ISSN 2167-0447
International Journal of Agricultural Sciences ISSN: 2167-0447 Vol. 3 (3), pp. 459-469, March, 2013. © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Ethnobotanical and floristical study of Alstonia boonei De Wild. (Apocynaceae) in the Makokou region, Ogoué-Ivindo province, Gabon
Jean Lagarde Betti1, Olga Diane Yongo2, Diosdado Obiang Mbomio3, Donald Midoko Iponga4, Alfred Ngoye4
1Department of Botany, Faculty of Sciences, University of Douala, Cameroon, BP 24 157 Douala.
2Faculty of Sciences, University of Bangui, ,BP 908, Avenue des Martyrs, Bangui, Central African Republic.
3INDEFOR, APDO 207, Bata, Equatorial Guinea.
4Institut des Recherches en Ecologie Tropicale (IRET), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technologique (CENAREST), BP: 13 354 – Libreville, Gabon
*Correspnding author. E-mail: [email protected]
Accepted 18 February, 2013
Abstract
An ethnobotanical survey was conducted between May and August 2011 in the Makokou region, Ogooué Ivindo province of Gabon. The survey aimed at identifying medicinal plants used by villagers in the popular pharmacopoeia. Inventories were conducted in one village (Minkouala) in the same region, with the aim to assess the abundance of medicinal plants in the surrounding forest. A total of 38 informants distributed in four ethnic groups prescribed recipes with Alstonia boonei (Apocynaceae) in the treatment of 14 ailments (diseases, symptoms or physiological effects). Malaria or fever (50.63% of citations), intestinal worms (19%) and wounds (07.6%) appear to be the most cited ailments. There are ailments such as malaria, fever, or stomach disorder of which the pharmacological activity of A. boonei is almost established in the litterature. The management inventory was conducted in the 5 000 ha of the production forest delimitated in the Minkouala village, with a sampling intensity of 0.5%. Ten trees of A. boonei were inventoried, which gived a density of 0.4 stems/ha. The stock and the biomass of the stem barks of A. boonei were estimated based on paramaters developed with similar studies conducted in other African countries. The exploitable stock of A. boonei for the Minkouala village is 1 400 trees, while the the total biomass of the fresh barks to harvest in a sustainable manner is 70 000 kg, or 14 000 kg of fresh bark per year.
Key words: Alstonia boonei, popular pharmacopoeia, Makokou region, management inventories, stock, biomass, Malaria, ACP-FORENET.