Reflections on Political Ecology of Mount Cameroon’s Prunus Africana

This paper reflects upon developments in capitalism of Prunus Africana
within a theoretical framework of co-management critique. On the case of Mount
Cameroon in Sub-Saharan West Africa, I argue processes of commercialization and
socio-economic repercussions surrounding Prunus Africana: a plant that serves for
treatment of prostatic diseases – interwoven with bureaucratic initiatives of
sustainable management. By reviewing published literature, I argue the involvement of
stakeholders in capitalist arrangements from the 1990s to periods following the
establishment of Mount Cameroon National Park – significantly scrutinized by
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), European
Commission, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Major
actors include Mount Cameroon Prunus Management Company (MOCAP) endorsed by
the state; state subsidiaries Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC) and Limbe
Botanic Garden (LBG); collaborate buyers – Plantecam and Afriquia Medicament
(AFRIMED); and Prunus Africana Harvesters’ Unions in nearby villages. Analysis
demonstrate benefits in sustainable harvesting of Prunus, whilst raising ontological
concerns of resource-appropriation, elite control, unsatisfactory labour wages, and
vulnerabilities of traditional ecological knowledge to commercialization.