# Cameroon National Herbarium

> public scientific collection in Cameroon

**Wikidata**: [Q28498997](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q28498997)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/cameroon-national-herbarium

## Summary
The Cameroon National Herbarium is a public scientific collection in Cameroon, formally established in 1948 and located in Yaoundé. It is a research institute and herbarium operated by the Institut de Recherche Agricole pour le Développement (IRAD), serving as a critical repository for plant biodiversity data with the international Index Herbariorum code "YA".

## Key Facts
- **Inception**: Founded in 1948.
- **Location**: Situated in Yaoundé, Cameroon.
- **Primary Function**: Public scientific collection and research institute focused on plant specimens.
- **Parent Organization**: Operated by the Institut de Recherche Agricole pour le Développement (IRAD).
- **Index Herbariorum Code**: YA (the standard global registry code for herbaria).
- **Instance Of**: Research institute, herbarium, and organization.
- **Significant Person**: Associated with René Letouzey.
- **Identifiers**:
  - ISNI: 0000000121685764
  - GND ID: 1068238577
  - VIAF ID: 138947565
  - Library of Congress Authority ID: nb2004314980
  - Bibliothèque nationale de France ID: 16232881g
  - Ringgold ID: 165280
  - Google Knowledge Graph ID: /g/11c55byr5f
  - Yale Lux ID: group/1343c9e4-6123-479e-8326-e3bdb5fc1168
- **Website**: https://irad.cm/index.php/fr/herbier-national (in French).
- **Wikipedia Presence**: Articles exist in 2 Wikipedia language editions (French and Wikispecies).
- **Class Context**: The broader class "research institute" is covered in 41 Wikipedia language editions and uses Geonames feature code S.ITTR.

## FAQs
**What is the primary purpose of the Cameroon National Herbarium?**
It serves as a public scientific collection and research institute dedicated to the collection, preservation, and study of plant specimens for biodiversity research and agricultural development in Cameroon.

**Where is it physically located and how is it administered?**
The herbarium is located in Yaoundé and is administered by the Institut de Recherche Agricole pour le Développement (IRAD), Cameroon's primary agricultural research organization.

**When was it founded and who is its notable associated figure?**
It was established in 1948. A significant historical figure associated with its development is René Letouzey.

**How is it recognized internationally within the botanical community?**
It is officially registered with the global Index Herbariorum with the code "YA", which is the standard identifier used by botanists worldwide to reference this specific collection.

**What is its relationship to the broader category of "research institutes"?**
It is a specific instance of a research institute—an organization whose primary purpose is research—which is a class of entity recognized across 41 Wikipedia language editions and mapped to schema.org/ResearchOrganization.

## Why It Matters
The Cameroon National Herbarium is a foundational institution for national and international botanical science, providing essential data on Cameroon's exceptionally rich plant biodiversity, which is critical for conservation efforts, climate change research, and sustainable agricultural development. As a dedicated research collection, it preserves irreplaceable physical specimens that document plant species, many of which may be threatened or endemic to the region. Its long history since 1948 provides a crucial baseline for tracking environmental changes over time. By housing and curating these specimens, it enables scientists to conduct taxonomic research, discover new species, understand plant distributions, and inform policy on land use and biodiversity protection. Its integration with IRAD ensures its research directly supports national agricultural priorities, while its international code ("YA") connects it to a global network of herbaria, facilitating collaborative science and data sharing that addresses both local and global challenges like food security and ecosystem preservation.

## Notable For
- **Historical Primacy**: It is the oldest and principal national herbarium in Cameroon.
- **Unique Identifier**: Holds the official Index Herbariorum code "YA", the definitive global reference for this collection.
- **Institutional Home**: It is the herbarium of the Institut de Recherche Agricole pour le Développement (IRAD), linking botanical research directly to national agricultural research.
- **Long-Term Data**: Its establishment in 1948 provides a long-term, physical record of Cameroon's flora spanning over 75 years.
- **Key Personnel**: Historically significant for its association with botanist René Letouzey.
- **Public Scientific Collection**: It exemplifies a state-owned, publicly accessible research infrastructure for botanical science.
- **Global Integration**: Its identifiers (GND, VIAF, ISNI, etc.) formally integrate it into international library and knowledge graph systems.

