 This is the story of Prunus Africana, a tree that grows only in the mountain areas of Africa. Also known as Pyjium, or African Stinkwood, the bark from this tree has become over the past 40 years a lucrative product on global markets. Prunus bark is used to treat prostate problems in men. As a result, over-harvesting of bark from wild prunus trees led to concerns about the future of the tree and nowhere more so than in the Central African country of Cameroon. Overwhelming evidence that the bark harvest was highly unsustainable led the European Union in 2007 to ban the importation of bark harvested from prunus trees in Cameroon. Then in 2011, pressure from the private sector and from the Cameroon government led to the ban being lifted. It was replaced by quotas for bark harvesting in major producing regions and a management plan that was supposed to ensure sustainable exploitation of the tree. But now scientists from the Centre for International Forestry Research, or C4, as well as their counterparts in a host of other organisations are expressing strong concerns about this plan and the long-term sustainability of the wild prunus harvest. This is the village of Mapanja, high on the slopes of Mount Cameroon. At over four kilometres above sea level, this mountain in southwest Cameroon is one of the highest peaks in Africa. It's with pride that these harvesters of the precious bark from wild prunus trees invite us into the forests around to show us how they work. Although they are primarily farmers, they have received training on bark harvesting. Pius Ngombe Livonjo is a harvester supervisor and a member of the Mount Cameroon prunus union or MOCAP. Before anyone is allowed to start collecting bark from a tree, he has to decide whether it is mature enough and certify that it has reached the dimensions laid out by national and international policy makers for bark harvesting. This means the trunk should have a diameter of at least 30 centimetres and the tree should show no sign of trauma or ill health. Harvesters are permitted to remove only two quarters that constitute not more than half of the bark up to the first branches. Trees with trunks measuring more than 50 centimetres are divided into eight squares, four of which are removed. A strategy intended to prevent the tree from dying and to allow it to recover from the loss of its bark. Each tree that is designated ready for harvest is given a tag number and a GPS location so it can be traced. As a research assistant with the Limbe Botanic Gardens, in 1999 we carried out a research on prunus and one of the major findings we had during this time was the poor harvesting method. The barks were stripped from the base right to the branches and we found a lot of dead prunus trees in the field. The death of these trees is as a consequence of total debacking. So all the stakeholders around the Mount Kamaung region are looking away forward for the management of sustainable prunus africana tree. A tree like this prunus africana was felled down years ago by unsustainable harvesters due to unsustainable management of the resource. Felling the tree or killing it by stripping it of all its bark were not uncommon practices in much of the range of the species before the 2007 import ban by the European Union on bark from Kamaung's prunus trees. And these were practices that, had they continued, would surely and rapidly have led to the disappearance of the species. In recognition of this threat to prunus, in 1998 the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, or IUCN, put prunus on its red list as a vulnerable species. In 2006, CITES, or the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, listed its bark as a protected product and designated tree populations in much of Africa as needing urgent attention. This listing helped reduce the immediate threat to the tree and it also increased public awareness of the problems posed by the international trade in prunus bark. As a condition for the lifting of the ban from the European Union on importing prunus bark from Cameroon, a host of additional measures were taken by the Cameroonian government who were intended to protect the tree. An inventory of the tree was undertaken and it was on this basis that the authorities decided on a quota for how much prunus bark Cameroon could export without a risk to the survival of the species. But after the bark exports resumed, scientists realized that the inventory was flawed and that the quota was based on an overestimation of the population of wild prunus trees in Cameroon. The quota that we used, we had been using as a walking reference is not really realistic. The ongoing harvest of prunus bark for export from Cameroon is almost exclusively from wild trees and therein, according to the scientific community, lies the problem. Scientific studies have shown that no matter what precautions are taken no matter what techniques are used to harvest the bark some trees never recover and eventually die. During the studies I did on prunus africanum some years ago I realized that 60% of wild prunus was over exploited. We know that to rely on the naturalist talk with the information the data we have now which shows clearly that the naturalist talk is not really heavy enough to really support an economically viable venture. That is why we are thinking that the best bet is to see how they can support or promote on-farm domestication. As a conservator I believe that domestication of trees is a bonus for conservation. Cuttings grow faster than seedlings and in 12-year time the active ingredient is present in planted material. So if you combine this improved material with other food crops definitely you have agroforestry and you live on other products while waiting for your prunus tree to start producing. The decline of the population of wild prunus is a threat to the magnificent landscape and the whole ecosystem of these mountain areas which are its natural habitat. This tree is important not just for the medicines it produces for human needs. Its fruits are also a crucial food source for several bird species and rare primates including monkeys such as proises guenon. In the lofty heights of Cameroon's stunning mountainous regions that are home to prunus africana local populations have been gradually mastering and applying the techniques developed by scientists to domesticate and cultivate the tree on farmland. For years now tree nurseries have been popping up all over supported by dynamic farming unions and small groups of farmers. Here on the ground the building of local capacity and the transfer of technology are not mere slogans or notions but tangible realities. Here in the centre we train farmers on vegetative propagation technologies that mean grafting, macotina, routine of curtains. Mjepito seems a little lost and perplexed. For 20 years and with encouragement from several government organisations and NGOs his farmer now in his 60s has cultivated prunus africana. The trees are now mature and ready for their bark to be harvested but Mr Mjepito is unable to sell the bark from his trees. He's blocked by the listing of the species by CITES the organisation that controls global trade in environmentally endangered fauna and flora. Community, during the past 30 years have been encouraged by both the government by both local CITES authority in Cameroon by the ministry in Church of Forestry by local NGO in Church of Conservation to plant prunus as a means to protect prunus in a while. Now 30 years after they have trees that have arrived maturity. It's just normal that this community that has spent time giving out land to plant these particular species be rewarded. You can cultivate your prunus but the problem is that we don't need to forget that what population, what material are conserved in the forest. That's why CITES is quite, they are hesitating for what to do with cultivated prunus africana. We are not able to make it beneficiary for the local communities to really sustainably harvest. We are risking that they might go back to other ways and means of harvesting the prunus africana. We will fight. We are of the opinion that prunus from farm should have an equal value and be commercialised at international level. If prunus bark in Cameroon was sourced only from cultivated trees and by farmers who plant and nurture them the producers would benefit from the added income and the higher price paid for bark in traceable supply chains from the farm to the global market. Winful profits that currently end up in the hands of a tiny elite few that benefit from the bark harvest from wild prunus trees would instead be shared among thousands of prunus producers and the invaluable trees would continue to flourish in wild stands and provide breeding stock for prunus trees that farmers cultivate on their land. A win-win-win situation for human health, the prunus tree and the mountain landscapes of Cameroon.