1Abdoul Razack Adjibi Oualiou, Jean-Claude Codjia, Guy Apollinaire Mensah: “Dietary patterns and habitat of the Grimm’s duiker, Sylvicapra grimmia in Benin”

Raising wild animals in captivity could make it possible for African peasant farmers to gain some of their protein requirements while ensuring the sustainable conservation of natural biological diversity. To perfect a model for raising the Grimm’s duiker (Sylvicapra grimmia ) and to integrate it into wildlife conservation programs, we undertook a study of the dietary patterns and the environments frequented by the duiker in the classified forest of Goungoun, a protected area contiguous to the hunting preserve of the Djona near park W in the North of the republic of Benin.
The study of the environments frequented was carried out from indices of their presence (hoofprints and dung). Their dietary patterns were determined by the analysis of the content of dung samples according to the method described by Butet (1985).
In the environments that we monitored, the Grimm’s duiker shows a distinct preference for open vegetal formations and gravelly soils. In effect, 64 % of the indices of presence were found in the shrubby savannas and the fallows and 43 % on gravelly soils.
The tree species most frequently encountered in these environments are: Burkea africana, Isoberlinia doka, Terminalia avicennioides, Vitellaria paradoxa, Cochlospermum tinctorium and Detarium microcarpum.
The Grimm’s duiker is a grazing animal the diet of which is quite diversified. In total, 27 vegetal species from 11 different families were identified in the dung. Those most consumed were Crossopteryx febrifuga and Strychnos spinosa. Shannon’s diversity index, calculated to characterize the dietary pattern, measured 4.37 for all dung samples, which indicates that the Grimm’s duiker has a diversified diet and it is suggested that this could be a factor in successfully raising this animal in captivity.

Keywords: Djona – Sylvicapra grimmia – Food – Ecology

2Aristide Adomou, Hounnankpon Yedomonhan, Brice Sinsin, Laurentius Josephus and Gerardus Van Der Maesen: “The distribution of protected areas and conservation of flora in the republic of Benin”

An analysis of the spatial distribution of the protected forests of Benin was carried out on the basis of 34 sites of vegetation. It emerged that the current distribution of protected areas does not guarantee the conservation of flora since many priority species for conservation are found outside these spaces. The preservation of priority species is indissociable with the conservation of common species and with the maintenance of a high vegetal diversity. Several supplementary sites (mostly small areas), currently unprotected, are proposed.

Keywords: Conservation of flora – Protected areas – Benin

3Pierre Onodjè Agbani, Brice Sinsin: “The problem of invasive plants in protected areas. Chromolaena odorata in the regeneration process of the dense, semi-deciduous forest of Lama in Benin”

The Lama’s protected forest is one of the largest and most conserved semi-deciduous forest relicts in the Dahomey-Gap. It covers 16 250 ha classified as forest reserve by law in 1946. The absence of management plan during the period 1946-1986 gave the way to local farmers to encroach on the forest domain. This has resulted in the fragmentation followed by the degradation of the original continuous close forest. The zoning plan following the eviction of illegal farmers permitted to recover 4 777 ha of forest representing the core unit, the so-called “noyau central”. This core unit is nowadays preserved for biodiversity conservation and scientific research purposes. The “noyau central” is a mosaïc of dense forest and succession stages of secondary vegetation, some of which are dominated by Chromolaena odorata. The phytosociological data show that Chromolaena odorata is a major handicap for species regeneration. In fallows, the natural regeneration potential is precluded by the dense, oppressive, and stifling bush of Chromolaena odorata. The seedling density under Chromolaena odorata is five times less than in close forest. Chromolaena odorata with its enormous flammable biomass is a serious threat for the damaged forest ecosystems like Lama’s forest.

Keywords: Invasive plant – Dynamic – Sustainable biodiversity

4Dzogbedo Agbényo: “Regulations, a management tool for protected areas that are poorly used. A case study of Togo”

Regulations are a management tool for protected areas. In Togo, they are based on eight main pieces of legislation. The colonial laws remain the foundation of the forest laws of Togo; the post-colonial laws tend mostly to reinforce the intervention of the State to the detriment of the partial recognition of the rights of local communities as they were addressed in the colonial laws. The institutional framework is characterized by a fragmentation of competencies that make actions in the field non-operational. On the whole, the new international norms are not integrated into the internal organization of laws. Togo must therefore adopt a new approach to make it possible to set up a legal framework that will institute categories of protected areas responding to specific objectives. In addition, it should take into account the new international norms and the integrated concept of conservation.

Keywords: Laws – Norms

5Jacob Agossevi: “The conservation of the hippopotamus in village lands. The wetlands of the Mono (Benin)”

Once upon a time, the Mono, one of the southern Departments of Benin, was rich in wildlife and vegetation. The lack of concern for biological diversity in a context of demographic explosion has led the local residents to systematically eliminate the large wildlife and forests. In spite of this heavy pressure on large wildlife and their habitats, some rare hippopotamus remain in the wetlands. Today these habitats are likely to disappear as the farmers want to cultivate them. Besides, they consider the hippos to be a nuisance because their subsistence crops very often are damaged when these animals emerge from the water. In addition, a large number of local residents live on the edges of the sites where the hippopotamus are concentrated. The safeguarding of the hippopotamus and their habitats must take into account the local context, notably the activities of human populations. An ongoing project aims at reconstituting a network of ecosystem “islands” for the preservation of the habitats of the hippopotamus.

Keywords: Human demographic explosion – Endangered species – Habitat

6Élie Ahokpe: “The ecological center of the project for the improvement of the forest blocks of Agoua, Mont Koufé and Wari-Maro”

Obtaining reliable scientific information on natural resources constitutes an important activity in the Project for the Improvement of the forest blocks of Agoua, Mont Koufé and Wari-Maro.
To support research activities and ecological studies on these three forest blocks and their immediate surroundings, the project decided to set up an ecological center within the classified forest of Wari-Maro. This center, the only one of its kind in Benin, will be of scientific, socio-economic and educational interest: it is designed for researchers, students, local residents and tourists.

Keywords: Research – Education – Development

7Safouratou Alfa Gambari Imorou, Brice Sinsin: “Dietary patterns and use of space by elephants in protected areas. Case study of the hunting preserve of the Djona (Benin)”

The geographical space exploited by elephants was explored and this research provided data on the dynamics of their vital area in the hunting preserve of the Djona in Benin, according to the seasons. What emerged is that the vital area of elephants has expanded into village territories.
The dietary patterns of elephants were specified in relation to the phenology of the species preferred. On average, 8 vegetal species are regularly consumed by elephants in the Djona. They are: Piliostigma thonningii, Strychnos spinosa, Cassia sieberiana, Acacia sieberiana, Balanites aegyptiaca, Diospyros mespiliformis, Adansonia digitata and Detarium microcarpum. Just as their vital area varies according to the seasons, so does the diet of elephants in the Djona. It was observed that there are more species consumed between august and october (the wet season) than between november and december (period when crops ripen) and between january and march (the dry season). These data indicate that food resources are not regularly available and that species are sought after differently according to their phenological stage.
The daily monitoring of the elephants made it possible to identify 59 groups corresponding to an estimated population of 361 elephants, composed of 36.8 adults, 18.6 young adults, 21.6 juveniles and 23.4 babies, compared to preceding estimates, the current estimated level of the elephant population of the Alfakoara thus shows an increase.
The monitoring of elephant herds of the Alfakoara in the hunting preserve of the Djona in North Benin made it possible to obtain ecological, biological and demographic data. This data allowed us to update our knowledge on the elephant population with a view to planning measures that will enable the sustainable use of this site for scientific and eco-tourism purposes.

Keywords: Dietary pattern – Vital area – Occupation of space – Distribution in groups

8Gautier Amossou, Guy Apollinaire Mensah, Brice Sinsin: “The hippopotamus in thewetlands of southern Benin”

The aim of this study was to create a database composed of biological, ecological, ethological and socio-economic data on groups of hippopotamus isolated in 8 village territories in the wetlands of the department of Mono/Couffo in southwestern Benin.
The hippopotamus were counted by direct observation and their footprints and dung were sampled. Their daily activities were observed over a period of 24 hours by observation from a canoe and an observation platform. The general behaviour of the animals was described through a survey carried out among 108 people.
Hippopotamus live alone or in groups of up to 10 individuals in lakes, ponds, pools, lagoons and rivers. Only 30 hippopotamus were counted directly whereas the surveys among the local residents suggested that there were 45.
The most intense period of activity among the hippopotamus is between 5 pm and 8 am. During most of the day, between 8 am and 5 pm, they rest and sleep. Behaviour observed during the study included: sleeping, resting, swimming, feeding, playing, defecation, bellowing and yawning.
The destruction of crops for food such as maize (Zea mays), manioc (Manihot utilissima), sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) and cotton constitute one of the main sources of conflict between the local residents and hippopotamus (leading to the death of 8 people). In the natural environment, the Poaceae and the Cyperaceaea are the most common vegetal families in the food of the hippos. Poaching, practised either with traditional or modern techniques, is the main threat faced by this species (27 hippos have been slaughtered).
For the local residents, the hippopotamus occupies an important place in their culture, religion (it is a symbol of the divinities), food, and economy (it is a tourist attraction). The delimitation of a ring of small biological reserves for hippopotamus and management methods for the ponds/rivers for them with the involvement of the local residents are proposed.

Keywords: Wetlands – Hippopotamus/people conflict – Management and improvement

9Ousséni Arouna, Brice Sinsin: “Exploitation of the biological resources and vegetation dynamics in the classified forest of the Upper Alibori in Benin (sector of the Arrondissement of Bagou)”

The objective of this study is to show the impact of the exploitation of biological resources on the evolution of vegetal formations in the classified forest of the Upper Alibori (sector of the Arrondissement of Bagou) in Benin. The study is based on the interpretation of aerial photographs with a field check and socioeconomic surveys. It shows that the main forms of exploitation are agriculture, herding, poaching, the exploitation of the forest and the use of medicinal plants.
This exploitation has had for effect, between 1975 and 1998, a regression of the fringe forests, the open woodlands, wooded savannas, as well as tree and shrubland savannas to the benefit of fields and allows. In total, this regression covers 41 % of the area of the sector of the study.

Keywords: Exploitation of biological resources – Regression of vegetation

10Achille Ephrem Assogbadjo, Brice Sinsin: “The populations of endangered primates in the Lokoli forest of Benin”

This study was conducted in the Lokoli forest (5 km²) in the Guinean forest zone of Benin. It made it possible to reveal the threat to the primates by examining their population levels and analyzing the key points for their protection in different habitats. In total, 6 species of primates were identified: the mona monkey (Cercopithecus mona), the tantalus monkey (Cercopithecus aethiops tantalus), the black-and-white colobus (Colobus vellerosus), the olive colobus (Procolobus verus), the Senegal galago (Galago senegalensis) and the redbellied monkey (Cercopithecus erythrogaster erythrogaster). The Lokoli forest constitutes one of the last refuges of the species and sub-species of rare and endangered primates in Benin. According to the IUCN criteria, the mona monkey and the tantalus monkey are species threatened with extinction (there are less than 20 individuals) in the swampy forests of Lokoli whereas the olive colobus, the black-and-white colobus and the red-bellied monkey are in serious danger of extinction (there are less than 50 individuals). Cases of polyspecific association, usually composed of the mone and other species, were observed within the different groups of primates.

Keywords: Endangered primates _ Organization of groups _ Conservation strategies

11Serge Attignon, Thibault Lachat, Brice Sinsin, Peter Nagel, Ralf Peveling: “The Biolama Project: the conservation of the biodiversity of the classified forest of Lamain Benin. The arthropods”

The forest of Lama is one of the last vestiges of the semi-deciduous forest of the “Dahomey gap” which separates the blocks of moist forests of West and Central Africa. Composed of natural forest, degraded forest and plantations, the heart of an area of 4 759 ha, is surrounded by plantations of teak and other exotic species for the production of lumber and firewood (9 000 ha).
The Lama forest, that shelters several rare species of animals and plants, has benefited from the status of “classified forest”; it is of primordial importance for the conservation of biodiversity in Benin. In spite of many studies and inventories relating to global biological diversity, the arthropods have only been briefly noted in the central heartland which is the most protected part.
The aim of the Biolama project (Biodiversity in the classified forest of Lama: scientific partnership between the Faculty of Agronomy of the University of Abomey-Calavi in Benin and the Institute of Environmental Sciences (NLU) – Biogeography of the University of Bâle in Switzerland) is to study and specify the role and the ecological functions of forest plantations for the conservation of biodiversity in a forest environment by taking the communities of arthropods as a biological model. In addition to the natural forest, the Biolama project thus also included the plantations of teak, firewood and isolated forests.
A comparative inventory of the arthropods was carried out in nine types of forest. The process of decomposition of the leaf litter, the role of the participating detritivores as well as the diversity and the activity of termites were studied. Research on the beetles associated with dead wood are ongoing and several other research activities are planned.
The first results show the similarities between the communities of arthropods of degraded forests and young plantations as well as the high diversity of arthropods living in the old teak plantations and the isolated forests. The natural forest appears to be an environment that is more favorable to the decomposition of leaf litter than the plantations and it shelters more invertebrates associated with litter.

