Impact of Gold Mining on Flora: The Case of the Sissengue Gold Mine (Northern Cote Divoire)

Abstract

This study was initiated to contribute to the sustainable management of biodiversity in mining sites in Cote dIvoire. Its objective is to determine the impacts of gold mining activities on the flora of the Sissengue gold mine located in the department of Tengrela in northern Cote dIvoire. The flora inventory was conducted along a 500 m transect combined with the surface survey and roving inventory methods. The surface survey method consisted of delimiting a 25 m x 25 m (400 m2) plot at the end of each transect. In total, nine (09) types of land use were identified in the site, namely annual crops, perennial crops, open forests, forest galleries, tree savannahs, shrub savannahs, burned areas, lakes or water reservoirs, and locality. The floristic inventories carried out in seven (07) types of land occupations allowed the identification of 207 plant species distributed among 155 genera and 61 families. In addition, thirteen (13) species with special ecological status and seven (07) species included in the IUCN red list, four of which are vulnerable. However, the floristic diversity is low in all plant formations with an average of 1.91. The shrubby savannahs record the highest densities with 1705 stems/ha while the forest galleries and open forests record the highest values of basal area, with respectively 37.2 m2/ha and 28.1 m2/ha. These vegetation formations are disturbed by the mines gold mining activities. Efforts to conserve areas dedicated to biodiversity conservation must be a priority for mining sites in Cote dIvoire.