Enriching the Tree Heritage Park with rare and threatened native trees

Funded via the Global Botanic Garden Fund

Project Completed: 2022

Project Partner: International Institute of Tropical Agriculture Forest Center (IITA Forest Center) (Nigeria)

Project goal

This project aimed to promote ex situ conservation of rare and threatened native trees by collecting vegetative materials from different forest patches in southern Nigeria, and propagating them in the Tree Heritage Park, a protected ArbNet-accredited Arboretum of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) located within the city of Ibadan.

Species targeted

The following rare and threatened native trees were collected and propagate

• Allanblackia floribunda
• Drypetes staudtii
• Entandrophragma candollei
• Khaya ivorensis
• Nesogordonia papaverifera
• Pterygota bequaertii
• Sterculia oblonga
• Strombosia pustulata

Key achievements

We have propagated five native tree species, four of which are already red-listed by International Union for Conservation of Nature. The propagation protocols we developed for the species are freely downloadable and will have positive impacts that will promote further conservation effort in other areas. We have built the capacity of an intern, 12 rangers, and 23 conservation partners. A scientific manuscript entitled ‘Propagation trials of Yellow Sterculia, Sterculia oblonga (Mast.), in southern Nigeria resulted from the project, and was submitted for publication consideration in Oryx on 9 September 2022.