Keywords: Inventories – Comparative studies – Forest plantations

12François Baillon, Damien Chevallier: “Eco-ethological study of the Ciconia nigra in Burkina Faso”

We present here our results relating to the winter ecology and the migration routes of the black stork, Ciconia nigra, in Sahelian West Africa.
This study was carried out in the game ranch of Nazinga in Burkina Faso. After a short presentation of the Ranch and human activities, such as fishing, we specify the number, the feeding habits and the nature of the sleeping places of the black stork in this protected area.
The capture of a young individual (Aurelia), that we equipped with a satellite GPS/solar tracking device, allowed us to obtain information for the first time on the movements of the black stork in its wintering area and on its migration route, its stops and its movements within its summer area.
These results will make it possible to formulate proposals to managers of the protected area concerned in order to ensure a better integrated management of the black stork within its wintering zone.

Keywords: Game Ranch of Nazinga – Sharing space with people – Migration – Tracking device – Management of the environment

13Aziz Ballouche, Mohamed Lemine Ould Baba, Aude Nuscia Taïbi, Gérard Moguedet: “Protection and integrated management of the Sahelian humid zones inMauritania. Lakes Aleg and Mâl (Brakna)”

Using an inter-disciplinary approach, we have proposed a diagnosis of the condition of the environment in Sahelian spaces organized around the humid zones of Aleg and Mal of Southwestern Mauritania in the Northern Sahel. These spaces are currently exploited and managed by the local residents in agropastoral systems greatly fragilized by the droughts of the seventies and eighties and heavy pressure on their resources. One of the objectives of our work was to find ways of preventing use conflicts between development projects and local development. This resulted in the conception of a system of improvement and management of natural resources of the “land management” type that favours the restoration of their potential, followed by their sustainable and equitable exploitation by the local residents. On this basis, protection measures (registration on the Ramsar list) could take into account the social, economic and ecological values of these wetlands of international importance.

Keywords: Natural resources – Land management – Conflicts – Droughts

14André Bourgeot: “Local democracy, participative management and anthropology: a case study of the Aïr-Tenere Reserve (Niger)”

The objective, the concept and the content of this article aims at going beyond the academic cleavages that oppose fundamental research and finalized research. To do this, it is based on a case based on a case study of the National Nature Reserve of the Aïr-Tenere in the North of Niger, emphasizing four historical sequences that characterize its evolution. The approach used is that of an anthropology concerned about historical, geographical and political contexts. The author bases his approach on the categories of thought of the Tuaregs, on their system of representations and use of space. He grants a central value to the idea of rangelands as a unit of observation and thus of potential intervention by the users. With regards to participative management and local democracy, with the agreement of the local residents of this protected area, and using endogenous metaphors, he proposes setting up rangeland assemblies composed of elected representatives who are responsible for the use of natural resources and the cultural heritage that this reserve contains, with about 15 000 nomadic herders and agropastoral communities. These structural transformations pose new challenges that remain to be met.

Keywords: Categories of thought – Systems of representation and use of space – Endogenous metaphors – Rangelands

15Pierre Boyzibu Ekhassa: “Epidemio-surveillance of rinderpest in the democratic republic of the Congo. Blood samples from buffaloes in the national park of the Garamba”

Wildlife does not constitute a reservoir for rinderpest. The role of wildlife is limited to contributing to the spread of the disease through sporadic contacts with domestic animals in an enzootic or epizootic situation.
Wildlife are more sensitive than domestic animals to certain forms of rinderpest as the symptoms are easier to observe among wildlife than among domestic animals. We must remember that the rinderpest virus takes advantage of wars, civil strife and natural disasters. All these events that we are unfortunately subject to in the democratic republic of the Congo leads to intra- or inter- state movements of animals, that often serve as booty or provisions.
Since wildlife have never been vaccinated, the detection of antibodies in their blood serum necessarily implies that they have been in contact with the virus. It is this fact that makes the buffalo an excellent sentinel population for this disease.
The capture of 36 buffaloes in the national park of Garamba and the sampling of their blood with a view to performing serological analyses made it possible to understand the epidemiological evolution of the disease. This study will be completed by clinical observations carried out according to the procedures recommended by the World Organization for Animal Health.
The democratic republic of the Congo has been declared free of rinderpest since May 2006 by the World Organization for Animal Health.

Keywords: Serological analyses – Herd movements – Civilian unrest and wars

16Françoise Claro, Bernard Faye, Jérôme Tubiana, Céline Sissler, Eric Pellé: “Sahelo-saharan wildlife diversity in the area of the Termit mountains in Niger.Towards a new protected area?”

A mission carried out at the end of 2002 in the region of the Termit mountains (Niger) by a team from the Research Institute for Development, the National Natural History Museum and the Zoological Society of Paris made it possible to evaluate the wildlife diversity and the status of the large wildlife of the region. Six species of reptiles, 28 species of birds and 15 species of mammals were inventoried.
The total lack of observations of the oryx gazelle, Oryx dammah, and the ostrich, Struthio camelus, tends to confirm the disappearance of these species in this part of Niger.
On the other hand, 36 addax, Addax nasomaculatus, were observed at Tin Toumma and according to local informants, a population of 50 to 100 individuals lives there. The levels of Saharan cheetahs seem to have been stable for the last twenty years and are assessed at 30-40 individuals.
The heritage value of the site of the Termit mountains is discussed with a view to setting up a new protected area.

Keywords: Cheeta – Addax – Termit mountains – Heritage – Sahara

17Jean-Claude Codjia, Marius Rodrigue Mensah Ekué, Salif Condé: “The habitat ofthe wart-hog (Phacochoerus africanus) in the classified forest of Three Rivers in Benin”

The ecological characteristics of the habitat of the warthog were studied in the classified forest of Three Rivers in Benin. This wild suidae, a relative of the domestic pig, is highly valued by the local residents and fills the conditions for a species for which farms could be set up to raise bush meat for consumption.
To identify the sites favored by the warthog in this protected area, surveys were conducted among hunters, forestry officers and the local residents. Prospections were then carried out in the classified forest. Seventeen sites within a radius of 1 km served to measure the variables of the habitat of the warthog. These sites are distributed among three sectors of the classified forest: the Zougou-Pantrossi sector (8 sites), characterized by the western slope of the valley of the Bouli stream; the Dougou-Laye sector (5 sites), dominated by hills; and the the Monrou sector (4 sites), characterized by a plateau of little humid, enclosed valleys. The variables measured concerned the topography, the type of vegetal formation, the vegetation cover of the soil, the texture of the soil, the types of warthog resting places as well as their distance from open water.
From the topographical point of view, the warthogs tend to prefer the summits. The shrubland savanna is frequented three times more than the open forests or the fallows. The sites frequented by the warthogs are more often found on soils with a clay-sand or sandy texture. Five types of resting places were counted: shrubbery, the resting places for littering, the resting places for sleeping, the rainy season resting places and the permanent resting places The distance separating the resting places from water holes vary between 4.3 and 5 km.

Keywords: Strategy for occupying space – Water holes – Topography – vegetation

18Is-Haquou Hughes Daouda, Guy Apollinaire Mensah: “Karyological data on the rodents of the classified forest of Lama (Benin)”

Although surrounded by countries where the rodent populations have been particularly well studied, Benin has benefited from few taxonomic studies. The eco-climatic anomaly originating from the “Dahomey Gap” provides it with an interesting originality.
The preliminary list of the small rodents of Togo and Benin by Robbins and Van der Straeten in 1996, followed by the exhaustive inventory of rodents of Benin by de Visser et al. in 2001, have led to the identification of 56 species.
The forest of Lama (6°55’ to 7°00’ N, 2°04’ to 2°12’ E) is the largest forest in what remains of the dense natural forest of the “Dahomey Gap”. Among the 802 specimens that we captured, ten species were identified, including
Arvicanthis niloticus, Mastomys natalensis, M. erythroleucus, Lemniscomys striatus, Rattus rattus, Tatera kempi, Leggada sp, Myomys daltoni, Graphiurus lorraineus and Dasymys rufulus, most of which have already been identified in the region. If, in view of its area of distribution, it would be logical to encounter Graphiurus lorraineus, in contrast, Dasymys rufulus has never been identified in locations less than 7 degrees North, either in Togo or in Benin.
The karyotypes of two specimens of Mastomys natalensis and of one specimen of Tatera kempi have been clearly established. A young specimen of Arvicanthis was found to have a diploid number 2N=62 of chromosomes, most of which are acrocentric with the presence of some sub meta-centrics and meta-centrics, which gives a fundamental number of 74 autosomes (NFA). The number 2N of chromosomes is identical to that of the reference species Arvicanthis niloticus, but the NF is different (74 instead of 64), which confirms the presence of different species in West Africa. The karyotype is identical to that of thirteen specimens in southern Benin (Civitelli et al., 1995), but that of northern Benin studied by Codjia (1999) could correspond to the A. niloticus Desmarest, 1822 type. The “Dahomey-Gap” thus probably shelters species with Guinean affinities in the South and sudan-type species, indeed sahelo-sudan-types, in the North.

Keywords: Biogeographical affinities of species – Graphiurus lorraineus – Dasymys rufulus– Mastomys natalensis – Tatera kempi

19Bakary Diobate: “Involvement of local residents in the management of the nationalpark of the Saloum Delta in Senegal”

The renewable natural resources raise people’s interest for several reasons (cultural, food, economic, scientific, etc.). In Senegal, many forms of wildlife are extinct (giraffe, leopard, damaliscus, etc.) or are in the process of extinction, notably owing to excessive hunting using high-powered arms. Since 1954 the authorities imposed measures of protection on certain species (national parks, wildlife reserves, special reserves and natural integral reserves) and drew up legislation and regulations. Senegal now has six parks (Niokolo Koba, Lower Casamance, Djoudj Birds, Saloum Delta, Barbary Tongue and the Madeleine Islands), an ornithological reserve (Kalissaye), two special wildlife reserves (Geumbeul and North Ferlo), a natural reserve (Popenguine), three community reserves (Palmarin, Somone and Bamboung), that cover 16 320 km², or 8 % of the total area of national territory.
However, in spite of these measures of protection, it must be recognized that the resources of the parks continue to degrade because of the very profound misunderstanding between the State and the local residents who refuse the principle of the creation of protected areas. When the protected areas were being set up, the State in effect proceeded to expropriate land and clear out the local residents without any concertation or awareness activities. To save what remains of the wildlife, it is today necessary to define new approaches. The Directorate of the National Parks has been given the responsibility of defining these new strategies, the main purpose of which is the involvement and participation of local residents in the improvement and the management of the protected areas. In the field, managers still encounter many difficulties, especially in the areas where the decrease in wildlife does not seem to be perceived by the local residents. The institutional, organizational, economic and financial constraints posed by such an approach are analyzed and the possibilities for integrating local residents into the sustainable improvement and the rational management of protected areas are discussed.

Keywords: Regression of wildlife – Conflicts – Participative management

20Djibril Diouck, Léonard Elie Akpo: “Degradation of the Fathala forest in the national park of the Saloum Delta (Senegal)”

In the Fathala forest the modifications of the ligneous cover between 1969 and 1989 and the floristic composition between 1975 and 1996 were analyzed by aerial photos and field research. This corresponds to the terrestrial part of the national park of the Saloum Delta, in the heart of a biosphere reserve in Senegal.
The reduction is high for the ligneous cover (60 % in the woodland and 65 % in the fringe forest) and for the tree density (21 % and 9 %) and also for the floristic ligneous richness (44 %). The proliferation of certain species was also observed, normally dependant on drier environments, such as Combretum nigricans in open woodland and Saba senegalensis, Anthostema senegalense, Dialium guineense and Aphania senegalensis in the fringe forest.
These modifications in the cover and structure of the vegetation, accompanied by the development of species with drier affinities, constitue threats for certain animal species, especially the Temminck's red colobus of Africa.
Acknowledgements: the authors thank those in charge of Operation IRD-Ipmo and its technical team, in particular Yérémakhan Keita and Elhadji Daouda Sylla, as well as the directorate of the national parks and the conservator of the national park of the Saloum Delta and their collaborators.

