Impact ofAUanblackia nut harvesting on wildlife: Is the ecosystem at risk? 



Samuel Kofi Nyame 



Allanblackia is a plant of the Clusiaceae family, which worldwide contains approximately 40 genera, 

 consisting of nine tree species, all restricted to Africa. All members of the genus are apparently 

 dioecious (separate male and female trees), and the tree species are long-lived. The tree species are also 

 long-fruiting (the timeframe from flowering to fruiting spans almost one year; with fruiting 

 commencing around November and attaining maturity in April/May. By the time the fruits begin to 

 drop, the trees are already in flower again). Allanblackia stuhlmannii produces the largest fruit of all 

 plants in the African rainforest. 



Allanblackia species are mainly distributed in the wet evergreen rainforest of the lowlands of Sierra 

 Leone, along the Gulf of Guinea, through the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), to the uplands of 

 the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania. The seeds of three Allanblackia species (A. parviflora in Upper 

 Guinea; A. stuhlmannii and A. ulugurensis in Tanzania) contain edible oil which consists almost 

 exclusively of triglycerides of stearic- and oleic fatty acids which are of interest to foodstuff 

 manufacturers. The economic viability of Allanblackia oil has been established. 



Commercial development of Allanblackia oil for export is being promoted by the "Novella Africa" 

 initiative through a partnership composed of Unilever, The World Agro forestry Centre (ICRAF), the 

 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), International Union for the Conservation of Nature 

 (lUCN), Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV), the State Secretariat for Economic Affaires in 

 Switzerland (SECO), and a number of governmental organizations and NGOs in Africa. Launched in 

 Ghana, the "Novella Africa" initiative is unique in that it is being set up with local communities and 

 small scale businesses, in cooperation with non-profit development partners and local governments. In 

 addition to taking the original initiative for the project, Unilever is providing a market for the finished 

 products. 



The "Novella Africa" project is investigating the socio-economic, species and botanical impacts of 

 Allanblackia commercialization with the intention of providing instruments that will ensure sustainable 

 harvesting as well as equitable sharing of benefits among the stakeholders. 



Ihe Allanblackia fruit is heavily predated by wild animals. This attribute is exploited by hunters who set 

 traps around fruiting trees and use the finit as bait in bushmeat traps. Indeed, the tree has often been 

 retained on farms for this reason as bushmeat is an important component of local diets and incomes. 



Harvesting fruit from wild trees for commercialization of the oil involves the collection of between 1 00- 

 150 fruits (each fruit containing between 25 - 40 seeds) from a single tree. The removal of such large 

 quantities of energy-rich fruit and seeds of Allanblackia from the ecosystem may impact on fauna. 



On the other hand incentives to retain and establish more trees within farmed landscapes is likely to 

 have positive effects on fauna and faunal diversity, even if only a small proportion of the fiiiit will be 

 available to wild animals. Restoration of landscapes through protecting Allanblackia wildlings and 

 enrichment planting may promote wildlife species dependent on the fruit. However, there is still an 

 immense gap in knowledge and information regarding the impact of collection of large quantities of 

 Allanblackia nuts from the wild. Conversely, there is also lack of information on the effect of wild 

 animals on the pollination, seed dispersal and regeneration of Allanblackia spp. 



Research is needed to investigate the consequences of removal of Allanblackia seeds on wildlife and the 

 forest ecosystem, as well as on the effect of wildlife on the pollination, seed dispersal and regeneration 

 ofthis tree species. 



' Project Coordinator lUCN -Ghana; P. O. Box 527 Accra, GHANA. Tel. +233 24 6996552 and +233 20 

 8212486. Email: Samuel.kofi.nyame@iucn.org ; samknyame02@yahoo.com 



Nature & Faune Vol. 23, Issue 1 . .:•' ■ . 57 



