DIVERSITY, UTILISATION AND
CONSERVATION OF INDIGENOUS
EDIBLE-FRUIT PLANTS OF BUAN
COMMUNITY LOWLAND
RAINFORESTS, NIGER DELTA,
NIGERIA
Ikuponisi, F. S., Ndukwu, B. C. and
Obute, G. C.
Department of Plant Science and Biotechnology, Faculty of Science, University
of Port Harcourt, Nigeria
First Niger Delta Environment and Sustainable Development
Conference. Theme: “Natural Resources, Environment, and
Socio-Economic Considerations in the Sustainable
Development of the Niger Delta”. 14th to 16th November,
2012. Institute of Natural Resources, Environment and
Sustainable Development (INRES), University of Port
Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Nigeria
PROGRESSION OF PRESENTATION
INTRODUCTION
QUESTIONS ADDRESSED AND THEIR IMPORTANCE
HOW THE RAISED QUESTIONS ARE ADDRESSED
ANSWERS/INFORMATION GENERATED
CONCLUSIONS ARRIVED AT
RECOMMENDATIONS MADE
INTRODUCTION: Where is Buan Community?
INTRODUCTION: What are Indigenous EdibleFruit Plants (IEFPs)?
Description
Attributes
 Fruits plants native to an area or region in question
 This is as opposed to naturalised fruit plants like
Mangoes, Oranges, etc
 IEFPs are component part of the subsistence farming
systems
 Some IEFPs have been domesticated
 Some IEFPs others are sourced from the wild
 IEFPs are part of Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs)
 IEFPs contribute to rural household income and nutrition
IEFPs
and  IEFPs are component part of the biodiversity of the Niger
Biodiversity
Delta
 Part of the major issues of biodiversity of today, namely:
biodiversity characterisation, conservation and utilisation
QUESTIONS ADDRESSED: Buan Collection of IEFPs
•What is the species richness?
•Which Species are represented in the collection?
•What families do they belong to?
•Which growth forms are exhibited by spp
represented?
How
are •Part of fruit used?
•Use form?
they
•Multiplicity of Use?
Utilised?
•Home consumption/item of trade?
How
Diverse?
What
are •IUCN threat ratings?
their
•Cultivation status/domestication intensities?
Conservation
Status?
HOW WERE THE QUESTIONS ADDRESSED ?
Major Tools
Main Elements
Key informants Interview
Guided questionnaire; forest
custodians, experienced and elderly
farmers, women and youths
Community Walk Through
Chance Encounters; Farmlands, forest
trails, agro-forests, homesteads ;
toponyms
Information from Companion Studies
in the Community
companion plant diversity studies
Focus Group Discussion
key informants ; information
Verification
Photography
Colour photographs; lesser known and
notable species
Plant Identification
Experience Taxonomist, Forest
Custodians
Basic Descriptive Statistics
Counts, Frequencies, weighted
Averages; Bar and Pie Charts
ANSWERS/INFORMATION GENERATED
Diversity: Taxonomic Diversity
Distribution of Species amongst Family Indicating Family
Dominance
S/No. Total # of
Families
1
16
Families
2
3 Families
3
2 Families
4
1 Family
5
1 Family
6
1 Family
Total 24
Total
Spp
Contributed by Each
1 sp each
2 spp each
3 spp each
4 spp
5 spp
6 spp
Spp % of Total #
#
of Families
16 67
6
6
4
5
6
43
13
8
4
4
4
Distribution of Species among Families with more than One Species
Olacaceae
2
Burseraceae
2
Sapotaceae
2
Phyllanthac
eae
3
Annonaceae
3
Zingiberace
ae
4
Fabaceae
5
Malvaceae
6
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Species richness of 43 among IEFP of Buan community
No strong evidence of family dominance by any single family
7
Some Lesser Known and Notable IEFPs of Buan
Heisteria parvifolia
Carpolobia lutea
Cola sp (Ebu-Nyorkue)
Melastoma sp
Santiria trimera
Diospyros barteri
Aframomum
angustifolium
Agelaea sp
Coula edulis
(Woody Climber)
Maesobotrya klaineana
Syzygium guineense
Diversity of Growth Forms among Recorded Indigenous Edible Fruit Plants
