The exploitation of natural resources in general and biodiversity in particular by human beings, is remarked to be associated with unsustainable practices that place the survival of these resources at stake. An assessment of the exploitation of prunus africana around the mount Cameroon region can be linked with the trend of unsustainable exploitation prevailing in other parts of the world. Prunus africana, is a tree cherished by the local population for its varied values, with its medicinal values propelling it to international popularity. This has been characterized by the massive demand for its bark by western pharmaceutical companies. The huge demand of the tree in the international market is remarked to be a major factor that contributed to the tree’s mass unsustainable exploitation by the local population in the studied region. This paper has looked at the factors responsible for the mass unsustainable exploitation of prunus and the measures that local based organizations, MOCAP-CIG and MCP had adopted to promote participatory management of the tree. Three major factors; poverty, the issuing of 50 exploitation permits and international demand were identified to have contributed to the involvement of the local population in unsustainable exploitation of the tree. The concept of sustainable development was used as the theoretical framework to examine if the three dimensions can be attained without one affecting the other. The results showed that it is quite difficult to achieve this especially in the case of  the exploitation and conservation of prunus africana.