Land Use and Land-Cover Change at “W” Biosphere Reserve and Its Surroundings Areas in Benin Republic (West Africa)

Abstract

<p>Biosphere Reserves stand as the worldwide strategy of biological conservation. However, the current global land use change involves extensive loss of vegetation cover around the reserves and increase their vulnerability and their ecological isolation. The overall objective of this study was to assess the trends of land covers change in- and outside the “W” Biosphere Reserve (WBR) in Benin as well as the driving forces of land cover change in order to provide tools for its sustainable management. For this purpose, two serial times of maps from Landsat images TM 1995 and ETM+ 2006 were used to assess the rates and trends of the different land cover units from 1995 to 2006. Socioeconomic surveys based on structured interviews were conducted with 240 households in 8 villages around the reserve. Land clearing, tree logging, settlement and grazing were frequently quoted by the households as main driver forces inducing land cover change around WBR. Probability transition matrices of land cover displayed high probabilities (>0.6) in the southern part of WBR and moderate probabilities (0.3 to 0.5) in the northern part of WBR for woodland and savanna vegetation to be changed into cropland outside the reserve showing the persistence of vegetation degradation around WBR in the coming years. Our study revealed the urgent necessity of the development of conservation action planning to stop the agricultural frontline progression toward the reserve.</p

Spatio-Temporal Dynamics in Land Use and Habitat Fragmentation within a Protected Area Dedicated to Tourism in a Sudanian Savanna of West Africa

“…These dynamics attest to the ongoing deforestation in southern Burkina Faso. This conversion was also noticed elsewhere in West Africa (Badjana et al, 2015;Houessou et al, 2013;Zoungrana et al, 2015).…”

Understanding relations between pastoralism and its changing natural environment

“…The preference for adaptive traits can possibly be attributed to the changes in the pastoral environment occurring in the area of study (Tamou et al, 2016a). In the periphery of the WBR, the encroachment of arable land at the expense of natural and semi-natural areas is resulting in a loss and fragmentation of grazing areas and watering points (Avakoudjo et al, 2014;Clerici et al, 2007;Houessou et al, 2013;Tamou et al, 2016a). Hence, preference for breeds that withstand hunger or with high endurance to walk in search for forage may reflect strategies to cope with shortage of pasture and watering points (Liao et al, 2016).…”

“…This was frustrating for the crop farmers living close to the WBR, even more so, because the land in the WBR once belonged to their ancestors and they feel that if someone has rights to these lands it should be them. In addition, in the South West part of the WBR (which is not part of the study area, but adjacent to it), thousands of hectares of lands are cultivated inside the Park (Houessou et al, 2013) with no reaction from Park officers. This situation, known to the inhabitants in the study area, has raised complaints and frustrations among the crop farmers and pastoralists.…”

“…The Biosphere Reserve of W in Benin Republic (WBR) and its surrounding land are located in the agro-pastoral contact zone in West Africa (De Haan et al, 1990), implying that land is suitable for crop farming and pastoralism, potentially enabling competition for land. In, and especially in the periphery of the WBR, natural vegetation (grazing land) is being converted into cropland (Avakoudjo et al, 2014;Clerici et al, 2007;Houessou et al, 2013). This not only implies a loss of grazing land with a specific biodiversity value, but it may also change the pastoral system.…”

“…forest and savannah) into cropland (Avakoudjo et al, 2014;Clerici et al, 2007;Houessou et al, 2013). These studies focus on the regression of natural vegetation and the expansion of cropland, but little is said about the habitats and resources for pastoralists.…”