Herbs, 7, 16%
Herbaceous Climbers, 1,
2%
Woody Climbers, 3, 7%
Trees, 21, 49%
Shrubs, 11, 26%
•The presence of seven edible fruit producing herbs is noticeable
•Majority of them belong to the well known rhizomatous
Aframomum genus
IEFP Utilisation: Form of Use
Form of Use of Recorded Indigenous Edible Fruit Plants
Main Meal
1
Sweetener/Taste Modifier
3
Stimulant
3
# of Species
Soup Thickener
3
Flavouring/Spice
7
Fleshy Fruit/Desert
29
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
•IEFPs are mostly used as Fleshy Fruit/Desert (29 cases)
•It is only Treculia africana seeds that are used as main meal
IEFP Utilisation: Use Multiplicity
Use Multiplicity of Recorded Indigenous Edible Fruit Plants
Vegetable/Leafy Spice (VLS)
2
Fodder Plant (FP)
3
Life Fence/Shade (LFS)
6
# of Spp
Traditional Handicraft/Artisanry (THA)
9
Ethnomedicine (EM)
11
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
In cases, alternative uses are more important than the fruits
derived from them, woody climber Landolfia dulcis -the leaves
are more sought after than the fruit
IEFP Utilisation: Economic Importance
Recorded Indigenous Edible Fruit Plants in Local Trade
# of Spp, Limited to
Household Consumption
(LHC), 23, 53%
# of Spp, Household
Consumption/Item of
Trade (HC/IT), 20, 47%
•IEFPs play varying roles in the household nutrition and economics
•Use of 23 fruit plants (53%) is limited to household consumption. Twenty (20)
(47%) are traded in the local market.
• Coula edulis and Santiria trimera are the most important items of trade.
IEFP Conservation Status: IUCN Threat Ratings
Threat Status of Recorded Indigenous Edible Fruit Plants
Specific Taxon Not
Identified (STNID), 5,
12%
Vulnerable (VU), 5, 12%
Near Threatened (NT), 1,
2%
Not Evaluated (NE), 32,
74%
Five species are Vulnerable (VU); one species is Near Threatened (NT) and; 32
species (75 %) are Not Evaluated (NE). Specific taxa are yet to be identified for
the other five fruit plants
IEFP Conservation Status: Domestication Intensities
Cultivation Status of Recorded Indigenous Edible Fruit Plants
Wild/Homestead/Cropla
nd (W/HS/CL), 1, 2%
Wild/Homestead
(W/HS), 12, 28%
Wild (W), 23, 54%
Homestead (HS), 7, 16%
•Twenty three fruit plants (54%) grow exclusively in the wild.
•Only one species Elaeis guineensis (Oil Palm) is grown as a crop in the
croplands
•A majority of the IEFPs of Buan are harvested in the wild
WHAT CONCLUSIONS ARRIVED AT ?
Buan Recorded IEFPs
How Diverse?
•This study show a large taxonomic diversity for IEFPs
•Species richness is 43; No strong evidence dominance by
individual family
•Growth forms exhibited by the fruit plants included trees,
shrubs, woody and herbaceous climbers, and herbs.
How are they Utilised? •The uses to which the IEFPs are put are diverse, including,
in cases, uses other than the edibility of the fruit plants.
•Recorded fruit plants play important role in the nutrition
and household economics of Buan people.
What are their
Conservation Status?
•A significant proportion of the fruit plants are yet to be
evaluated for their threat status.
• Majority of the fruit plants remain undomesticated locally
•Threat to Biodiversity from habitat destruction is
heightened by the fact that most of these fruit plants are
still harvested exclusively from the wide, on one hand and
on the other, their threat status remain unevaluated.
RECOMMENDATIONS MADE
Enhancement of Conservation and Utilisation Status of
the IEFPs through promotion of:
• Basic research in characterisation of Biodiversity;
• in situ biodiversity conservation and, conservation by
cultivation of these fruit plants;
• more utilisation of the fruit plants, including their
industrial uses,
• Genetic and horticultural improvement.
THANK YOU. NOVEMBER 16, 2012