Mont Febé

A(i)Site contains one or more globally threatened species

Several globally threatened species have been recorded at the site. If any of these remain then the site would potentially qualify under criterion A(i). In particular, it would certainly qualify as one of the best 5 national sites for Talbotiella breteleri (CR), as this taxon is known from less than five sites, all in the Yaoundé area.

Mount Febé is a 1000 m high inselberg located on the northwest fringes of Yaoundé and approximately 3km due west of the Presidential Palace. It is the site of a large upmarket hotel with grounds and golf course and there is little natural vegetation on the south and west slopes except towards the summit. However, there appears to be remaining forest on the steep north slopes which is partially continuous with the forested Nkolondom hill and associated topology to the north. The site here suggested also includes a strip of forest extending southwards on the eastern side.

Many specimens were collected in the Yaoundé area by Zenker and Staudt as far back as the 1890s but unfortunately few of these can be located to precise areas (Cheek et al., 2011). Subsequent collecting has recorded several rare or important species from the inselbergs to the west and north of the city, including rediscovery of many of the earlier collections. At Mount Febé Pterorhachis zenkeri (VU), originally collected from "Yaundé station" in the 1890s, was recollected in the 1960s along with other threatened species, Justicia camerunensis (VU), Tricalysia atherura (VU), Diaphananthe sanfordiana (EN), Drypetes molunduana (VU) and Talbotiella breteleri (CR). The latter species is thought to be endemic to Yaoundé, having been recorded from two or three of the city's inselberg sites including Mount Febé. Agelanthus dichorus (VU) is recorded from Yaoundé along the road to Mt Febe at c.700 m (Breteler, F.J.).

The hills around Yaoundé rise from the South Cameroon Plain between the Sanaga fault and the north-thrusting Congo craton. They are formed from high grade metamorphic rocks, mainly granulites and migmatites also referred to as embrichite gneiss (Achoundog 1985), formed from sedimentary and igneous protoliths and apparently dating from around 600 mya (Nzenti, 1988; Tchouatcha et al., 2018; Ngnotue et al., 2012).
Preciptiation i in Yaoundé is 1,605 mm per annum, falling in a bimodal pattern with a small (March-June) and greater (September-November) wet season interspersed with a drier period (July-August) and a second more severe dry period between December and February when mean monthly rainfall drops below the relatively stable mean monthly temperature curve (range: 22.8–25.47 °C) on a Walter-Leith type chart (Simo et al., 2009; Bissay et al., 2010; Noumi, 2015). This is below the level of rainfall normally thought necessary to sustain evergreen tropical forest (Cheek et al., 2011), although the level maybe higher on the summits with orographic precipitation likely (Noumi, 2015; Simo et al., 2009). The original forest was probably semi-deciduous (Achoundong et al., 1985) but has been heavily degraded through timber and wood extraction and cultivation.

Much of the hill has been developed into a luxury hotel and golf course and access to the summit area is apparently out of bounds for ordinary people (Explor xplore, 2020). Urban development has covered the lower flanks. Other inselberg sites in Yaoundé have been partly destroyed by quarrying. Smallscale logging and fuelwood gathering have heavily impacted other partially forested sites in the area.
Sustainable management of remaining important species could be implemented in the grounds of the hotel and golf course, enhancing the interest and aesthetic appeal of the site. Walking routes with educational signs could be developed around the hill to help promote local interest in preserving the city's biodiversity.

The site is important for leisure, recreation and (potentially) education. It may still harbour rare plant species and as one of a chain of partially forested hills in the area has an important role to play in providing habitat for other biodiversity.
Forest cover on hill sites such as these help limit the damage of soil erosion and danger of landslides to the growing urban population below.

Bruce Murphy, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Xander van der Burgt, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Martin Cheek, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew