Forest Resources Depletion: An Ecological Model for Biodiversity Preservation and Conservation in Cote D’Ivoire

Abstract

The biodiversity-rich primary forest of Cote d’Ivoire has been substantially converted into a mosaic of secondary forests, cash and lumber plantations, food crops, and timber plantations, food crops, and wasteland. Deforestation started even before independence but has increased dramatically in the last three decades, resulting in the loss of most of the country’s biodiversity. It is essential to have information about the condition of the country’s natural resources following many human pressures. This research aimed to examine the Cote d’Ivoire Phytogeographical zones to understand the state of the wood’s ad wildlife in 2020 about the anthropic pressure on the whole Ivorian land. The Land-Use Planner approach has been used as a tool for creating a model for preserving biodiversity. There are 15 endangered tree species recognized, five each phytogeographical zone. Buffaloes are seen and distributed in the West and north of Cote d’Ivoire, duikers are observed in nearly all phytogeographical zones, elephants are observed in the West and North. At the same time, harnessed guibs are observed and dispersed across the nation, according to the findings. In terms of endangered tree species, the most frequent endangered trees species in the country’s south are Strombosia pustulata (6.2%), Diospyros mannii (5.1%), Protomegabaria stapfiana (3.7%), Musanga cecropiodes (3.6%), and Xylopia quintasii (3.2%). In the Middle Tectona grandis accounts for (11.8%), Nesogordonia papaverifera accounts for (4.2%), Cedrela odorata accounts for (3.7%), and Gmelia Arborea accounts for (2.8%). In the North, Isoberlinia doka accounts for (10.3%), Upaca togoenisis accounts for 8.9%, Anogeisssus leicarpa accounts for (5.1%), Pterocarpus erinaceus accounts for (4.6%), and Pericopsis laxiflora accounts for (3.9%). In reforested woods, the volume of merchantable wood timber of the P1, P2, and P3 categories per hectare is more significant than in wild forests. We find that biodiversity is severely endangered. Endemic species have decreased due to human activities like agriculture and logging, which are the root causes of deforestation and animal and plant biodiversity loss.