The aim of the project is to assess, conserve, present and thus raise awareness for the cultural use, knowledge and appreciation of the local biodiversity by the Banens, an indigenous tribe in the Central and Littoral Province / Cameroon. The Banens suffered loss of their culture during colonial times and today’s globalisation. By presenting and communicating the traditional use of biodiversity to the local public in local museums and knowledge centres in the language of the Banens (Tunen), the project strives to strengthen the appreciation of the non-commercial, cultural value of biodiversity - a precondition for its sustainable use and conservation.

The project comprises the following tasks:

In semi-structured interviews with knowledge holders of the community (often traditional healers), the information on traditional use of plants for rites, healing and consumption as well as the approximate area where plant species are typically collected as well as how the availability of the used plants is perceived will be assessed. Herbarium specimens of the plant species which the experts refer to will be collected, identified at the herbarium in Yaoundé and the (numerous) local names, with the information on local use recorded in a data base as well as in descriptive texts;

The plant collections, collections of processed material and final products will be photographically documented and collected as references and kept for presentations in respective museums / local exhibitions and use during awareness workshops;

In participative workshops with the knowledge holders, the collected material on the use, cultural background and biological richness will be evaluated, processed and prepared for presentation to the interested public in the local town Ndiki as well as in an Ecological Museum in Yaoundé.