Keywords: Savanna – Degradation – Ligneous vegetation

21Julien Gaudence Djego, Brice Sinsin: “Floristic structure and composition of the classified forest of Lama (Benin)”

The classified forest of Lama is a mosaic of dense, semi-deciduous forest, dense, degraded forests, small forests, fallows and plantations of exotic species. The study of the floristic diversity and the vegetal groupings was carried out through phyto-sociological data gathered according to the method developed by the “zuricho-montpelliéraine” school (Braun-Blanquet, 1932). We recorded 290 species from 77 families, the most common of which are the Rubiaceae followed by the Fabaceae and the Poaceae, however, the Apocynaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Hippocrateaceae, Loganiaceae and the Sapindaceae present a specific richness that is not to be neglected. The biological spectra shows the predominance of the phanerophytes and the climbing phanerophytes which represent 70 % to 80 % of the total with an average cover of 82 %. The phytogeographical spectra are dominated by (65 %) Guinean-Congolian species in the dense semi-deciduous dense forests, whether degraded or not, in small forests and old teak groves, whereas species with a large geographical distribution are abundant (75 %) in the fallows, the Acacia and Eucalyptus plantations and in young teak groves.
An ascending hierarchical classification resulted in eight vegetal groups, without counting plantations of exotic species. The vegetation of the forest of Lama has a varied character; its flora is diversified and has quite a varied spatial distribution.

Keywords: Phyto-sociology – Biological spectra – Phyto-geographical spectra – Floristic richness – Floristic diversity

22André Jonas Djenontin, Moutaharou Amidou, Mohamed Nasser Baco: “Pastoral spaces and the environment in northern Benin. Evolution of modes of pastoral resource management in Alibori and Borgou”

To deal with environmental and institutional changes and various risks the farmers of northern Benin have integrated herding into their activities, while herders have integrated agriculture into theirs. This social change requires new modes of resource management in order to reconcile them with the production systems of the different communities of the area. Herd production is influenced by the availability in time of forage and water resources, the hot season being the most critical period. Herders and herder-farmers increasingly rely on harvest residues which are stored as well as aerial (ligneous) forage. In the extreme North of the country, the harvests of forage in the low-lying areas complete these reserve stocks. During the rainy season, herds roam the fallows, the forests and the natural reserves of village territories. During the cool, dry season, pasture areas extend into the fields after the harvest and to the banks and beds of streams in village lands. These communities thus apply to pastoral resources a form of management that is temporal and spatial in order to preserve both the natural resources and the herds and thus guarantee animal production on their lands.

Keywords: Cattle herds – Pastoral resources – Environmental management – Social changes

23Laurent Djodjouwin, Brice Sinsin: “Pressure on the natural vegetal resources in protected areas. A case study of the forest complex of mount Kouffé and Wari-Maro in the republic of Benin”

The forest complex of mount Kouffé and Wari-Maro (282 050 ha) is one of the most beautiful biocenoses of the country, the typical large wildlife of which are different from the national parks and with good tourist potential (IUCN, 1994). The natural vegetal resources are the object of diverse sorts of exploitation which has led to the accelerated degradation of the habitat of this wildlife.
In effect, each year, about 15 500 local head of cattle, nearly 19 000 head of national transhumant cattle and about 50 000 head of trans-border transhumant cattle range through these two forests.
To feed the almost 85 000 TLU present during the dry season, where the ligneous forage constitutes the essential part of their rations, the trimming of almost 9 million trees annually is necessary (Djodjouwin et al., 2001). In addition, the trunk volume of wood exploited in the forest of Mount Kouffé alone is in net progression between 1996 and 1999, going from 2 000 beams of lumber per month in 1996 to 15 000 beams of lumber in the last quarter of 1999 (PRRF, 2000).
It is urgent to ensure the integrated management of natural resources.

Keywords: Exploitation of vegetal resources – Cattle – Transhumance – Wood take-off – Integrated management.

24Patricia Egboou, Roch Mongbo, Anne Floquet: “Riverain communities and the management of the swamp forest of Lokoli in southern Benin”

This paper concerns the swamp forest of Lokoli on the Hlan stream in Zogbodomey, as well as the riverain communities. The forest of Lokoli is one of the last swamp forests of Benin. It is unusual from the ecological, economic and socio-cultural points of view.
Ecologically, this swamp forest serves as a rest-stop and a corridor for many endangered species (Cercopithecus erythrogaster erythrogaster, Tragelaphus spekei, etc.).
The economic and socio-cultural specificity is that this forest is the common property of half-a-dozen villages that have developed special modes of exploitation and management. It constitutes a source of considerable revenues and is the setting for livelihoods, in particular for the poorest groups who survive on the harvest/collection of various forest products. These groups have developed local rules and magico-religious institutions that structure the local political space and sometimes interact with modern supra-local institutions.
First, we present these modes of exploitation of the forest resources and we analyze them by drawing attention to their constraints and technical limitations.
Afterwards, we deal with local management institutions and how they function, as well as endogenous legislation and its evolution.
The impact of modes of exploitation and management on the evolution of the natural resources of the forest, fauna and flora, as well as on the local economy is then analyzed.
From all this we bring out the strengths and weaknesses of local and supra-local management institutions.
Finally, we carry out a comparative analysis with the experiences of other forms of management and make proposals for the strengthening and recognition of local institutions adapted to the economic and socio-cultural context of the locality for sustainable resource management.

Keywords: Decentralization – Management of natural resources – Participation of local communities – Traditional institutions

25Marius Rodrigue Mensah Ekué, Jean-Claude Codjia, Oliver Famkem Zepou: “Thediet of the bush pig (Potamochoerus porcus) in the classified forest of Lama”

The ecology of the diet of the bush pig Potamochoerus porcus Linnaeus 1758, was studied in the dense, semi-deciduous forest of Lama in Benin. This wild Suidae that is greatly sought after by poachers in this protected area and is declining in numbers is potentially an excellent species of game to raise.
Data on the vegetation cover and the soil conditions made it possible to describe the preferred habitat of the bush pig in a total of 29 sites sampled according to the following indices: the footprints, the dung and the sites they frequent for different activities. The dietary patterns were discovered by direct observation in the zones preferred by the bush pig then by collection, analysis and microscopic comparison of vegetal and animal fragments in fresh dung with the reference collections that were assembled especially for this study.
The geographical distribution of the indices of the presence of the bush pig showed that they have colonized the whole of the central heartland with a preference for the zones where the vegetation cover varies between 50 % and 90 % and where the soil is waterlogged. Thirty-six vegetal species consumed by the bush pig were censused in the central heartland and its surroundings. These species are divided up into 20 botanical families, most of which belong to the Aracea, the Eurphorbiacae and the Convolvulacae groups. The proportions of plant organs consumed revealed that 41 % were leaves (forage), 32 % were fruits and 27 % were roots and tubercules. The specific richness per dung sample varied between 6 and 8 (N=8) whereas the Shannon index of diversity is low and less than 1 in all the dung samples examined. The calculation of the number of specific fragments per dung sample made it possible to identify its preferred forage species which are: Ipomoea involucrata, Ipomoea aquatica, Andropogon gayanus and Culcasia scandens.

Keywords: Habitat – Vegetal species consumed

26Azizou El-Hadj Issa, Paul Ouedraogo, Bernard Asséréou Amadou: “Village organizations for natural resource management in the transborder reserve of the Win Benin”

The management of natural resources in general and that of protected areas in particular have for long been the unilateral responsibility of state institutions in charge of the protection of this heritage. This situation has also led to the quasi-exclusion of local residents and it is one of the reasons for the low level of protection of natural resources. Since the nineties, Benin has been one of those countries that is experimenting with strategies to involve local residents in the conservation of natural resources.
The main objective of this study is to characterize the forms of peasant organization set up by the different rural or forest projects. An enquiry was carried out of 75 riverain villages of the national park W of the River Niger and 30 riverain villages of other classified areas through the use of semi-structured surveys carried out in North-East Benin in the Borgou and Alibori departments. The results show that many peasant organizations with different names, have been set up in riverain villages located in classified areas and that they are animated for the most part by the same people. This multiplicity of individual responsibilities is often a source of low efficiency in the functioning of peasant organizations.
It was concluded that to harmonize the interventions of various projects, it would be better to create forums of partners in order to ensure good coordination of calendars, programs and activities in the field. The final objective is to set up integrated projects that include the participation of the traditional chiefs.

Keywords: Participative management – Village structures – Concertation – Integrated management – Relationships among structures.

27Gérard Galat, Anh Galat-Luong, Benjamin Lavocat: “Influence of the first rains onthe distribution of the large mammals”

The density and the biomass of the large wild mammals around a water puddle in a floodplain (Simenti, Gambia River, national park of the Niokolo Koba, Senegal) were evaluated during the transition between the dry season and the rainy season. The objective of this study was to analyze the consequences of the first rains on the distribution of the large mammals.
From May to July 1997, we made 3,367 measurements (scans) of the lake, and recorded 36,897 observations of ten species of large mammals.
On the immediate edges of the puddle, the population density of these mammals was estimated on the basis of 433 encounters with individuals or groups which enabled us to locate 926 animals by the line transects method. The six most abundant species, the Kob and the warthog (80 % of the total number), the Bushbuck, the Defassa Waterbuck, the baboon and the green monkey, represent an average density of 86 individuals per km² for a biomass of 4,320 kg/km².
Thus, on the periphery of the puddle, the density of mammals is three times as high as in the rest of the park.
Four days after the first rains, the mammalian biomass decreased heavily. The four minority species (Patas monkey, Red-flanked Duiker, Oribi and Western Hartebeest) leave the lake. The biomass then stabilize after a slight increase.
The rapidity of seasonal variations in the distribution of the large wildlife must be taken into account in the plans for improvement of protected areas.
Financing: IRD.
Acknowledgments: to the directorate of the national parks of Senegal, the conservator of the national park of the Niokolo Koba and collaborators.

Keywords: Tourism – Hunting – Perception – Local residents

28Ahn Galat-Luong, Gérard Galat: “Influence of anthropization on the distribution of the large wildlife. The mangroves, a refuge environment”

The mangroves swamps of the national park of the Saloum Delta (Senegal), although threatened by excessive exploitation, still harbour mammalian wildlife of high specific richness. Some species of large and medium herbivore mammals (manatee) or carnivores (white-cheeked otter and swamp mangoose that feed mostly on fish and shellfish) are dependent on them. The small nocturnal carnivores (mongooses, wildcats, genets) feed on fish, invertebrates and small birds.
Following an increase in anthropic pressure, new species have included this special environment in their vital areas. Our work carried out in 1975-1976 showed that the green monkeys have adapted well. They spend up to 80 % of their time there and consume various parts of the Rhizophora trees as well as fiddler crabs.
The sitatunga, that was thought for thirty years to be extinct, has been rediscovered there, in very low numbers, during a census carried out together by IRD-DPN-DEFCC-IUCN in 1998, thus demonstrating the efficiency of the mangroves as a refuge environment.
More recently, new species (patas monkey, bushbuck, and warthog, for ten years; Guinea fowl and especially red colobus for about five years) have penetrated the mangrove and also find shelter there against the disturbances caused by people. Their predators, the civet and the hyena, follow them. The sitatunga and the red colobus survive in particularly confined and fragmented populations.
Climatic change (hydric deficit of 300 mm during the last thirty years) and above all anthropization (loss of continental habitats through deforestation, various disturbing activities) have thus affected the mangrove ecosystem of the Saloum that has seen, in a very short time, an increase in the diversity of the large vertebrates. This increase is deceiving, however, as it is due only to the fact that it is the last refuge for species threatened with extinction in a more or less short period of time.
Financing: IRD, IUCN.
Acknowledgements: DPNS, Conservators of the PNDS and collaborators.

Keywords: Senegal – National park of Saloum – Large wildlife

29Anh Galat-Luong and Gérard Galat: “The proximity of protected areas and the perception of tourism and the exploitation of wildlife by the local inhabitants”

Southeastern Senegal shows large wildlife of an exceptional richness: we identified 53 species of large and medium-size mammals. Of the responses that emerged from a survey carried out in 101 villages, 89 % expressed the observation that the natural environment has degraded. On the basis of statements made by the groups who participated, all the ethnic groups eat game, but only one-fifth of the villages declared that they do not eat game. The villages located near or within a protected area for its wildlife consume more than others. If the attitude towards the development of hunting and ecotourism appears to be overall rather negative, this changes when the local inhabitants live near a protected area or within an area managed for hunting and thus they have some experience of tourist activities. Raising game is thus an activity that is favourably perceived. Animal species proposed are those preferred for consumption as well as those for which it is concretely practical: bushbuck porcupine, red-flanked duiker, guinea-fowl, hares or rabbits, roan antelope. Today the conservation of wildlife should and must be economically profitable. A system of natural production made up of areas managed for their wildlife, exploited for the benefit of the local residents and compatible with the conservation of ecosystems, could have an alternative economic yield to industrial crops. Various types of improvements (safari hunting, ecotourism tours, wildlife farms and reserves…) can generate significant revenues. The example of the tourist nature trails and the APC (Aire du patrimoine communautaire) of Dindefello, created and managed by the local inhabitants, prove that such an approach is viable. In this case, it should be done before the wildlife heritage disappears, that is, urgently.
Financing: Orstom-IRD, AFD, DDR/Sodefitex.

