Abstract

The Tala Tala Forest Management Unit (FMU) is situated in the Sangha department of North Congo Brazzaville. An ethnobotanical survey conducted on edible Non-Wood Forest Products (NWFPs) from 8 to 23 May 2012 in nine-village households belonging to three districts based around the Tala Tala FMU identified 61 plant species used as food crops by the Baka and Bakwele populations.

These species are distributed in 25 genus and 36 families. Fruits, roots and leaves are the most commonly mentioned plant organs, while finger foods are the most commonly used plant-eating habits. Species such as Irvingia gabonensis, Dioscorea sp., Gnetum africanum, Anonidium mannii, Gambeya africana, Musanga cecropioides, Scorodophloeus zenkeri, Dioscorea semperflorens, Afrostyrax lepidophyllus, Buchholzia coreacea appear as the most widely used food plants.

The majority are species whose organs are consumed as mouth fruits. Most of the species are large trees and herbaceous plants, which confirms that we are in a forest zone. A majority of these species belong to the primary forest and the most represented were the Guineo Congolese species. We realized that the two ethnic groups used the same plant species and receipes in the same way and with the same importance. We carried out a qualitative ethnobotanical studies and it will be necessary to carry out further studies on quantitative ethnobotany.

CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

The Congo Basin forest is the second largest intact dense tropical rainforest area in the world. Two countries, Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) lie at the heart, both having high levels of forest cover (de Wasseige et al. 2009), low levels of development with significant poverty and inequality levels, high corruption, difficult business operating environments and over half of their population living in rural areas.

The territory of the Republic of Congo has a significant forest cover estimated at 22, 471,271 hectares, at about 65% of the national territory. These forests are full of immense wealth which contributes to the social and economic development of the country.

To prevent the degradation of forest ecosystems and the mode of life of local communities, the Congolese government in 2000 defined a development policy that allowed the subdivision of the Congolese forest estate into 69 concessions. Fifty of them are attributed to the operators for cutting wood (ACTED, 2012).

In adhering to the Millennium Development Goals, most countries were committed to reduce global poverty by 2015. It is among tropical forest dependent communities where poverty tends to be more diffuse and deeper than in more affluent urban areas.

People living in forest concessions in general, and indigenous people in particular, have depended for generations on harvesting various products from forests. Forests continue to play a role today in meeting the basic needs of the poor. . This is why we must look at the non-wood forest products (NWFPs) used by these people in their daily lives, especially as they contribute to the fight against poverty.

Context

Non-wood forest products (NWFP) are defined as products from a biological origin other than wood, coming from a natural or artificial forest (Anomyne, 2005). These forest products other than wood will always be an important component in the culture of the populations of rural forests. They contribute to a good quality of life in both rural and urban zones (Ngonzo et al. 2008). In tropical regions, many depend on NWFP for their subsistence and their financial needs. Local markets play an important role by permitting those depending on forest products to get part of their revenue by selling NWFP.

Numerous estimations realised at the local, national and international level indicates the number of people who in different regions depend on NWFP. Non-Wood News (1994) quoted by (Ndoye et al. 1997/98) estimates for example, that 1.5 million of Amazone Brasilians get a part of their revenue on extraction products; in India, a number of about 50 million members of tribes live essentially on NWFP (Poffenberger, 1996).

The growth of certain products in local, national and international markets in Cameroon has added to an increase in her resources.

In her second political plan in 2010, COMIFAC gives some figures on revenue generated by the commercialisation of NWFP at the national, regional and international levels:

At the national level, the sale of Dacryodes edulis in national markets gives a sum of 7.5 million $UD. In 2001, the sales of someof these products (rattan) in Douala, Yaounde and Kinshasha gave a sum of 290000$UD. In Cameroon, nine NWFP commercialised in 28 markets gave a sum of 840 million FCFA. The sales of Prunus africana in Cameroon gave a sum of 600,000 FCFA in 1998 and 700,000 FCFA in 1999 (Ngankoue,2011);

At the regional level, the exploitation of cola nuts in 1995 from Cameroon to Nigeria and towards Chad was about 1100t for a value of 187 million FCFA. The exploitation of Irvingia spp., Cola acuminata, Gnetum spp., Dacryodes edulis was about 309. 9 million FCFA in 1995 and 503. 3 million FCFA in 1996. That of Irviginia gabonesis sold in Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria and in Congo was 260.000$UD in 1997 (Ndoye et al. 1997/98);

At the international level, the exportation of Gnetum spp. towards France and Belgium gave a sum of 2. 9 million $UD. Prunus africana gave a sum of 700.000$UD at the level of the rural community and 200 million$UD at the level of pharmacetical compagnies.

Problem Statement

In general, production forest are managed for timber purposes. Little attention is paid for edible NTFPs which is not good. Those local people leaving around the forest periphery are related to the use of NTFPs. Before signing the definitive convention between the government and the Timber company, the government forced the Timber company to sign a kind of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the timber company and local communities who are leaving the periphery of the forest.

That specific MoU known as « Cahiers de charges » states the rights and duties of each party. For the cace of NWFPs, the MoU states that local communities are allowed to harvest NWFPs according to rules of the documents of management plans. Those rules are supposed to fix the harvesting of NTFPs in space and in time. The problem is that those rules are defined on empirical data and not on scientific basis.

Research Questions

1. . What are the edible plant species found in the Tala Tala FMU North Congo?
2. . What are the modes of use of edible plants by the Baka and the Bakwele populations?
3. . Do the different groups in the Tala Tala FMU use the same plant species with the same importance?

Importance Of The Study

1. The study permits the identification of different edible species of plant origin necessary for the needs of the Baka and Bakwele populations.
2. For the administration which is in charge of the forest, this study can contribute to the intergration of NWFPs data in national statistics, to propose national modes of sustainable management of edible NWFPs.

Research Objectives

The overall objective of this study is therefore to make a state of the act of the edible NTFPs harvested in the Tala Tala FMU by the Baka and Bakwele populations in order to develop its potential in NWFPs.

More specifically, it consist of:

1. Characterizing The Flora Of Edible NWFP,
2. Characterizing The Usage Of Edible NWFP,
3. Asses The Relative Importance Of All Edible NWFP