- Impact of land-use on savanna vegetation and populations of
non-timber forest product-providing tree species in West Africa
(2011) - Savannas are the most important timber and non-timber
forest products (NTFPs) providing ecosystems in West Africa.
They have been shaped by traditional human land-use (i.e.
agriculture, grazing, and harvesting) for thousands of years. In
the last decades, land-use has drastically changed due to the
rapid population growth and the growing production of cash-crop
in West Africa and this process is still continuing. The
percentage of land intensively used for agriculture has
increased, while the length of fallow periods has decreased.
Such changes have enormous ecological, economic, and social
consequences. In the context of land-use changes, there is an
urgent need to better understand and evaluate the impact of
land-use on savannas. Such an understanding provides insights on
appropriate management activities that ensure the maintenance of
savannas and guarantee the availability