Keywords: Hunting – Perception – Local inhabitants – Ecotourism

30Gérard Galat, Anh Galat-Luong: “Introducing the protected area. A brochure and a guide for visitors, decision-makers and residents”

For the least ten years, the national parks of Senegal and IRD, with support from funds from Canada and the European Union, have been putting together their skills and interest in carrying out censuses of the large wildlife of the national parks of Niokolo Koba and Badiar. The results show that the park has played its conservation role well, but the conditions for observing wildlife are hardly favourable to the visitor without any information. Thus, a brochure and a guide were edited by the UE to make information on the work of scientists accessible. Data from various disciplines of the natural and human sciences (geography, ethno-anthropology, ecology, ethology, zoology, statistical bio-modelling) and wildlife management were assembled in the most agreeable form possible for the eye and the mind. The brochure is organized around maps at different scales and drawings that make it possible to estimate the possibilities of encountering wildlife in space (distribution maps) and in time (hours of encounter). The guide assembles the essential facts of the most recent research for each species of the large mammals. Everyone will find what they want: for parents – a vision of ecosystems, for children – the discovery of nature, for the residents of the periphery – the landscapes described by their elders. In developing these publications, the authors hope that visitors will be rewarded by an encounter with a rare antelope on the edge of the forest or a mother baboon protecting her baby attentively at the approach of danger, before visitors spend an evening in the village, exalted by a celebration or by its serene tranquillity.

Keywords: Tourism – Hunting – Perception – Local residents

31Albert Honloukou: “Poverty, community and State. Understanding the strategic challenges for a better management of protected areas in Benin”

To deal with the degradation of the natural resources of Benin, the public authorities favoured the total protection approach up to the eighties. This approach has now been shown to be inefficient. The present theoretical study, which is based on game theory, underlines the necessity of associating local communities, private organizations and the State in a governance structure of protected areas that ensures growth and a better distribution of income. It demonstrates the importance of development costs, of profitability, of the initial richness of ecosystems and the costs of exclusion and of internal governance on the success of development programs for protected areas. It also shows explicitly the impact of poverty, of opportunities and population on the contribution of the riverain populations to the development of protected ecosystems.

Keywords: Governance – Total protection – Game theory

32Cossi Jean Houndagba, Agossou Brice Hugues Tente, Raoul Guedou: “The dynamics of classified forests in the area of mid-Ouémé in Benin. Kétou, Dogo and Ouémé-Boukou”

In the watershed of the Ouémé, the largest river of Benin, the colonial government created several reserves. Those located in the area of the mid-Ouémé (Kétou, Dogo and Ouémé-Boukou) were mapped diachronically using remote detection completed by observations and field surveys.
The interpretation of aerial photographs between 1949 and 1998 and the analysis of floristic measurements made it possible to analyze the transformations caused by human activities.
The early years after the classification of these areas were marked by the beginnings of the reconstitution of the natural vegetation as a result of their protection. However, since the drought of the seventies, the massive immigration of farmers and nomadic herders, together with a laxity in control has considerably modified the dynamics of ecosystems, the general trend of which is degradation. To slow this dangerous decrease in wooded areas, it is necessary to involve the local residents in the development and implementation of an improvement plan that would be appropriate for everyone in these areas.

Keywords: Improvement plan – Population – Diachronic mapping

33Koffi Hounkpe: “The search for solutions following conflicts around protected areas in Togo”

Before 1990, protected areas benefited from total protection in Togo; the management of these areas was then carried out uniquely through the repressive measures of the government and the riverain populations suffered as a result. The socio-political problems of the nineties were marked by the systematic invasion of these protected areas by local inhabitants seeking revenge on the government. This resulted in the failure of programs of protection and conservation of protected areas. Since then, Togo has opted for a new strategy of natural resource management. The local inhabitants have now become key actors in the protection, conservation and management of the natural resources of their environment with the support of the government.

Keywords: Forest administration – Local inhabitants – Communication – Socio-political problems

34Dolores Mireille Houénou Agassounon, Sanni-Yo Doko Allou, Nestor Sopkon:“Wildlife management in the protected areas of Northern Benin”

The largest group of protected areas in one place in Benin is located in the North of the country. It is made up of the park W (563 280 ha), the game preserve of the Djona (115 200 ha) and the hunting zone of the Mekrou (102 000 ha). It represents a testimony of the biodiversity of Sudano-sahelian Africa. Many species of mammals, birds, insects and fish still survive there. The vegetation of these protected areas is composed of shrubland savannas, treed savannas and fringe forests, separated by flooded prairies and groups of Borassus palms along the streams. Grassy savannas and open woodlands are also found there.
The growing density of the human population in the peripheral zones is a threat to the heritage of fauna and flora as a result of hunting, agriculture, domestic animals, transhumance and bush fires.
Certain animal species such as the cheetah and the wild dog have almost disappeared. Others, such as the bohor reedbuck and the damaliscus are considerably reduced in numbers. It has thus become urgent to increase the efficiency of protection strategies for the flora and fauna of these reserves. To do this, a better understanding of the functioning and evolution of ecosystems in the short, medium and long terms is indispensable.
It is with this objective in mind that the mechanisms of the rational management of natural resources are being implemented through certain public institutions and projects. The EDF Project for park W known as Ecopas (Protected Ecosystems in Sahelian Africa) has thus initiated programs of research, of continuous monitoring and training.

Keywords: Wildlife management – Protected areas – Ecopas program park W

35Bernard Kassa, Georges Nobimè, Laurence Hanon, Achille Ephrem Assogbadjo, Brice Sinsin: “Characteristics of the habitat of the red-bellied monkey (Cercopithecus e. erythrogaster) in southern Benin”

This study on the determining factors for the conservation of the red-bellied monkey Cercopithecus erythrogaster erythrogaster was carried out through an analysis of the ecological and environmental characteristics of the current habitats of this sub-species of cercopithecus that is endemic to Benin. These characteristics were studied through a Principal component analysis (PCA). In its wild state, the Cercopithecus erythrogaster erythrogaster finds refuge in three types of habitats: the dense semi-deciduous forests, the swamp forests and the dense thickets of the Ouémé valley.
The main characteristics of the environment that condition the presence of the red-bellied monkey are: a pluri-stratified vegetation, a broad diversity of the floristic composition making it possible for them to have permanent access to food resources, a relative humidity that is always close to saturation and periodic flooding of the location. The central heartland of the classified forest of Lama constitutes one of the last “natural” vestiges that serves as a habitat for this subspecies. Substitute habitats can be found in the Ouémé valley. In these habitats, favourable conditions are present even though they are recent habitats characterized by a vegetation with one or two strata at the most. The swampy habitats such as the forest of Lokoli constitute special habitats where the monkey adapts as a result of the permanent humidity of the soil. The plantations of teak and sound disturbances of human origin are the main factors that limit the presence of the Cercopithecus e. erythrogaster in its natural state.

Keywords: Conservation – Vegetation – Humid conditions – Food resources

36Barthélémy Kassa, Brice Sinsin: “The method of ‘transect-points’ as applied to the counts of large mammals in the dense semi-deciduous forest of Lama (Benin)”

The classified forest of Lama (16 250 ha, 6° 55’ to 7° 00’N and 2° 04’ to 2° 12’E), in Benin is what remains of a dense semi-deciduous forest ecosystem with vegetation that can be characterized as guineo-sudan and guineo-congolian. There exists no reliable data on the diversity of wildlife, which has compromised its sustainable conservation. A census of large mammals was carried out using a sampling point method with the double purpose of seeing if this method is adapted to a closed habitat and to provide useful data.
This method consists, for teams of 2 observers, of counting the wildlife seen or heard during 10 minutes at observation points set up every 200 m along each of 6 trails located at distances of 1 km apart. Out of 181 points only one observation was made between 7:30 am and 3:30 pm in the month of June (before the flooding of the forest). The data collected were: the location, the radius of observation, the time of observation, the species encountered, the number of individuals, the age-classes (young and adult), the gender (if possible), the characteristics of the habitat. The quantitative analysis of the data was carried out following the statistical models developed by the Distance 3.5 computer program which makes it possible to provide statistical estimations concerning densities and populations as well as their variation co-efficients.
Twelve species and sub-species of mammals were observed: primates (Cercopithecidae, Colobidae), antelopes (Tragelaphinae and Cephalophinae), a Viverridae (Crossarchus), a rodent (Thryonomyidae), a Suidae (Potamocherus) and a Procavidae (Dendrohyrax).
The most favorable moment for observation is from 7:30 am to 11:00 am then from 2:00 pm to dusk. On the whole, this method is of interest for the forest of Lama even though it has not been perfected for this type of environment.

Keywords: Methodology – Wildlife – Forest habitat

37Ferdinand Claude Kidjo, Théophile Sinadouwirou, Jean Yehouenou-Tessi: “Sports hunting in Benin. An assessment after ten years (1990-2000)”

The purpose of this study is to provide an assessment of the consequences of open sports hunting in Benin for the last ten years after having been closed for a decade.
To do this, we first studied the organization, the origin and the numbers of hunters. Then we studied the slaughter quotas and their evolution over the period and then we analyzed the consequences of the slaughter levels and of hunting tourism on the abundance of wildlife and on the riverain populations in the hunting zones.
Finally, we dealt with the economic aspects through the revenues generated by this activity.

Key words: Large wildlife – Slaughter quotas – Revenues

38Sébastien Kiéma, Anne Fournier: “Use of three protected areas for extensive herding in western Burkina Faso”

The protected areas of western Burkina Faso are small in size and isolated from one another within the agricultural areas. They are confronted with many management problems resulting from population growth and the development of agricultural and pastoral activities.
Surveys among the herders of 16 villages and five protected areas managers show that the illegal use of protected areas for pasture is integrated in the pastoral calendars of transhumant, semi-transhumant and sedentary herders. For the three protected areas studied, the periods of intensive grazing are the beginning and the end of the rainy season, just before crop harvesting. However, the Biosphere Reserve of the "Lake of the Hippopotamus" is used for grazing during the dry season owing to the presence of a floodplain providing fresh forage from the new shoots of perennial grasses.
Herders and protected areas managers agree on the main causes of this illegal use: the lack of grazing lands due to the expansion of agriculture and the increasing size of herds. In addition, there are profound differences between the herders and the foresters in the interpretation of the concept and aim of conservation, of forest legislation and management practices. Shortcomings not only in forest legislation but also in forest policy make their differences more complex and encourage the illegal practices of the herders.
The use by herders of areas protected by law and the managers’ inability to ensure the efficient control and management of these protected areas indicate that the problem of illegal use is transversal. Related issues (rural migration, extensive production systems, transhumance, land management, rural sociology and economy, rural land legislation) involve stakeholders other than the herders and the managers do not seem to be sufficiently taken into account.

Keywords: Western Burkina Faso – Transhumance – Forest policy – Illegal use

39Gnanki Nathalie Kpera, Brice Sinsin, Guy Apollinaire Mensah: “Endogenous wildlife conservation measures. The case of the crocodiles of Benin”

This study, carried out in northern Benin, concerns the distribution of crocodiles as well as the socio-cultural practices of which they are the object.
In Benin, crocodiles have for long been the target of hunters not only for their skins and meat but also for the other products and sub-products such as the lungs, the heart, the gastroliths (stones found in the crocodiles’ stomachs), the teeth, etc. (Kpéra, 2002). This heavy hunting pressure on crocodiles has led to a decline in their populations. However, certain religious and traditional taboos have been maintained that favor the reconstitution of populations of crocodiles in certain sites. There are three species of crocodiles here: the Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus), the African narrow-muzzle crocodile (Crocodylus cataphractus) and the and the dwarf crocodile (Osteolaemus tetraspis). One of the ethnic groups that attaches the greatest importance to crocodiles is that of the Baatanou. Crocodiles are venerated and assistance is provided to them. They live peacefully in close proximity to the villagers. A local code of management of the area and of natural resources includes articles relating to the protection of crocodiles.

