Sub-Saharan Africa
Mangrove Ecosystem Recovery and Restoration from Oil Spill in the Niger Delta: The GIS PerspectiveBackgroundIn Nigeria, Mangrove's provide critical environmental and economic services, including maintaining water quality, serving as breeding grounds for important fish and crustacean, and as a source of food and materials. Yet, the country also has a history of oil spills that threaten these important ecosystems. In order to understand the effects of oil spills on mangroves, this study examines the land cover change of mangrove ecosystems in the Niger Delta between 1986 and 2008. Open access copy available |
Lessons Learnt from WWF’s Worldwide Field Initiatives Aiming at Restoring Forest LandscapesbackgroundThis document provides a series of case studies about forest landscape restoration projects from across the WWF network. The authors provide overall lessons as well as country-specific lessons. The authors summarize lessons learned across programs for the different stages of restoration programs. Open access copy available |
Restoration and Rehabilitation of Degraded Ecosystems in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands. II. Case studies in Southern Tunisia, Central Chile and Northern CameroonbackgroundThis study compares non-human and human determinants of ecosystem degradation processes in three contrasted regions, as well as interventions tested in each. The three responses to ecosystem degradation under review are restoration, rehabilitation and reallocation as applied to ongoing projects in arid mediterranean region of southern Tunisia, the semi arid tropical savannas of northern Cameroon. Open access copy available |
Effect of Exotic Tree Plantations and Site Management on Plant DiversityBackgroundIn this study of species richness, species behavior and stand parameters were analyzed under fast growing exotic tree plantations and compared with the characteristics of nearby secondary forest patches in Pointe-Noire and Loudima in Congo. The plantations were established in a grass-dominated vegetation of native savanna. The planted species investigated were mainly eucalypts hybrid (PF1), and secondarily Acacia auriculiformis and Pinus caribaea. Open access copy available |
Plan Vivo, Restoration of degraded ecosystems in the Sahel Burkina FasoBackgroundThis project plans to restore and maintain the Sahelian woodland in northern Burkina Faso by working closely with communities of farmers whose livelihoods are dependent. Open access copy available |
Reforesting the Sahel: Farmer Managed Natural RegenerationBackgroundThis study describes the development of a simple income generating and self-promoting reforestation system called Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) developed in Maradi, Niger. FMNR is an agroforestry system based on the natural regeneration and management of tree systems from underground stumps. Open access copy available |
Diversity of Naturally-Regenerated Native Woody Species in Forest Plantations in the Ethiopian HighlandsbackgroundThis paper examines woody species diversity and understory vegetation of naturally regenerated native tree and shrub species in 4-plantation forests and adjacent natural forests in Wono Genet in Ethiopia. Research Goals & MethodsUnderstory woody species richness, abundance and herbaceous ground cover were recorded in plantations of Pinus patula, Cupressus lusitanica, Grevillea robusta and Juniperus procera. Available with subscription or purchase |
Experiences of a research institute in forest restoration practices in NigeriaBackgroundThis paper reports on the activities championed by the Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria within its mandates particularly in the area of forest conservation and management in six ecological zones of the country to recuperate the nations’ ecological integrity. Open access copy available |
Suitability of the Taungya System at North Kilimanjaro Forest Plantation, TanzaniabackgroundThis study analyses a taungya system in a north Kilimanjaro plantation forest in Tanzania. This study assesses the costs and revenues resulting from this system and the impacts to agriculture. Research Goals & MethodsField research was conducted to assess survival, food crop yield, financial feasability. Available with subscription or purchase |
Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration: The Niger ExperienceBACKGROUNDThis paper reviews the farmer managed natural regeneration (FMNR) program introduced in the Maradi region of Niger around 1983 to restore degraded parts of the lands. FMNR was started in response to past failures of restoration projects that were modeled for temperate climates and in societies and cultures different from those in West Africa. This prompted the use of more conventional traditional methods of regeneration from re-sprouts of felled trees without running expensive nurseries. Open access copy available |
