined in the ancestral traditional cultures and is yet to be revealed because of limited research and the poor appreciation of this form of medicine These rich biodiversities are being studied only by the scientific systems of the Western world, where researchers always extract molecules from them in order to produce drugs (Nicolas et al 2004)
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