Keywords: Water holes – Ethnozoology – Conservation in situ – Local management code

40Mathias Kyelem, Jean-Claude Gautun: “The diversity of rodent populations in Burkina Faso”

The diversity of the global population of rodents living in Burkina Faso is presented by taking into account the sample of 3 213 specimens of rodents, collected during more than ten years of trapping throughout the country, that are divided up into five families, 20 genus and 28 species.
With reference to the main phyto-ecological zones that divide country into three sectors of varying areas, we demonstrate quite a large difference in the nature of the populations living in each of the zones, a rather high South-North gradient of increase in diversity in the family of Gerbillinae and, in contrast, a rather high South-North gradient of reduction in diversity of the family of Murinae.
It is probable that the global population identified in this study will be completed in the future with the identification of new species trapped in environments that have not been studied intensively, particularly in the southern and southwestern areas of the country.
Our studies on the rodents of Burkina Faso have been undertaken to control the damage to agriculture, either in support for intensive agriculture (sugar cane in Banfora, Gautun, 1983), irrigated plots in Sourou, Gautun, 1985), village agriculture (operational bases of vegetal protection in the country), or finally for public health (support for the Laboratory of Medical Entomology of the Muraz Center in Bobo-Dioulasso). They have also been undertaken in order to monitor the population dynamics of rodents in a climatic zone that shelters very intense and unforeseeable “proliferations” of rodents.
Carried out over a period of twenty-five years, these studies have made it possible to carry out a synthesis on the biodiversity of rodents in the three main phyto-ecological zones of Burkina Faso.

Key words: Phyto-ecological zones – Diversity gradiant – 25 years of collecting

41Akeem Gbolagade Lameed: “Primates and ecotourism in the Cross River National Park (Nigeria)”

The study of the ecological influence of primates on ecotourism in the Cross River National Park (CRNP) was carried out between 1999 and 2002, during wet and dry seasons. The two divisions (Okwangwo and Oban) were chosen as the study site due to the heterogeneity of their habitats. A combination of line transects and fixed transect belt surveys as described by the Primate conservation action plan (1996) were adopted for population density assessments. One hundred questionnaires concerning tourist turnover and the general purpose of their visits were distributed.
Results revealed that endemic primate species such as Gorilla gorilla, Pan troglodytes, Mandrillus leucophaeus, with population densities of 0.1, 0.61 and 0.69 per square kilometer respectively, make up the presently endangered species, while other primates such as Cercopithecus mona, Cercopithecus nictitans, Papio anubis, with densities of 2.08, 4.4 and 2.5 per square kilometer respectively were equally present among other species in the national park.
The primate's principal food preference in the park ecosystem is fruit. However primates selectively choose other parts of the fruit-bearing trees, such as the leaves, the pith and the roots. The natural rainforest ecosystem existing in the protected Cross River National Park also serves as a good refuge for the survival of primate species. The presence of primates in the park was also found to have considerable influence on the number of tourists from America (37.3 %), Britain (25.0 %), France (8.7 %), Nigeria (23.8 %) and other African countries (4.7 %). The main purpose of tourists’ visits was to see the primates (43.8 %).
It is possible to reconcile the conflict of interest between tourism and conservation if measures regulating tourism are adopted in a sustainable manner, and it is not allowed to expand haphazardly within the protected area. In this way, ecotourism may provide the nation with a better alternative source of foreign exchange.

Keywords: Primate species – Food preference – Ecotourism – National origin and purpose of tourists

42Aiah Lebbie, Abdulai Barrie, Abdulai Feika: “Integrating research on the moist forest in the management of protected areas. The case of the wildlife sanctuary of the island of Tiwai”

With support from the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Funds (CEPF), the department of biological Sciences of the university of Njala (Sierra Leone) is pursuing research efforts on the island of Tiwa, after a decade of civil war that destroyed a prosperous field station and an international research collaboration on the moist forest on this island of 12 km². With assistance from this new financing, students at the master’s and doctoral levels will be able to receive training in field research and to undertake theses on the island. The key areas of research will include inventories of flora and fauna, the monitoring of populations of primates, the inventory of non-ligneous forest products and an assessment of ecotourism. About 22 graduate students have visited the sanctuary and expressed their interest in the program, one third of them having already identified subjects for field research.
In partnership with a governmental agency (the Wildlife Conservation Branch), training in the field will be dispensed to local riverain communities who will be considered the long-term watchmen of the island and its resources. Preliminary assessments have made it possible to record for the first time on the island of Tiwai the plant Cyperus fertilis, which is already known to extend from Liberia to Cameroon. This discovery extends the western limits of the species. This plant has no local name in Sierra Leone which offers the opportunity in raising funds for field research, by providing the highest bidder with the opportunity to choose a local name. In addition to other funding sources, this initiative will provide possibilities of sustainable financing for the long-term financing of the sanctuary.

Keywords: Sierra Leone – Primates – Non-ligneous forest products – Ecotourism – Students

43Saïdou Mahaman: “The NGO Alliance Niger Nature and the participative management of protected areas in Niger. The national park W and the national nature reserve of the Aïr-Ténéré”

In Niger, a country that is more desert than Sahel and the economy of which is based on agriculture and herding, behaviour damaging to the maintenance of ecological equilibria are accentuating as a result of the very heavy dependence of the population on natural resources. Pressures of human or climatic origin have led several species of animals (oryx, addax, slender horned gazelle, giraffe…) and plants (Prosopis africana, Kigelia africana…) to a precarious situation that is very preoccupying.
After the seminar of Zinder on the delegation of responsibility to the people (1982), profound changes in the management of natural resources have been undertaken by the government. The process of decentralization aims at the transfer of power to communities for the management of natural resources and development. In this new perspective, the management of protected areas is now based on a better involvement of the riverain population. To meet the objectives of sustainable development, civil society is mobilizing, bringing its contribution notably to the training, information and education of the riverain populations on its new responsibility.
In the new context of democracy and decentralization, the NGO “Alliance Niger Nature” created in July 1999 is involved since 2001 in setting up participative management by riverain populations of the two most important protected areas of the country, the national park W of Niger and the national nature reserve of the Aïr-Ténéré.
In the park W, actions carried out have been days dedicated to “open-door”, an educational project of young school students with naturalist tours and actions of eco-development, including apiculture. The cooperative of bee-keepers currently plays an important role in surveillance and protection.
In the national nature reserve of the Aïr-Ténéré, actions have been: a rapid participative evaluation of wildlife with training of the population, training of the members of the provisional management committee and those responsible for the valleys in the participative management of protected areas, the creation of a local NGO for the management of the reserve. Currently this NGO initiates and executes small projects.

Keywords: Decentralization – Education of youth – Eco-development – Training of villagers

44Adi Mama, Brice Sinsin: “The elephants of Alfakoara in Benin. Cohabitation with the rural riverain populations of the Djona”

For several years in northern Benin and for no obvious reason, elephants frequent the immediate surroundings of the village of Alfakoara and the game preserve of the Djona. Up till now, this herd cohabits peacefully with the riverain populations who show an interest and consideration for them and even engage in spontaneous gestures for them: digging water holes for them to drink, assisting young elephants in difficulty, joyful welcomes on the daily arrival of the herds. These elephants are used to human presence and are not aggressive.
However, one of the problems that preoccupies the villagers is the damage they cause to their fields. Between 1991 and 2002 almost 84 hectares of crops were destroyed. The stamping and nibbling of crops before flowering is tolerated by the farmers, but the damage after ripening is difficult for them to accept. The main crops affected are: manioc (Manihot esculenta), millet (Pennisetum thyphoïdes), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), maize (Zea mays), shea trees (Vitellaria paradoxa), mango trees (Mangifera indica) and the néré trees (Parkia biglobosa) and in the rainy season, peanuts (Arachis hypogea), cajan pea (Cajanus cajan), beans (Vigna unguiculata), and cotton (Gossypium hirsutum).
Using the participative approach developed for the improvement program of the protected areas of Benin, there is now a seasonal activity of eco-tourist management of the site of the elephants of Alfakoara. The people participate in this management through the village associations of management of Wildlife Reserves. However, as in neighboring countries (the Gurma of Mali or the region of Maradi in Niger), one of the problems that may compromise this equilibrium concerns the damage that elephants inflict on village lands and for which there is no indemnification.

Keywords: Harmonious cohabitation – Damage to crops – Ecotouristic Management – Indemnification

45Philippe Mayaux, Hugh Eva, Ilaria Palumbo, Jean-Marie Grégoire, Anne Fournier, Louis Sawadogo: “Contribution of remote sensing for the management of protected areas in West Africa”

For twenty years, remote sensing has been applied to the study of African ecosystems in various area: monitoring of vegetation, fire detection, measurement of forest degradation. The joint research center collects this data in over the entire region to support the development policies of the European Commission; the current tendency is to cross-refer satellite data with local information collected in the field in the framework of collaborations with environmental projects. We will show through concrete cases the role played by remote sensing for the production of the information necessary for an optimal management of protected areas.
– Mapping and monitoring of the vegetation
The spatial distribution of vegetation is a fundamental variable for the maintenance of a high level of animal and vegetal biodiversity in protected areas. Satellite images make it possible to map vast, inaccessible surfaces, such as protected areas, at limited cost.
– The monitoring of fires and burnt areas
A global map of burnt areas for the year 2000 was produced from Spot vegetation images; it made it possible to identify specific fire regimes in certain regions. At a more local level, the regional analysis of fire concentrates on the position, the frequency and the extent on the ground. In this way, maps of burnt areas of the transborder park W of Niger (West Africa) are produced in semi-real time, which makes it possible to verify the efficiency of fire management plans according to need and to identify fires that have not been planned. The study carried out in park W, considered to be a regional model, aims at strengthening the fire management capacities for the protected areas of the entire region.
– The analysis of field observations from space
The collection of field measurements is greatly facilitated by the development of pocket computers (Personal Digital Assistants-PDA) linked to a GPS (CyberTracker). The ecological analysis of this large amount of data should make it possible to provide information that is immediately useful to park managers. An approach for deriving certain simple indicators is presented.

Keywords: Remote sensing – Management of protected areas – Mapping – Fire monitoring – Park W

46Jean-Baptiste Mena Wa Mena: “The participative management of protected areas in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature”

The Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature (ICCN), a government scientific and technical organization, manages the protected areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo (8 % of national territory or 18 600 000 ha) and is in the process of implementing a system of participative management.
In the National Park of the Salonga (3 600 000 ha), the African grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus) is being raised for export and the greater cane rat (Thryonomys swinderianus) is being raised for local consumption (Forest Ecosystems of Central Africa project, or the Ecofac of the European Union).
In the forest of Lomako (in the western part of the country), one of the sanctuaries of the dwarf chimpanzee, Pan paniscus, the creation of a protected area is planned; the riverain populations are directly involved in the process.
In the wildlife reserve at Okapi (1 372 000 ha), agricultural zones have been delimited and the means put at the disposal of women to help market the wild products that they collect (leaves for wrapping, fruits, seeds, resins…).
In the National Park of the Virunga (810 000 ha), reforestation is being undertaken to remedy the massive deforestation that followed the influx of more than one million Rwandan refugees from the genocide of 1994 (UN Fund for World Heritage Sites, NGO “Environmental program of the Virunga” Pevi, WWF). The villagers receive assistance (WFP) to maintain the road that leads tourists to see the mountain gorillas (Gorilla gorilla beringei), which are used to human beings.
In the National Park of Kahuzi-Biega (660 000 ha), the villagers were trained to conduct a survey according to the Rapid Rural Appraisal method to collect information on the condition of the park, its interaction with the local inhabitants, the expectations of the local inhabitants, etc. They receive emoluments in return that are very much appreciated in a context of poverty related to the political instability of the region.
All these activities have been much appreciated by the local inhabitants, but their real effects in environmental terms remain difficult to evaluate after the permanent presence of armed groups in these protected areas.

Keywords: Raising wildlife – Marketing of products gathered – Reforestation – Participation in the “Rapid Rural Appraisal”

47Ahoudokpo Robert Missikpode, Brice Sinsin: “Monetary revenues provided by the exploitation of the village forest of Lokoli (Benin)”

In general, the total protection of protected areas in countries of the South has resulted in failure. Little by little a new vision of the conservation of biodiversity is being imposed that takes into account the needs of the human populations and aims at making protected spaces areas that generate revenues; it is sometimes considered to be the only possibility in certain cases.
The present study has for objectives to identify the resources drawn from the village forest of Lokoli and to estimate their value in monetary terms to assess the actual value of this forest.
The results provide monthly levels of revenue for the following activities: 58 930 FCFA for a professional fisherman, 85 680 for a professional hunter, 100 000 FCFA for a carpenter. The forest also provides wood for construction of a value of 2 307 125 FCFA per year. The 165 people who exploit the vegetal species Raphia hookeri draw a revenue of 145 435 700 FCFA per year, as returns on the investment in firewood of a value of 11 907 130 FCFA per year.
The synthesis of these data have led to estimating that the Forest of Lokoly has a value of 9 million FCFA for three hectares, or 3 002 370 FCFA per hectare for the vegetal groups of Xylopia rubescens and Alstonia congensis, 2 645 730 FCFA per hectare for the groups of Hallea ledermannii and Connarus africanus and 3 237 900 FCFA per hectare for the groups of Raphia hookeri and Uapaca padulosa. So that protected spaces can generate revenues in a sustainable way, we must, however, avoid their degradation and take measures of conservation that necessarily involve the participation of the local inhabitants.

