Documentary Explores Sustainability of Pygeum Africanum

Pygeum africanum Hooker, a plant popularly used in men’s health for symptoms related to benign prostatic hyperplasia, is the subject of a new documentary about sustainable management of the plant in Cameroon. The documentary, “Custodians of the Forest,” is part of a project to monitor the status of this plant species in Cameroon and to collect data on the biology, availability, management, use, and trade of Pygeum products.

The documentary was released by CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which runs the Pygeum sustainability project, as well as ITTO, the International Tropical Timber Organisation, which helps to fund CITES’s efforts. Ingredient corporations such as Indena (Milan) are also sponsors.

“Thanks to this project, we make sure that the Prunus [Prunus Africana, another name for Pygeum africanum Hooker] bark that is harvested, even if in limited quantity, in Cameroon is obtained without any detrimental activity, neither on the trees nor on the local population, that is earning sustainable money from this activity,” says Renato Iguera, PhD, medicinal plant purchasing manager, Indena.