Amira successfully defended her Master I (Université de Montpellier II) project on Annonaceae floral evolution! In the top three of her class!
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Subject in french: Evolution De Caractères Morphologiques Floraux Chez Les Annonaceae Juss. (Magnoliales)

The 5th RAINBIO meeting in Aix, France. 23-26 may 2016. Advancing in african biodiversity studies.

I attended a field course in Oku (14-19 May), Western Cameroon, where I teached basic botany and field collection techniques to Cameroonian students. This was organized by Philippe Le Gall.

The European network of palm specialists, edition 16, held in Gran Canaria, las palmas, Canary islands, Spain. A full session was held on preliminary results of the RAPHIA project.

From the 22 till the 27 of March Roy Erkens (University of Maastricht) and myself went to collect Annonaceae in the Bayang Mbo Wildlife Reserve (Cameroon). We were mainly collecting populations of the 6 species concerned by the AFRODYN project, but took the time to observe Annonaceae and other incredible plants.

For our documentary on Raphia species of Cameroon (part of the RAPHIA project), my cousin, Foulques Couvreur (FLS Production), a professional mounter and "droner" came to Cameroon to shoot aerial videos of these spectacular palms. We filmed in the east (near Lomié) and in the north west, in Oku. This trip lasted 2 weeks, and the results were fantastic! Below some photos.

For two weeks, we travelled across Cameroon and filmed different aspects of Raphia use and importance. Raphia species are one of the most important plants in Cameroon. They are multipurpose species providing food, drink and shelter for millions of people. The documentary will show certain aspects of these important palms as well as the scientific research behind the project RAPHIA.

This trip took place at the strat of 2016 from the 9th till the 14th of January. We went to the remote Rumpi mountains in Western Cameroon, a long the Cameroonian Volcanic Chain. We spent just under week collecting is this wonderful but hard to access place in Cameroon. We collected samples for the AFRODYn project but also general collecting for conservation data.

Congratulations to Adama Faye! He brilliantly defended his PhD on the 11th of December in Montpellier.
We wish him all the best for his career! Don't hesitate to come and see us soon.
​He undertook studies on the dynamics of central African rain forests, using palms as a model. Keepposted for his articles.

With the project RAPHIA, my PhD student, Suzanne Mogue, my Gabonese collaborator Raoul Niangadouma (Herbier National du Gabon), and myself went to Gabon and collected Raphia species. We drove from Yaoundé Cameroon, and crossed Gabon from North to South. The trip was a success with several new records for Gabon. The trip was between 11/11 and 30/11 2015.