Keywords: Rational management – Participation of the local inhabitants – Natural resources

48Armand Natta, Brice Sinsin, Laurentius Josephus Gerardus van der Maesen: “Is the vegetation of the riverain forests of protected areas of Benin more diverse than that of spaces that are not protected?”

The hypothesis that at the same latitude the riverain forests located in the interior of protected areas are richer in vegetal species than those located in unprotected spaces that are not protected was tested in the Sudano-Guinean and Sudan-type regions of Benin. Four hectares of riverain forest were analyzed: 1 ha in each protected area (the classified forest of Pénéssoulou and the Pendjari biosphere reserve) and 1 ha in each unprotected zone (Bétérou and Bensékou-Gbèssè). The survey of vegetal species was carried out according to the phyto-sociological method of Braun-Blanquet. Dendometric measures were also made. The riverain forests of the classified forest of Pénéssoulou and those of the Pendjari biosphere reserve show a floristic richness that is globally superior, in particular for the ligneous species.
The study showed that the conservation of all the varieties of the vegetal communities in riverain forests plays a positive role for the conservation of many species.

Keywords: Vegetal diversity – Conservation – Sudano-Guinean and Sudan regions

49Georges Nobime, Brice Sinsin: “The diversity of primates in the classified forest ofLama (Benin)”

Located in the “Dahomey Gap”, the classified forest of Lama is made up of dense semi-deciduous vegetation. The wildlife of this forest includes five species of diurnal primates: the mona monkey (Cercopithecus mona), the red-bellied monkey (Cercopithecus erythrogaster erythrogaster), the tantalus monkey (Cercopithecus aethiops tantalus), the olive colobus (Procolobus verus) and the black-and-white colobus (Colobus vellerosus). The red-bellied monkey of Lama is a sub-species of C. erythogaster that is endemic to Benin.
The red-bellied monkey accompanies the mona monkey in its movements. The black-and-white colobus prefers the tops of large trees. The olive colobus mixes with the groups of mona monkey. The tantalus monkey (Cercopithecus aethiops tantalus) occupies the degraded spaces and the edge of the forest.
While the red-bellied monkey is rather reserved, the noisy mona monkey exhibits itself to the observer. More than 50 % of observations of mona monkey are direct observations of individuals whereas for the red-bellied monkey this frequency is only 40 %. The red-bellied monkey takes advantage of the warning habit of the mona monkey to hide itself. The mona monkey remains the most common species in the Lama forest, followed by the red-bellied monkey. The rarest simians are the black-and-white colobus and the olive colobus which expose themselves very seldom. The abundance of primates varies from one species to another. The mona monkey numbers 2 500 individuals, the red-bellied monkey numbers 800, and the tantalus monkey numbers 600, while the olive and black-and-white colobus are each estimated at 50 individuals.
The classified forest of Lama appears to be an important reservoir for the conservation of primates. Their protection is necessary in order to conserve this diversity of primates, reduced in number, especially owing to the presence of the red-bellied monkey, the only species endemic to Benin.

Keywords: Benin – Lama – Red-bellied monkey – Conservation

50Adamou Nomao+, Jean-Claude Gautun: “The potential diversity of the population of rodents in the regional park W (Burkina Faso, Benin and Niger)”

In this study, we proposed to complete and comment on the diversity of the population of rodents, present or expected, in the zone of the regional park W.
We began with the list of 15 species of rodents established by Poché (1976), from observations and trappings in the regional park W. After that, we took into consideration the lists published by Sayer, Green and Peters (1979) for the national park of the Pendjari by Green (1982), for the parks of Arli and Pendjari and the work of de Robbins and Ven der Straeten (1996) on the rodents of Togo and Benin in general. Finally we provide details and complete the information on the rodent populations with our research carried out in 2000 and 2001 in the sudano-sahelian region, in the northern area of park W, in particular in the buffer zones of Tamou and Say and reported by Dobigny et al. in 2002.
We confirm the role of the biological barrier played by the river Niger with regards to certain genus and species of rodents, in particular the genus Acomys, certain species of Gerbillus and we raise the case of Jaculus jaculus, never observed before on the right bank of the river Niger.

Keywords: Specific diversity – Biological barrier

51Paul Noupa: “The participation of riverain communities in the management of natural resources. The forest zone of southeastern Cameroon”

Principles 5 and 10 of the Rio de Janeiro Summit (1992) set the foundations for an integrated approach to the management of natural resources. The right of riverain populations to depend on the natural resources of their environment has been recognized.
To implement this principle of co-management for environmental protection, Cameroon has developed a legal and regulatory framework that favours popular participation. Financial and technical support was provided by the Global Environment Fund (GEF), bilateral and multi-lateral cooperation agencies and non-governmental organizations. It was in this way that the program of conservation and sustainable management of the biodiversity of southeastern Cameroon was implemented.
In the technical operations unit of the South-East, the development of a participative process led to the classification of three national parks (881 775 ha), sixteen forest improvement units (1 191 422 ha), eight hunting zones (860 527 ha) and twelve community-managed hunting zones (750 000 ha). The first attempts at delegating responsibility to residents for the management of these community-based hunting zones led to training villagers to conduct surveys and to collect data for the development of a simple management plan.
Collaboration among partners with different interests developed and framework agreements for collaboration were signed (Mambélé Agreement among the project, the residents and the hunting guides; Agreements for support in the control of poaching in forest concessions between the project and users of the forest…). The benefits from the exploitation of wildlife and forests for communities have increased and community actions have been carried out. The comprehension and the mutual acceptance of the parties have improved, while conflicts among partners have diminished. The work of the government agents responsible for resources and for tracking down offenders has been facilitated. The election of members to the committees for the exploitation of wildlife resources, who are responsible for the management of the hunting zones, has made it possible for communities to develop their organizational capacities.

Keywords: Management of natural resources – Riverain communities – Training of villagers – Committees for the exploitation of wildlife resources (Covaref)

52Ntio Nyamali: “Floristic inventories of the Bafing wildlife reserve of Mali”

The Bafing wildlife reserve of Mali (12°00' to 13°15' N, 10°10’ to 11°00’ W) is made up of five distinct blocks distributed over an area of more than 500 000 ha. Its sudan-type vegetation is made up of 45 % of shrubland savanna, 40 % of treed savanna, 15 % of fringe forests.
The riverain populations exert a heavy pressure on the vegetal resources for food (notably the extraction of palm wine), traditional medicine and animal feed, thus contributing to their degradation. The fringe forests are the environments that are the most affected. The practise of bush fires and the mutilation of trees are common.
In spite of the degradation, this zone offers great potential for wildlife.

Keywords: Sudan-type vegetation – Anthropic degradation

53Bernard Oussou, Guy Apollinaire Mensah, Brice Sinsin: “Eco-ethology of the porcupine (Hystrix cristata) and the development of a referential for raising it in captivity”

Preliminary observations of the ecology, the dietary patterns, the food preferences and the activities of the porcupine (Hystrix cristata Linnaeus 1758) were carried out in the Djona hunting preserve in Benin.
The study of its ecology was carried out by prospecting the zones of predilection of the porcupine and the identification of its burrows, on the basis of indices of its presence. The study of its dietary patterns was carried out by direct observations in the field and from enquiries with hunters and pastoral herders. The food preferences were studied by the method of the “Cafeteria test”. The activity diagram of the porcupine was established from direct observations carried out on five breeding farms.
The ecological study showed that the porcupine frequents above all the savannas and the fallows. It likes gravelly soils and rocky outcroppings and lives in burrows abandoned by other mammals or that it digs itself.
The dietary patterns are essentially phytophage and the vegetal species that form part of the diet of the porcupine are: roots (Manihot esculenta, Cochlospermum tinctorium), tubercules (Discorea sp. and Ipomoea batatas), leaves (Boerhavia sp., Manihot esculenta and Lactuca sativa), seeds (Zea mays and Sorghum sp.) and ripe fruit (Annona senegalensis, Vitellaria paradoxa and Psidium guajava). This experimental study of its food preferences revealed that manioc roots and the leaves of Boerhavia sp and of Solanum nigrum are consumed the most.
The daily activities observed were the following: resting, feeding, walking, grooming, urinating, playing, stretching, defecating and drinking. Resting and feeding take up most of its time. The rest period is during the day, between 8 am and 6 pm and the eating period is intense between 8 pm and midnight.
Ethno-zoological, socio-economic and cultural studies have shown that the porcupine is of great importance to the local residents.

Keywords: Dietary patterns – Activity diagramme – Ethnozoology – Benin

54Armand Paraïso, Agnés Thomas-Odjo: “A research program on the entomology of the protected areas of Benin”

The forest potential of Benin is made up of fifty-eight mountain ranges covering 2 664 075 ha, or about 23 % of the area of the nation. It is composed of forty-six classified forests, seven reforestation areas, two national parks and three hunting preserves. Species counts in these forests have revealed a very rich biodiversity. The entomology of these forests however, is very little known but deserves greater attention and conservation.
The knowledge of forest insects, notably the wood-boring organisms, is also economically important owing to the reduction in the quantity of marketable wood that they can cause.
The objective of our research program is to establish a repertory of the entomological wildlife in different protected areas of Benin and to identify the insects that are potentially damaging with a view to bringing them under control.

Keywords: Sylviculture – Wood-boring insects – Integrated management

55Philippe Rey-Herme: “Epizooties, contamination of wildlife threatened by domestic animals”

Without being a determining factor, the diseases of wildlife can constitute a factor of extinction for small populations of endangered species.
These diseases often originate from domestic animals. Some examples are rabies and the lycaon (Lycaon pictus) in protected areas of East and South Africa, as well as buffalo tuberculosis (Syncerus caffer) in South Africa. Domestic animals often constitute reservoirs of disease for wildlife.
Depending on the disease, contamination can be direct by contact or indirect from the environment, predation often being another channel for contamination. This risk requires appropriate management.
The evaluation of risk is based on:

• firstly, an assessment of the health status of domestic animals of the region as well on the examination of the modes of contamination compatible with the mode of care for domestic animals of the region, this can ideally be completed by samples from wildlife;
• secondly, a rigorous analysis of the risk would make it possible to reveal the critical points and thus it would become possible to envisage an appropriate management that would make it possible to minimize the risk of epizooties among the small populations of endangered species.

Keywords: Disease reservoir populations – Types of contaminations – Risk analysis

56Abdou Rachidi Saliou, Brice Sinsin: “Use of the natural resources by the riverain populations and environmental degradation in the hunting preserve of the Djona”

The hunting preserve of the Djona is subject to high pressure related to its occupation by agro-pastoral activities which are extensive agriculture and traditional herding marked by sedentarization and transhumance. These different threats are responsible for the reduction of the biological diversity of this reserve.
The objective of this study is to expose the different types of threats that weigh on the biodiversity and to propose efficient measures for its sustainable conservation.
Phyto-sociological data have made it possible to provide a typology to vegetal groupings from their floristic composition. A diachronic study of the occupation of the soil was carried out by comparing two maps of the occupation of the soil at different periods.
The results indicate a decrease in biological diversity due to a regression of fringe forests, wooded and treed savannas in favour of shrubland savannas, fields and fallows. If these regressive trends in the vegetation are maintained, wildlife run the risk of seeing their habitat disappear, which will inevitably lead to their disappearance.