## Body

### History and Establishment
The Cameroon National Herbarium was formally established in 1948. Its creation marked a pivotal step in the systematic scientific documentation of Cameroon's vast and diverse plant life. A historically significant figure in its development is René Letouzey, whose work contributed to its foundational collections and research direction. The herbarium's long inception date provides it with a deep historical archive of specimens, offering an invaluable temporal record of the country's flora.

### Organizational Structure and Classification
The herbarium is an operational entity of the **Institut de Recherche Agricole pour le Développement (IRAD)**, Cameroon's national agricultural research institute. Structurally, it is classified as a **research institute**, **herbarium**, and **organization**. This places it within a distinct class of institutions whose sole primary purpose is conducting systematic investigation and generating new knowledge, differentiating it from universities (which combine teaching and research) or think tanks (which focus on policy-oriented research). It is recognized as a standalone research entity, not a sub-unit or a membership-based scientific society.

### Collections and Scientific Role
As a **public scientific collection**, its core function is the acquisition, preservation, curation, and study of plant specimens (dried, pressed plants mounted on sheets). These collections serve as the primary data source for taxonomic (species identification and naming), systematic (evolutionary relationships), ecological, and biogeographical research. The specimens are a permanent, physical record used to verify species presence, document morphological characteristics, and study changes over time. The herbarium's work is fundamental to creating an authoritative inventory of Cameroon's plant biodiversity, which is essential for conservation planning, environmental impact assessments, and sustainable resource management.

### International Recognition and Integration
The herbarium is formally integrated into the global botanical infrastructure through its assignment of the **Index Herbariorum code "YA"**. This code is the universal standard used by scientists worldwide to cite and access specimens from this collection. Furthermore, it possesses a suite of persistent identifiers that link it to major international knowledge systems:
- **Library & Archive Systems**: Library of Congress Authority ID (nb2004314980), Bibliothèque nationale de France ID (16232881g), German National Library (GND 1068238577), and IdRef (098415042).
- **Knowledge Graphs**: Wikidata (via VIAF 138947565 and Google Knowledge Graph /g/11c55byr5f).
- **Research Organization Registry**: Ringgold ID (165280) and Yale Lux ID (group/1343c9e4-6123-479e-8326-e3bdb5fc1168).
Its presence in **2 Wikipedia language editions** (French and Wikispecies) indicates its recognized importance in both general and specialist encyclopedic contexts.

### Access and Digital Presence
The herbarium maintains an official web presence through the IRAD website at `https://irad.cm/index.php/fr/herbier-national`, with content provided in French. This serves as a primary digital access point for information about its collections, services, and research activities for both national and international audiences. The use of structured identifiers ensures its data can be discovered and linked in digital scholarly environments.

### Relationship to the "Research Institute" Class
While this specific entry describes the Cameroon National Herbarium, the provided source material extensively defines the broader **class** of "research institute." This class is characterized as an organization existing solely to conduct research, differentiated from universities, think tanks, and scientific societies. The Cameroon National Herbarium is a **specific instance** of this class. The class itself has broad recognition, with Wikipedia articles in **41 languages**, and is mapped to the structured data type `schema.org/ResearchOrganization` with the Geonames feature code `S.ITTR`. This contextual information explains the organizational model under which the herbarium operates, highlighting its dedicated, non-teaching, non-commercial research mission within the landscape of knowledge-producing institutions.

## References

1. Aligned ISNI and Ringgold identifiers for institutions
2. [Source](http://sweetgum.nybg.org/science/ih/herbarium-details/?irn=125449)