Aims: This paper aims to describe the popular use of medicinal plants by the Baka Pygmies settled in the periphery of the Ipassa Reserve, analyses their relative importance and characterizes the medicinal flora. Study Design: Gathering data on the popular use of medicinal plants in a given area. Place and Duration of Study: Data obtained from direct interviews conducted in August 2011 in Mekob, a village settled at 10 km to the Makokou city in the North Gabon. Methodology: The household was considered as the sample unit. For each health

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RESUMEDes enquêtes ethnobotaniques sur la vente des plantes alimentaires spontanées ont été réalisées de mars à avril 2012 auprès de 102 vendeurs installés dans 13 marchés de la ville de Yaoundé.

Background: In practice, timber companies use production forests or forest management units (FMU) for timber/wood purposes. Little attention is paid for Non-wood forest products (NWFP), which is not good. This study analyses the diversity in the usage of edible wild plants among the people based in the periphery of the Tala Tala FMU in the North Congo.Methods: An ethnobotanical survey was conducted from 8 to 23 May 2012 on edible NWFP used by Baka and Bakwele populations living in the periphery of the Tala Tala FMU. The method used is the one called «Method for the popular usage», which consists of gathering data on the popular use of forest products in a given area. By comparing the Tala Tala whole population to a forest zone, it is possible to make reconciliations between the systematic botany and the ethnobotany. This reconciliation distinguishes five levels of data collection in the ethnobotany of the Tala Tala including the whole population, the ethnic group, the informant (household), the plant species, and the quotation. We assessed the relative importance, diversity, and similarities in the usages of edible NWFP.Results: A total of 52 households provided information on the popular use of wild edible plants. A total of 57 plant species and 69 recipes were collected for which a total of 594 quotations (citations) were made. These plant species are distributed in 46 genus and 33 families. The Baka and Bakwélé communities use the same plant species and recipes in the same way and with the same importance. The overall usage diversity is higher for both plants and recipes (H>4, E>0.8) among Baka pygmies than Bakwélé people.Conclusions: Some plants used in the Tala Tala FMU are well known in other Congo basin countries for similar usages. Other were identified as ''priority'' or ''key'' edible NWFP. The glaring development challenge of what precedes is the urgent need to assess the abundance (availability) and conduct a structural analysis of the plant species used with the view to propose fair management schemes.

Using the Market Analysis and Development approach to generate the results presented in this paper, it was found that rural communities prefer certain NWFP for increasing their incomes in central Africa. Four enterprise development factors including market/economic, social, environmental and technological considerations were useful criteria for the NWFP selection process. 14 local non-governmental organisations were trained on enterprise development modules that further trained 233 groups with a total membership of 3515 people in 87 villages. Significant variation was observed between countries in terms of total membership and the number of women engaged per group. It was suggested that the promotion of NWFPs through small-scale enterprise development could form an important entry point for poverty alleviation and food security in Central African villages.