Keywords: Phyto-sociological groups – Vegetation dynamics – Anthropic pressure – Herding – Extensive agriculture

57Chantal Shalukoma: “The participation of the Pygmy people in the conservation of the national park of Kahuzi-Biega (democratic republic of the Congo)”

The national park of Kahuzi-Biega, in the east of the democratic republic of the Congo, is a world heritage site and a sanctuary of biodiversity. It harbours notably the gorillas of the plains, Gorilla gorilla graueri. Protected since 1970, this park had to be placed in 1996 on the list of endangered world heritage sites. The socio-economic conditions of the peripheral populations have declined, especially those of the Pygmy people who have been dislodged from the forest without any accompanying measures. To survive in an area where there are few alternatives, they have sometimes been accomplices in the destruction of natural resources, particularly in highly sensitive areas. However, their great knowledge and real ecological awareness makes the Pygmy people essential actors in the conservation of this national park.
Two sorts of experimental solutions were tested by the national park to remedy this situation. The first consisted of recruiting from among the Pygmy people those who were reputed to be excellent poachers and those who were involved in the trafficking of wildlife. This had the effect of greatly reducing the massacres of gorillas, elephants and chimpanzees as well as the excessive exploitation of certain tree species. The second solution was to conduct research/action on the domestication of wild yams which represent 46.8 % of the diet of the Pygmy people. The satisfactory results of trials have encouraged the popularization of this root crop, which is an important contribution to the food security the people, but also to the conservation of this non-ligneous forest product.

Keywords: Democratic republic of the Congo (DRC) – National park of Kahuzi-Biega – Pygmies-participation

58Brice Sinsin, Laurent Djodjouwin: “Ecotourist potential of protected areas in the republic of Benin. The sites of Agbassa, the Kouffé mountains and mount Soubakpérou”

Since the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development was held in Rio in 1992, the republic of Benin has taken a number of institutional measures to promote the conservation and sustainable management of natural resources. Among these measures are the adoption of the National Agenda 21, the ratification of certain international agreements such as that of Ramsar, the development and adoption in 1993 of the environmental action plan, the revision of the forest code in 1933, the development of a new forest policy in 1994, the redefinition of the tasks and roles of the forestry service and particularly those of the agents of the forestry service. These strategy documents have favored a new approach to the management of natural resources by the community that associates communities in decision-making on the management of the resources of protected areas in general.
Thus, between 1996 and 1999, the classified forests of Tchaourou-Toui-Kilibo, the Upper Ouémé-N’Dali, Goungoun, Sota and Pénéssoulou have been provided with participative improvement plans.
The analysis of the documents of these plans, as well as the management plans that were drawn up reveals a striking fact: the exploitation of the ecotourist potential of the forests is missing. Apart from the improvement plan of the Upper Ouémé-N’Dali, which is briefly mentioned, the other plans have completely overlooked this form of utilization of natural resoures. However, as Sinsin has emphasized (1998), the wildlife resources and beauty of the landscape constitute, in the same way as domestic animals; agriculture and sylviculture, a mode of land use.
It is thus to fill this gap that this study was conducted in 2001 with a view to identifying the ecotourist sites that are characteristic of the region of the Kouffé mountains of Benin.
Three important sites were identified and studied on the basis of criteria relative to cultural and historical aspects, to the beauty of the landscape and to the richness of the flora and fauna.
Following this, we carried out an analysis of the advantages and constraints related to the ecotourist development of the sites identified as well as the formulation of possibilities for their improvement within the framework of the startup of the Improvement Program for the Forest Blocks of Agoua, Wari-Meno and the Kouffé mountains.

Keywords: Institutional measures – Participative improvement plans

59Brice Sinsin: “Biomonitoring of habitats and endangered species. Contribution ofresearch to the interpretation of protected areas”

The exploitation of protected areas through visual tourism is generally founded on the observation of wildlife, sometimes also on landscapes, in cases where the natural environment offers spectacular sights, such as the great craters of East Africa. However, in most protected areas in West and Central Africa, the sights of touristic interest other than the large animals are rarely documented and explained to visitors. The long-term program for ecological monitoring implemented by the laboratory for applied ecology at the university of Abomey-Calavi has as its purpose to better focus on various sites, protected or not, and the condition of degradation and/or conservation of ecosystems. Several of the activities around which the lab is founded could be of interest to tourists. Data assembled can in effect encourage tourists – informed or not – who are looking for information about the natural environment by assisting them to interpret it in scientific terms. There are several kinds of information/

1. The flora and the dynamics of the vegetation of savannas subject to various regimes of pasture and fire (including their total absence).
2. The role of certain animal populations such as elephants, which induce significant changes in the structure of the phytocenoses.
3. Certain groups of endangered primates such as the red-bellied monkey in small forests and on village lands.

Monitoring wildlife on village lands is carried out with the participation of the local residents who contribute to the conservation of endangered species sometimes encountered in habitats that are very degraded by agriculture and human habitations.

Keywords: Ecological monitoring – Tourism – Wildlife – Flora – Benin

60Brice Sinsin, Oscar Tèka, Gaston Hounguè, Adi Mama: “Fire, a management tool for natural rangelands. Experiments in the Sudano-guinean zone of Benin”

The main vegetal groups identified on the cattle farms of Okpara (FEO), Bétécoucou (FEB) and Samiondji (FES) were subject to grazing and to three types of controlled fire (early, late and dry-season), including on ungrazed and unburnt controls. The reactions of the vegetation to these treatments were analyzed through several indicators relative to the level of biomass, to the new shoots of the hemicryptophytes to the use of the rangelands, to overgrowth and pastoral utility.
The exploitation of pastures differs from one farm to another (p=0.03), but the average coefficients of pasture use are similar: 63.46 ± 6.01 % (FEO), 63.49 ± 10.23 % (FEB) and 55.44 ± 9.69 % (FES). In addition, the exploitation of rangelands is random and is not related to vegetal groups.
Grazing reduces the biomass of the rangelands but this varies from one year to another. The many environments react differently to grazing without showing any significant difference from one farm to the next. This variability seems to be related to the floristic composition and to the dominant species which differ from one pasture to another.
Early fire positively influences the regrowth of the hemicryptophytes, while late fire, in contrast, inhibits this regrowth. As for fire during the dry season, its influence on the new growth of hemicryptophytes is not significant and the indices of impact vary from one year to the next.
Overgrazing significantly inhibits the new growth of hemicryptophytes on all the sites.
Late fire is the best factor for the reduction of the bush encroachment of pastures.

Keywords: Types of fire – Impact on vegetation – Pasture – Biological type – Plant biomass

61Nestor Sokpon, Samadori Honoré Biaou, Christine Ouinsavi, Ousman Hunhyet, Orou Gaoué: “Specific composition and structure of the ligneous vegetation of the Pendjari national park and its buffer zone in northwestern Benin”

A phyto-sociological survey of the ligneous vegetation of the Pendjari national park and its buffer zone was carried out through 155 relevés. A series analysis on the basis of a correspondence analysis showed several groups of relevés: a riparian forest located the length of the Pendjari, two fringe forests, a dry forest, two open woodlands, a wooded savanna, two swampy savannas, a treed savanna, a shrubland savanna and a shrubland savanna on rocky outcroppings.
The basal area of closed stands (riparian forest, fringe forests and dry forests) measured from 22 to 46 m²/ha, whereas the open woodlands and treed savannas measured about 12 m²/ha for and more open savannas measured from 3 to 6 m²/ha. Natural regeneration is seriously compromised by uncontrolled bushfires in the open vegetation (savannas and woodlands). The impact of fire on natural regeneration is not sufficiently taken into account in the closed forests (riparian, fringe and dry forests).

Keywords: Ligneous vegetal groups – Basal area – Fire

62Boni Sounon Bouko, Brice Sinsin: “The impact of the immigration of farmers around protected areas. A case study of the riverain villages around the classified forest of Wari-Maro (Benin)”

Following the arrival of immigrant farmers, the pressure on cultivable lands has increased greatly in the riverain villages of the classified forest of Wari-Maro (107 500 ha) in central Benin in the guineo-sudan phyto-geographical transition zone. The population is composed of Nagot and Bariba native inhabitants and various outsiders in search of farm work or fertile land. The agricultural system consists of itinerant slash-and-burn agriculture, accompanied by small-scale raising of livestock. Up until recently, the local inhabitants lent the use of their lands without any compensation, with the sole proviso against planting trees. However, a new mode of exploitation has been developing: the immigrant farmers cultivate food crops on the fields that they have cleared, but the owner plants cashew nut trees on the same land. The arrival of immigrant farmers, which began during the sixties, has accelerated since 1997; sometimes it takes place in several stages. This agricultural colonization has led to the creation of new markets and to the proliferation of little hamlets along the roads. The region of the classified forest of Wari-Maro, even though still heavily wooded, is under serious threat in the medium term. The peripheries offer today the spectacle of a space that is practically stripped, where only a few Parkia biglobosa and Vitellaria paradoxa trees have been spared for their production. Intense, recent deforestation can be observed with incursions into the classified forest. The manufacture of charcoal has also increased during these last few years. The production of timber, for long limited to Khaya senegalensis, Afzelia africana and Pterocarpus erinaceus, has since 2000 included such species as Isoberlinia doka and clandestine logging is carried out in the classified forest. The openingup of the Wari-Maro zone has made possible the massive influx of migrants whose activities have resulted in a heavy pressure on the natural resources of the peripheries and threaten the classified forest itself.

Keywords: Migrant propulations – Agricultural colonization – Anthropic degradation – Exploitation of natural resources

63Thiou Tanzidani Komlan Tchamie: “Some reflections on participative management of protected areas for a better conservation of biodiversity in Togo”

The coercive management of classified forests has done great harm to the riverain populations. Such a policy has resulted in clashes between the government and the local inhabitants, which has had a negative impact on the biological resources of protected areas. Drawing on the lessons of the past, the government today has opted for a policy of participative management of protected areas. What should be done to bring about the effective involvement of the local inhabitants in this new conception of environmental protection which is the “conservation-participation” of the biological resources of protected areas?

Keywords: Biological resources – Conservation – Coercive management – Participative management

64Aristide Tehou: “The abundance and diversity of the large mammals in the Biosphere Reserve of the Pendjari (Benin)”

In the contexte of the ecological monitoring of the biological diversity of the biosphere reserve of the Pendjari, several counting operations of the large mammals have been carried out. They have made it possible to obtain a precise idea of the evolution of wildlife from 1987 to 2002.
The present study accounts for the status of the wild mammals of the biosphere reserve of the Pendjari, located in the extreme northwestern part of the republic of Benin. It relates the density, the abundance and the distribution of wildlife in time and in space.
It appears clearly that, according to the estimation method, the period and the status of the reserve, the levels vary and take the form of an irregular curve. However, to make a better analysis possible, we did only take into account the last three field counts (2000, 2001 and 2002) in the central area of the reserve (an area of 2 660 km²) that were all carried out using the same method.

Keywords: Multi-year counts – Spatial distribution of wild mammals – Estimation methods

65Agossou Brice Hugues Tente, Brice Sinsin: “The degradation and erosion of the slopes of the Atacora mountains outside the Pendjari biosphere reserve (Benin)”

The processes of degradation and erosion of the hillsides were studied along transects set up on both sides of the slopes of the Atacora in the lands around the villages of Perma and Toucountouna where the dominant activity is agriculture. The specific richness of ligneous species on these slopes varies from 5 to 55 species per 900 m² depending on the topographical position. The analysis of the results of experimental operations shows a loss in the lithosoils formed, no matter what the topographical position. The loss of land is from 1 to 2 cm depth at the summit, 1 to 12 cm on steep slopes and 1 to 6 cm half way down. In all cases, large trees collapse or their roots are exposed. The depressions at the bottom of the slopes are strewn with pebbles and fine particles are carried farther away in the streams the beds of which serve to provide sand for the riverain populations. The factors which contribute to this degradation are climatic, edaphic, topographic and anthropic. Among these factors, those which are climatic and anthropic appear to be the most determinant.

Keywords: Slopes – Climatic and anthropic determinants

66Anada Tiega: “Priorities for the conservation of wetlands in Africa”

The people of the African continent and the neighboring islands are naturally preoccupied with the question of water, since it is the element that determines the availability of natural resources in all of Africa. Most Africans rely directly on natural resources for drinking water, food, shelter, health and the provision of domestic energy.
The moist ecosystems provide important goods, services, functions and water resources. In this regard, the biodiversity of all the protected areas in the semiarid and arid environments are critically dependent on the availability of fresh water resources as well as on the health and the productivity of fresh water ecosystems.
Even the coastal protected areas are heavily influenced by the nutrients and the sediments of continental aquatic systems. The pollution originating from the activities of a country is a crucial issue for the conservation of the coastal ecosystems.
The priorities for the conservation of wetlands are diverse and complex and result from individual occupations such as that of the local fishermen, as well as those related to the global objectives of international agreements, such as Agenda 21 and the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar, Iran, 1971).
However, African countries share common interests in relation to the conservation of biodiversity in wetlands.
The main problems and threats to the conservation of the biodiversity of wetlands in Africa originate from incomplete understanding of wetlands and their importance, a lack of political conviction, mediocre policies and strategies and a lack of appropriate legislative frameworks which result in insufficient programs and activities for the protection of the functions and usefulness of wetlands.
A common dilemma encountered by those who define policies and make the decisions is to weigh the short-term advantages, obtained from unsustainable practices of use of the land, against the medium- and long-term advantages obtained by long-term programs that support the functions and usefulness of wetlands.
In response to these challenges, certain sectors where efforts are being made to conserve the biodiversity of wetlands in Africa are: the inventory and evaluation of wetlands, the policies/strategies for water and wetlands, legislation and regulations, pollution control, techniques of economic evaluation, environmental training and education and public awareness. This paper explores these priority actions which may help to surmount or to mitigate the main problems related to the loss of biodiversity due to the degradation of the wetland ecosystem.

