Joseph Simcox

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Les arbres utiles du Gabon

(PRESSES AGRONOMIQUES DE GEMBLOUX)

by Quentin Meunier and Carl Moumbogou

One of the first activities I do when I arrive in a new capital city is to visit the best bookstores.  This ritual is still one of my fast tracks to finding books that I may never have the lead to find.

 “La Maison de la Presse” in downtown Libreville, Gabon, was quite impressive, and it was there that I discovered “Les arbres utiles du Gabon” by Quentin Meunier and Carl Moumbogou.

This little book is an impressively condensed, it contains almost 1000 photos covering 225 species of the equatorial rainforests of Gabon.  An incredibly useful book, it helped us identify dozens of edible fruit-bearing trees.  The book in Gabon was costly for its small physical size, ( I think I paid 100 euros for it;) however, the information-packed inside was worth every bit of the cost.  The book is in French and describes the vital aspects of each tree species represented.

A wonderful book to have in hand if you are heading to that part of the world.