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.

Background Forest inhabitants worldwide, and indigenous people especially, have depended for generations on plants and animals harvested in these ecosystems. A number of Baka hunter-gatherer populations in south-eastern Cameroon became sedentarised in the 1950s, but still rely on hunting and gathering to meet their basic needs. The use of wild edible plants (WEP) by these communities remains largely undocumented. In this study, we record the diversity of WEP used by Baka people in dense rainforests in the Mintom region. The area still contains relatively undisturbed forest expanses, just south of the Dja Biosphere Reserve, one of the most important protected areas in the Congo Basin. Methods We conducted two ethnobotanical surveys in 2019 in four villages on the Mintom road. In the first survey, we interviewed a total of 73 individuals to determine WEP usage. In our second survey, we specifically quantified WEP harvested and consumed daily in a number of households over a 2-week period during the major rainy season, when use of forest products is highest. Specimens of all recorded plants were collected and identified at the National Herbarium of Cameroon. Results We documented 88 plant species and 119 unique species/plant organ/recipes in 1519 different citations. A total of 61 genera and 43 families were noted. Excluding 14 unidentified wild yam species, 17 WEP species had not been reported in previous ethnobotanical surveys of the Baka. Our results showed that cultivated starchy plant foods make up a significant proportion of our study population’s daily nutritional intake. Conclusions A high diversity of WEP is consumed by the studied Baka communities. The study area is likely to be significant in terms of WEP diversity since 18 out of the 30 “key” non-timber forest products, NTFP, in Cameroon were mentioned. Documentation of the use of WEP by indigenous communities is vital to ensure the continuity of traditional knowledge and future food security.

Background Forest inhabitants worldwide, and Indigenous Peoples especially, have depended for generations on plants and animals harvested in these ecosystems. A number of Baka Pygmy populations in south-eastern Cameroon became sedentarised in the 1950s, but still rely on hunting and gathering to meet their basic needs. The use of wild edible plants (WEP) by these communities remains largely undocumented. In this study we document the diversity of WEP used by Baka people in dense rainforests in the Mintom region. The area still contains relatively undisturbed forests areas, just south of the Dja Biosphere Reserve, one of the most important protected areas in the Congo Basin.Methods We conducted two ethnobotanical surveys in 2019 in four villages on the Mintom road. In the first survey, we interviewed a total of 73 individuals to determine WEP usage. In our second survey we specifically quantified WEP harvested and consumed daily in a number of households over a two-week period during the major raining season, when use of forest products is highest. Specimens of all recorded plants were collected and identified at the National Herbarium of Cameroon.Results We documented 88 plant species and 119 unique species/plant organ/recipes in 1,519 different citations. A total of 61 genera and 43 families were recorded. Excluding 14 unidentified wild yam species, 17 WEP species had not been reported in previous ethnobotanical surveys of the Baka. Our results showed that cultivated starchy plant foods make up a significant proportion of their daily nutritional intake.Conclusions A high diversity of WEP are consumed by the studied Baka communities. The study area is likely to be significant in terms of WEP diversity since 18 out of the 30 ‘key’ NTFP in Cameroon were quoted. Documentation of the use of WEP by Indigenous communities is vital to ensure the continuity of traditional knowledge and future food security.

Background: Forest inhabitants worldwide, and Indigenous Peoples especially, have depended for generations on plants and animals harvested in these ecosystems. A number of Baka hunter-gatherer populations in south-eastern Cameroon became sedentarised in the 1950s, but still rely on hunting and gathering to meet their basic needs. The use of wild edible plants (WEP) by these communities remains largely undocumented. In this study we record the diversity of WEP used by Baka people in dense rainforests in the Mintom region. The area still contains relatively undisturbed forest expanses, just south of the Dja Biosphere Reserve, one of the most important protected areas in the Congo Basin.Methods: We conducted two ethnobotanical surveys in 2019 in four villages on the Mintom road. In the first survey, we interviewed a total of 73 individuals to determine WEP usage. In our second survey, we specifically quantified WEP harvested and consumed daily in a number of households over a two-week period during the major rainy season, when use of forest products is highest. Specimens of all recorded plants were collected and identified at the National Herbarium of Cameroon.Results: We documented 88 plant species and 119 unique species/plant organ/recipes in 1,519 different citations. A total of 61 genera and 43 families were noted. Excluding 14 unidentified wild yam species, 17 WEP species had not been reported in previous ethnobotanical surveys of the Baka. Our results showed that cultivated starchy plant foods make up a significant proportion of our study population’s daily nutritional intake.Conclusions: A high diversity of WEP are consumed by the studied Baka communities. The study area is likely to be significant in terms of WEP diversity since 18 out of the 30 ‘key’ Non-Timber Forest Products, NTFP, in Cameroon were mentioned. Documentation of the use of WEP by Indigenous communities is vital to ensure the continuity of traditional knowledge and future food security.

The main goal of this study is to assess the endogenous knowledge on the diversity of V. subterranea (L.) and its different habits using an ethnobotanical  survey in five (05) districts of Douala in the Littoral region of Cameroon. To achieve this objective, the survey was realised on among 170 households from  18 neighbourhoods and 118 traders working in 12 markets from Douala I, II, III, IV and V. Subsequently, the survey revealed that surveyed originated  from nine (09) ethnic groups belonging to the Littoral, West, Centre and North Cameroon Regions, forming a representative sample for the country. The  study reveals a variety of local nomenclature from one ethnic group to another, such as “Matobo”, “Matobi” and “Matopi” having dominantly the same  radical “Matob” in the coastal area and suggesting the same source of languages. The seed colour (77.08%) appear as the main popular criterion for the  recognition of morphotypes (multicolored ~77.66%, white ~14.77%, red ~3.38%, brown ~3.38% and black ~1.27%). The consumption of seeds (fresh or  cooked) is ubiquitous but can induce few undesirable effects such as diarrhoea, constipation and allergies. The survey equally reveals therapeutic effects  (29.6%) of organs on digestive disorders, cataracts, and infected wounds. These results permit to identify the rich secular knowledge, culinary habits and  medicinal virtues linked to morphotypes usable for prebreeding programs of V. subterranea.