Keywords: Ramsar – Public policy – Short- and long-term advantages

67Peggy Tohinlo, Roch L. Mongbo, Anne Floquet: “Local institutions and the management of natural resources. The case of the fluvio-lacustrine complex ofAgonvé in Benin”

In spite of their multiple functions (environmental, scientific, cultural…), the moist zones of Benin have no protected area. The many projects of participative management of protected areas have shown little interest in the natural resources of moist zones that the local inhabitants depend on for their survival. In addition to their systems of knowledge and diversified modes of exploitation, these people have developed customary systems related to local beliefs for a management that is supposed to ensure the protection or the renewal of resources. It is generally agreed that the demographic expansion of these zones and the market economy have harmed traditonal systems of management, whereas modern regulations designed to limit abuses are not respected. Consequently, resources are subject to degradation. In addition, it has long been recognized that common goods are used more intensively than private goods.
These assumptions on the degradation of natural resources in wetlands as well as the loss in the functionality of local institutions deserve to be verified. Based on the case of the fluvio-lacustrine complex of Agonvé (Zangnanado), we show that if changes resembling a crisis of values are ongoing in the traditional institutions and systems of rules, they nevertheless still contribute to the maintenance of resources, as is proven by the ecological and economic parameters identified.
We present here 1) the indigenous knowledge of the local inhabitants relating to their resources and their fishing practices; 2) the local institutions and rules established as well as the changes that have taken place over time; 3) the relationships between these rules and the conservation of the ichthyological habitats and fauna of the lake; 4) the relationships between the rules for the management of halieutic resources and the local economy. Finally, 5), we analyze the value of all this for policies designed to improve and manage areas worthy of protection.

Keywords: Decentralized participative management _ Traditional systems _ Management of common goods _ Functionality of local institutions _ Indigenous knowledge.

68Ismaïla Toko Imorou, Brice Sinsin: “The phenomena of erosion and natural collapse of soils (‘dongas’) in the national park W and their impact on vegetal regeneration”

The phenomena of erosion and natural collapse of soils (“dongas”) were studied at thirty-eight sites in the national park W of Benin. The “dongas” are vast lowlands of 0.50 to 3.50 ha in area and 0.20 to 7.5 m in depth, with steep walls and sparse vegetal cover. Their formation is favored by the degradation of vegetal cover and the high vulnerability of soils to erosion.
The “dongas”, of various sizes and forms, generally are not in contact with any water course, but are often covered with rivulets that carry materials towards streams 100 m to 2 km away.

Keywords: Morphology of the “dongas” – Link with streams

69Toko Mouhamadou, André Ozer: «Progressive occupation of the land around the classified forest of Three Rivers. The areas of Bessassi, Lou and Nassikonsi (Commune of Kalalé, Benin) between 1949 and 1986»

In sub-Saharan Africa, the exploitation of natural resources in the peripheries of protected areas leads to environmental degradation. A diachronic study of aerial photographs from 1949 and 1986 of the classified forest of Three Rivers and its periphery shows clearly the heavy increase in anthropic pressure, engendering illicit deforestation. Research on new techniques of soil protection and methods adapted to the management of pastoral resources must be undertaken.

Keywords: Diachronic study _ Aerial photographs _ Demographic growth _ Soil fertility _ Degradation

70Jérôme Ebagnerin Tondoh, Vincent Miller: “Typology of systems of land use and a prognosis for the sustainable management of the periphery of the national park ofTaï in Ivory Coast”

After poaching, the infiltration of peasant farmers looking for land suitable for profitable cash crops (coffee and cocoa) represents the second major constraint for the conservation of the national park of Taï. Today, the activities of the riverain population of 400 000 inhabitants, who are mostly peasant farmers, seriously threatens the integrity of this park. If we wish to preserve the last great moist tropical forest of West Africa, it appears urgent to propose alternative methods of land use to the traditional agricultural system of itinerant slash-and burn, which consumes large spaces. This study is based on surveys and observations of different socio-geographic groups as well as on the analysis of agro-ecological transects aimed at showing the functional units. The study establishes a typology of land use systems in the western periphery of the national park of Taï as a basis for reflections on the sustainable improvement of agricultural systems of production. The results showed that the systems of land use are closely related to the ethnic origin of the farmer, but also to on-going changes in agricultural practices. Thus we demonstrate a trend towards the intensification of food crops with cultivation in lowland, short fallows and the use of chemical fertilizers.

Keywords: Tropical moist forest – Land use – Cash crops

71Christophe Tossou Cocou: “The national fund for desertification control comes to the assistance of protected areas of Benin”

In most cases, the co-management of the natural resources of classified areas only lasts until the end of the projects. Afterwards, the local committees are no longer capable of providing the means necessary for the rational management of protected areas and there is a problem of financial autonomy and mobilization of funds. Within the framework of the implementation of the United Nations convention on desertification control through its programme of national action for desertification control, the government of Benin created its own national fund which is today the financial instrument for this purpose. The stated missions of this fund are:

• to support projects for income creation in areas related to desertification control likely to provide the people of Benin with the means of subsistence;
• to reinforce local capacities for implementation, coordination, monitoring and evaluation of actions of desertification control;
• to mobilize the resources necessary for the organization of assistance in desertification control;
• to support the management of natural resources in relation community property;
• to promote public awareness of the effects of drought;
• to ensure the promotion of sustainable management practices of natural resources.

The structure of the management and control of the fund is based on the principles of representation of all interested parties within the management bodies, on transparency and on making collective decisions as to the allocation of resources.
The main source of internal financing is and remains the national budget, followed by the private sector, local communities and non-governmental organizations. On the external side, sources include bilateral assistance and multi-lateral assistance. For sustainable financing of protected areas, it is necessary to synergize all these sources by reinforcing communities to work out rational development plans.

Keywords: Financing of protected areas – National fund

72Jérôme Tubiana: “Relations between wildlife and herders in the Sahara. The case of the Teda-Daza of the Termit mountains and the Ayar (eastern Niger)”

South of the Tenere desert and North of the plains of Ayar, the Termit mountains and the dunes which surround them are one of the last places in the Sahara where wildlife subsists in spite of hunting and doubtless where the number of species is the greatest, in spite of the reduced space and the extreme harshness of the climatic conditions. The protection of these zones has been planned since the fifties, but never carried out, essentially for political reasons. However, it is probable that it will be carried out soon, as a result of a new favourable impetus in the framework of the Bonn convention on migratory species. The zoological mission of the National Museum of Natural History (MNHN) and the RU 136 of the Research Institute for Development (IRD) in which I participated during October-November 2002 also contributed to this regain of interest for the site, notably in revealing its wealth of wildlife. From the ethno-zoological point of view, the results obtained during the course of this mission enabled me to complete those previously obtained in northern Chad in similar natural environments, inhabited by the same wildlife and the same ethnic groups (in this case the Teda-Daza, more well known by the name Tubu).
The Teda-Daza are essentially herders of camels and goats. It can be observed that the wild animal has very little importance in their material life. Hunting is not essential for their diet and is only practised by particular categories of the population. Paradoxically, an unexpected importance is accorded to wild animals in their culture, which could play a very positive role in projects for the protection or re-introduction of wildlife in Niger or in Chad.

Keywords: Teda-Daza herders – Ethno-zoology – Hunting

73Jean-Chrysostome Usengumuremyi, Alexandre Ickowicz, Ibra Toure: “The impact of pasturing domestic animals on the vegetation of the Djoudj national bird sanctuary in Senegal”

In the Djoudj national bird sanctuary, the seasonal and inter-annual variation of landscape units and vegetal communities as well as bodies of water are determined mainly by the floods of the Senegal river and the opening dates of the floodgates of the Diama and Manantali dams.
The reduction in the pastoral rangelands in the periphery of the park following hydro-agricultural improvements, has led to the use of these forage resources, especially during the dry season, such that cattle also contribute to remodelling habitats.
An impact study of pasturing on the vegetation was carried out under the hypothesis of controlled use of the Djoudj national bird sanctuary by the riverain populations because the price that would have to be paid is the biodiversity of the sanctuary.

Keywords: Water management – Cattle – Pasture – National park

74Max Vidal, Manoli Nontanovanh, Jean-Louis Devineau, Jean-Claude Doumnang, André Pouclet: “The geological substratum and the sharing of land in southernChad. The region of lakes Léré and Tréné and the Binder Nayri wildlife reserve”

The Binder Nayri wildlife reserve is located in the province of Mayo Dala in southwestern Chad, near lakes Léré and Tréné. The great lake of Léré is very rich in resources and its proximity to the main road between Cameroon and the Central African Republic favors trade.
The negative effects of massive migrations have been making themselves felt for the last ten years and the region is overpopulated at the local level. Agriculture, the mainstay of local life, already harmed by these concentrations of population, is further fragilized by the climatic trend towards lower precipitation. Finally, the protection of wildlife in the reserve of 135 000 ha deprives the local inhabitants of the surrounding villages of an important source of game.
The present research is a study of how the natural resources are distributed and shared in the region of Léré, an environment that is sought after by its inhabitants and subject to climatic hazards, with a focus on the resources provided by the soil and the sub-soil.
On the basis of a field analysis from space (geological and pedological mapping) completed by a bibliography, the method chosen also calls on remote detection tools (Spot 5) for updating the map of soil occupation. The global compilation results in the establishment of a series of topo-litho-sequences that make it possible to better understand the organization of landscapes.
The correlation, in terms of agro-pastoral and mining resources, of the variations in the soils and the substratum, with an analysis of the current use of these resources provides some indications of the economic and social dynamics in the region of Léré, but also the outlook for soil occupation in this area.

Keywords: Mapping – Topolithosequences – Remote detection – Spot 5

75Kperkouma Wala, Brice Sinsin, Karen Hahn-Hadjali and Koffi Akpagana: “Theconservation of Afzelia Africana and Pterocarpus erinaceus wooded savannas in the Atacora mountains (northern Benin)”

The Atacora mountains crosses Togo and Northwestern Benin sideways, with one portion included in the Biosphere Reserve of the Pendjari while the other is freely accessible. In this unprotected portion, the tree species Afzelia africana, Khaya senegalensis and Pterocarpus erinaceus are subject to heavy pastoral pressure by Fulani herders. In the stands of Afzelia africana and Pterocarpus erinaceus, the Shannon diversity index varies from 4.17 bits (unprotected zone) to 4.45 bits (protected zone). The Student’s T-test shows a significant difference between these two values at the threshold of 2 %. In addition, the size of the ligneous species is smaller in the unprotected zone. The Pendjari Reserve does indeed contribute to the protection of these vegetal formations.

Keywords: Pendjari Reserve – Diversity index – Structure of the vegetation – Efficiency of protected areas – Pastoral pressure

76Nadine Worou, Brice Sinsin: “Ecotourism in a forest zone: the case of the classified forest of Lama in Benin”

The classified forest of Lama in southern Benin is a good example of the problem of ecotourism in the forest zone. The assets of this forest are diverse. They include first of all wildlife, with a sub-species of cercopithecus that is endemic to Benin (Cercopithecus erythrogaster erythrogaster), and also rare and endangered species such as the the black-and-white colobus (Colobus vellerosus) and the olive colobus (Procolobus verus). Considering the small size of these primates and the difficulty of approaching them, what is needed is to develop tourism around watching wildlife.
The observation of flora from improved trails within the central forest area could also constitute a pole of attraction for ecotourists, who could learn about forest ecology, recognize vegetal species and identify them by their scientific and local names, understand the uses of plants and the special meanings that they may have in local traditions. A final component could include the understanding the riverain populations, their traditions and their crafts. However, in spite of this rich potential, the classified forest of Lama does not benefit from any publicity, which explains its low level of recognition among the public on one hand and the lack of ecotourist activity on the other. In the face of such a situation and taking into account the potential offered by the classified forest of Lama, we think that the profile of tourists who might be interested in this site should be drawn up, with a view to developing an ecotourist package that best exploits the ecological potential of the site.

Keywords: Assets – Tourist products – Fauna – Flora – Publicity