AGROFORESTRY SYSTEMS AND BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION IN FITRI, CHAD

Abstract

The valorisation of land use systems implies the conservation of certain species whose utility depends on the socio-economic and ecological context. The objective of this study was to assess the contribution of land-use systems to biodiversity conservation in the Fitri division of Chad. Semi-structured and repeated surveys were undertaken with a sample of 232 households of which 92 in Amndjamena Bilala, 73 in Abourda and 67 in Alifa. A floristic inventory of woody species was carried out using 50m square plots in the different land use systems. A total of 84 plots were realised with 24 per production system. A total of 1366 woody plants registered, were distributed in 31 species, 30 genera and 12 families. The most representative families are Fabaceae (40.35%). The Shannon index varies from 3.33 bits in the orchards to 3.62 bits in the allotments in the Alifa site. These woody species provide goods and services to the local population. Acacia ehrenbergiana, Faidherbia albida, Borassus aethiopum, Leptadenia arborea and Ziziphus mucronata have an important value index (IVI) greater than 10%. The Fabaceae family is the most represented with 19 species. The study also revealed that the floristic diversity is important in Alifa locality. The demographic structure of the major species exhibits a normal distribution indicating that young and mature trees are scarce in production systems of Fitri. The future research will be focused on productivity of the agroforestry systems.