| dc.description.abstract | This study is a contribution to the characterization of traditional agroforestry parklands in
Lower Casamance. It aims at determining the diversity
of species and the tree size structure in these
parklands, as well as at identifying the threats to their
sustainability, in order to assist decision making on
natural resource conservation. To this end, 45 plots of
50 9 50 m size were inventoried. In each plot, an
exhaustive inventory of trees was performed, including species identification, height measurement and
estimates of regeneration and mortality rates. Additionally, 116 stakeholders were interviewed about
their management practices, the revenue they obtained
from agroforestry parklands, and their opinion on the
future of these parks. A total of 2739 Elaeis guineensis
palm trees and 3948 trees from other species were
observed in the 11.25 ha studied. Hence a relative
density of 40.96 individuals of E. guineensis ha-1
. The
63 species belonged to 51 genus within 23 botanical
families. The analysis of tree communities indicated a
strong role of human management on the species
composition of parklands, with cultural value trees
near the villages and wood production trees further
away, and with some sites having more trees with
medicinal uses. The distribution of tree sizes of E.
guineensis and estimates of mortality and regeneration
rates indicated that the population of palm trees is
ageing and regeneration is too low to compensate
mortality. Based on interviews, palm production is
decreasing in the area, and causes of decline identified
by the farmers were salinization, drought, illegal
cutting, and bush fires, i.e., both natural and anthropogenic causes. In view of the importance of these
parklands for the local economy and food security,
better management of E. guineensis parklands is
required to ensure their sustainability. | en_US |
