African cherry Prunus africana

Prunus africana, commonly known as the African cherry, is a tree from the mountain areas of tropical Africa and Madagascar. It is harvested for its bark, which has medicinal properties, and timber. Click here to view the identification manual sheet of Prunus africana.

Prunus africana has been listed in CITES Appendix II since 16 February 1995.

At its 16th meeting (PC16, Lima, July 2006), the Plants Committee categorized the populations of Prunus africana from Burundi, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar and the United Republic of Tanzania as ‘of urgent concern’. This means that the available information indicated that the provisions of Article IV, paragraph 2 (a), 3 or 6 (a) were not being implemented. In consultation with the Secretariat, the Plants Committee formulated recommendations with deadlines for their implementation. These recommendations were transmitted to the range States concerned by the Secretariat in August 2006.

At PC16 a Prunus africana Working Group was established with the task of providing guidance to the States listed above on the implementation of the recommendations resulting from the Review of Significant Trade for Prunus africana. As a component of the Working Group's terms of reference, a workshop was organized in Naivasha, Kenya, from 8 to 11 September 2008 to:

a) enhance skills of CITES Management and Scientific Authorities of the seven priority countries. Key items covered in the workshop included conducting non-detriment findings, collecting baseline data, formulating quotas and developing management techniques; and

b) assist in the development of communication channels and collaborative mechanisms between the CITES implementation authorities of the priority range States, the importing countries, the CITES Plants Committee and the CITES Secretariat.

The summary report of the workshop is available below:

Summary report
Summary report (no photos for quicker download)

Attachments:

1 - Agenda
2 - Participants list
3 - Burundi
4 - Cameroon
5 - Democratic Republic of Congo
6 - Equatorial Guinea
7 - Kenya
8 - Madagascar
9 - United Republic of Tanzania
10 - CITES Secretariat presentation
11 - Cunningham presentation
12 - FAO CIFOR project presentation
13 - Questionnaire for NDF
14 - NDF supporting document
15 - NDF spider plots
16 - Summary table of responses to NDF questions
17 - Project proposal writing teams
18 - Draft project proposals