Collection of Vascular Plants Herbarium from Ewe-Adakplame Relic Forest, Benin

  • Status of project

    Completed

  • Region

    Africa

  • Country

    Benin

  • Programme

    BGCI

  • Workstream

    Saving Plants
Funded by GGI-Gardens Awards Program, in partnership with United States Botanic Garden
Project Completed: 2024
Institution: Integrated Resource Management Association (AGIR)

Collection of Vascular Plants Herbarium from Ewe-Adakplame Relic Forest in the Southern-east of Benin (West Africa)

Project Goals
The Ewe-Adakplame Relic Forest (EARF) is an emblematic forest patch covering 560.14 hectares of community land in Benin. It hosts approximately 200 plant species, representing 17% of Benin’s national flora, and serves as one of the last natural habitats for numerous range-restricted species, including Nesogordonia papaverifera, Mansonia altissima, Englerophytum oblanceolatum, Octolobus spectabilis, Vitex micrantha and most of Drypeteae tribe species (Drypetes aframensis, Drypetes afzelii, Drypetes gilgiana and Drypetes leonensis) recorded in Beni). Many of these species face threats from human encroachment, overgrazing, charcoal production, and illegal logging.

Since 2014, the Integrated Resource Management Association has led conservation efforts to restore degraded land within EARF by propagating and planting native trees.

Climbing collector

Key achievements
This herbaria campaign highlighted many botanical surprises including endemics belonging to the families of Fabaceae, Cannabaceae, Malvaceae, Annonaceae, Moraceae, Sapotaceae, Ebenaceae and Putranjivaceae. One of the surprising phenomena during the work was the dramatic change in the forest throughout the seasons. The collecting team almost abandoned the project because progress in the forest was difficult, but this obstacle was overcome while pursuing this work.

Pressing after harvest

The 2023 GGI-Gardens Partnership Award enabled the collection of 489 herbarium voucher specimens from 140 genera (15 new to GGBN) in 52 different families. These specimens will be deposited at the National Herbarium of Benin at the University of Abomey-Calavi and at the mycological herbarium at the University of Parakou. The remaining samples will be used to create a local herbarium in the District of Ketou where the EARF is located.

Preparing specimens