Floristic diversity and exploitable potential of commercial timber species in the Cobaba community forest in Eastern Cameroon: implications for forest management

摘要

One of the forms of forest management is community forestry which is as an alternative to state-managed conservation. Knowledge of the wood potential and exploitable species is a prerequisite for the sustainable management of a community forest. This study carried out in the Cobaba community forest in Eastern Cameroon aimed to assess the floristic diversity and exploitable potential of timber species. A floristic inventory at a sampling rate of 8% was carried out and the volume of trees having reached the minimum exploitable diameter estimated. A total of 7736 commercial trees with dbh ≥20?cm were recorded, belonging to 65 species, 58 genera and 26 families. The Shannon–Weaver diversity index (H′) was 3.61. The density was 42.04 stems ha~(-1) and the basal area 16.43?m~(2) ha~(?1). A volume of timber of 31,929.21?m~(3) has been estimated for trees having reached the minimum exploitable diameter. About 30% of this volume is made up of high and medium commercial value species for which market demand exists. The most abundant species of high commercial value were Triplochyton scleroxylon , Entandrophragma cylindricum, and Milicia excelsa . For sustainable management and species conservation, we recommend that species with very low densities should be excluded from logging and for each species exploited, some well-conformed seed trees with a diameter greater than the minimum exploitable diameter should be left to ensure the renewal of the wood resource.