Conservation of rangelands in Sudano-Guinean agroecological zone of Cameroon and its macrofungi diversity

24 May 2024 Ngaoundaba, Ngaoundéré, Adamawa, Cameroon, Africa Biodiversity | Communities | Fungi | Plants

Mouanfon Njiaghait Zouberou

Rangelands are ecosystems in which the indigenous vegetation is predominantly grasses, grass -like plants, forbs or shrubs that are grazed and are used as a natural ecosystem for the production of grazing livestock and wildlife. In Cameroon, Rangelands are one of the most predominant land use systems and cover around 20 % of the country’s surface that makes breeding favorable. In this country the practice of breeding is more accentuated in the Adamaoua Region which has a climate and altitude favorable to growth animals and plants.

Photograph of macrofungi (Termitomyces Sp.) in grazing area of Baledjam, Adamawa-Region. ©Mouanfon Njiaghait Zouberou.

Photograph of macrofungi (Termitomyces Sp.) in grazing area of Baledjam, Adamawa-Region. ©Mouanfon Njiaghait Zouberou.

Rangelands provide a wide variety of goods and services desired by society such as forage for livestock, wildlife habitat, water and minerals, woody products and crop lands. The Sudano-Guinean agroecological zone of the Adamaoua Region Cameroun is influenced by several factors, including aridity, high variation of temperature, seasonality, incidence of fire, and co-dependency on grazing species. All accentuate the degradation of the local ecosystems. Sustainable management of rangelands here needs the clear understanding of these factors, the identification of all its components and to determine the relation between the inhabitants and the natural local organisms. Thus, as mention hope, this proposal will focus on plant-fungi diversity conservation in rangelands of sudano-guinean agroecological zone (Adamaoua Region) in Cameroun. More specifically the achievement will be the assessment of the diversity for native plants (especially woody plants) and fungi in grazing lands of the areas and the documentation of the ethnomycological knowledge of the local communities.

Header: photograph of macrofungi in grazing area of Matari Adamawa-Region (January 2023). ©Mouanfon Njiaghait Zouberou.

Project Updates