Palm Trees in Africa Are in Decline: These Botanists Made a Plan to Do Something About It

Palm trees grace the landscape across Africa, thriving in environments as diverse as deserts and rainforests. Central Africa holds the richest variety, home to 52 species, while west Africa has 38 and east Africa 18. They form part of a global family of 2,600 palm species.

Africa is home to relatively few palm species when compared with other tropical regions of the world. However, palms play a central role in the social and economic life of the continent’s people. They’re consumed as food and beverages for people and animals, used in healthcare and medicine and fashioned into construction material. They have spiritual and cultural importance too.

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Several botanical studies have placed the palm family, along with the grass and legume families, among the most economically and culturally important plant groups in many rural parts of the continent.

We are a group of botanists from Benin, Côte d’Ivoire and Switzerland who collectively have decades of knowledge about Africa’s native palm diversity. Our research aims to come up with suitable strategies for conserving the palms, and ways for communities to use them sustainably.

At a recent African flora conference in Ghana, we launched a new pan-African network for palm specialists from the continent to study and protect palms. Researchers from Guinea, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Gabon, Congo, Ethiopia and Tanzania signed up for projects related to palm biology, uses and conservation.

We officially called this new network the African Network of Palm Scientists.

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The network places palms at the centre of conservation projects. This is important because African palms are disappearing due to deforestation, overexplotation, and human-induced habitat loss. Some, such as Hyphaene guineensis or Sclerosperma profizianum, are rare. Their extinction would harm not only ecosystems but also the people who rely on them.

The African Network of Palm Scientists therefore also aims to pool expertise, document traditional knowledge about palms, and train the next generation of palm experts.

The slow life cycle of a threatened tree

Although only a few palm species in Africa currently face extinction, most palm species across the continent are now in decline. Ghana hosts the Sclerosperma profizianum, and Sierra Leone and Liberia host several species of Eremospatha that are among the most threatened.

The oil palm (Elaeis guineensis), date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) and coconut (Cocos nucifera) are farmed, but other species that are harvested are mostly wild.

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Even under undisturbed conditions, the natural regeneration of palms is slow. Seeds can take months or even years to germinate, and the young plants also grow very slowly. They need very specific conditions to grow, such as high temperature and elevated humidity. Some – rattan palms, for example – need decades before they reach the necessary size to be harvested.

This is one of the main goals of our research: to find out exactly how much time it takes for palms to germinate and be ready for sustainable harvesting.

Missing pieces in the palms’ puzzle

Elaeis guineensis (African oil palm), Cocos nucifera (coconut palm) and Phoenix dactylifera (date palm) have been widely studied because they are used a lot in food and cosmetics.

However, other African palm species such as Borassus aethiopum (African fan palm), Raphia hookeri (raffia palm), Hyphaene compressa (doum palm), or the group of rattan palms (Laccosperma, Eremospatha, Calamus), remain poorly documented. This is despite their uses for starch, fibre, wine extraction and building materials, and in local cultures. The fruits of Borassus aethiopum, for example, are edible and this palm is tapped for wine, but unsustainable tapping techniques could endanger it.

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Overall, scientists still do not fully understand how diverse African palms are, how they are spread across different landscapes, or how well they can cope with environmental changes. This means we have not yet been able to figure out how best to manage them in a sustainable way.

As climate change progresses, it is likely that some palms won’t be able to adapt. Extremely high temperatures will reduce water availability and increase the levels of salt content in the soil beyond what the palms can tolerate.

What needs to happen next

First, the African Network of Palm Scientists will evaluate the threats that some palms face. We’ll then propose measures adapted to local realities to promote palm conservation.

Second, classifying all African palm species and listing where they are found is crucial. We estimate that at least 15% of native African palms are incompletely documented (no flowers or fruits that are potentially useful for humans or animals have ever been seen and collected from those palms).

Botanists in Africa also need to conduct more research into how African palms reproduce, what’s needed for their seeds to germinate, and their genetic diversity, so that they know the best ways to conserve the trees.

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Third, more research is needed to see how the palms could contribute to food security, climate adaptation and biodiversity conservation. Palms are not only important for humans, but also for many herbivores (mammals, birds) that strongly rely on palm leaves and fruits for their daily feeding.

Fourth, a domestication plan is needed. Domestication means planting and promoting the growth of palms in a controlled way that provides economic benefits. This can be done in farm plots. However, we also propose it should happen in semi-controlled conditions in the forest. This could reduce the harvesting pressure on wild palms, boost the livelihoods of rural people and bring palms into agroforestry (growing trees with crops).

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Although the new African Network of Palm Scientists only concentrates on African palm diversity, the conservation strategies we develop will be useful for conserving other plants. Biodiversity loss disrupts the delicate balance of ecosystems worldwide. Protecting Africa’s palms could be vital for the survival of both people and wildlife.

Fred Stauffer receives funding from the Conservatory and Botanic Garden of Geneva for his research activities and field missions. He is affiliated to this institution, as well as the University of Geneva, where he is lecturer in botany

Doudjo Noufou Ouattara receives funding from Fondation Audemars Piguet pour les arbres. He is affiliated with Université Nangui ABROGOUA and Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques en Côted’Ivoire.

Kifouli Adéoti receives funding from Fondation Audemars Piguet pour les arbres. He is affiliated with Université d’Abomey-Calavi in Benin’ Republic.

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