Timber Production In The Dense Humid Forest Of Cameroon

Abstract

About 60% of all timber exploited in Cameroon is made of a few species, namely, Triplochiton scleroxylon (Ayous), Entandrophragma cylindricum (Sapelli), Lophira alata (Azobe), Baillonella toxisperma (Moabi), Afzelia bipindensis (Red Doussie) and Afzelia pachyloba (White Doussie).Triplochiton scleroxylon is the most highly exploited timber species in Cameroon reaching a volume of 608,599m3 from the East province in 2004, followed by Entandrophragma cylindricum (403,942m3 in 2001) still from the East Province. For the period 1998 to 2004, the volume of timber of these species exploited fluctuated from year to year, with no steady increase or decrease. This was probably as a result of the uncertainty of their availability even though logging companies open up unexploited areas in search of more timber. The highest volume of timber for most of these species came from the East province, followed by the South and then Centre, except Afzelia pachyloba with highest volumes for this period (24,396m3 in 1999) coming from the Centre province. It is possible that these species have been logged out in areas closer to the ports of export and, so logging companies go further (East and South provinces) to find timber of these species.