Forest Resources and Plantations of the Gambia

EUROPEAN COMMISSION DIRECTORATE-GENERAL VIII DEVELOPMENT

Data Collection and Analysis for Sustainable Forest Management in ACP Countries - Linking National and International Efforts

EC-FAO PARTNERSHIP PROGRAMME (1998-2002) Tropical forestry Budget line B7-6201/97-15/VIII/FOR PROJECT GCP/INT/679/EC

Forest resources and plantations of the Gambia

Jato S. Sillah Senior Forestry Officer Department of Forestry

October 1999 Banjul, The Gambia

This report has been produced as an out put of the EC-FAO Partnership Programme (1998-2002) - Project GCP/INT/679/EC Data Collection and Analysis for Sustainable Forest Management in ACP Countries - Linking National and International Efforts. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the EC or the FAO. This paper has been minimally edited for clarity and style

1 Table of contents:

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...... 4 1. Introduction ...... 6 2. Forest classifications...... 6 3. Status of the Gambian forests...... 8 4. Land use shifts ...... 12 4.1 Forested lands ...... 12 4.2 Woodlands ...... 12 4.3 Mangroves ...... 12 4.4 Fallow areas...... 12 4.5 Agriculture with trees ...... 13 4.6 Agriculture with no trees ...... 13 4.7 Others...... 13 5. Degradation of forests ...... 14 5.1 Forest fires ...... 14 5.2 Uncontrolled usage of forest products...... 15 5.3 Increasing demand on forest products in particular fuel wood...... 15 5.4 Conversion of forest into farmland...... 17 5.5 Over-grazing of forest resources ...... 17 6. Forest categories ...... 18 7. Forest Management...... 19 8. Wildlife Management...... 22 9. Forest uses and related issues (Utilisation)...... 24 List of documents reviewed...... 28

List of tables:

Table 1: Land use Classes of Forests...... 7 Table 2: Development of forest cover from 1946 to 1999...... 9 Table 3: Change in forest area in The Gambia (ha.)...... 9 Table 4: Change of condition of open woodlands from 1982 to 1997 ...... 10 Table 5: Change of condition of tree and shrub savanna from 1982 to 1997...... 11 Table 6: Land use change in The Gambia (1980-1993) ...... 13 Table 7: Comparison of stocking volumes and annual increments (1982 - 1997) ...... 16 Table 8: Forests under controlled management...... 18 Table 9: Proportion of forest categories under management...... 18 Table 10: Total planned management forest area per division 1995 - 2005 ...... 21 2 Table 11: Forest parks and potential community forest areas ...... 21 Table 12: Status of protected areas ...... 23 Table 13: Predicted available wood volume per division...... 25 Table 14: Commercial fuelwood trade in The Gambia in m3...... 26 Table 15: Forest Production (logs) in 1000 m3 and imported wood...... 26 Table 16: Common Trees and their Nutritional Content per 100 g of edible portion ... 27

3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Most of Gambia’s forest cover was categorised as closed forest of the Guinea-savanna and Sudan-savanna types. Before independence, Gambia was endowed with dense forests. However, with the increasing human population since in the early 50s, the equilibrium that ever existed started declining at a steadily faster rate as a result of the unsustainable usage such as the extraction of wood and non-wood products, expansion of agricultural activities and frequent incidences of fire. Consequently many of the forests have undergone changes, more often to secondary succession, resulting to lesser dense forests, poor regeneration potential, lower growth, undesirable grass occupation and lower plant species diversity.

Before the designation of the Department of Forestry in 1976, the then forestry unit under the Department of Agriculture concentrated only on the protection of the natural forest and the establishment of plantations.

The efforts in plantation and woodlot development to supply wood products and to improve the status quo of the natural resources could not be successfully achieved as desired. This was due to the high demand on forest resources, the frequency of uncontrolled bush fire and the high cost of plantation development. Furthermore, the predicted rate of forest destruction (about 5 -6% annually), has been faster than both the establishment rate of plantations and the development of a more efficient forestry extension service for the effective and sustainable management of forest resources.

Even though there was no formal policy review, all attempts were made to shift and concentrate the administration's attention and efforts on managing the natural forests while plantation operations continued to be limited to management of existing ones.

Through such intervention and the bilateral support from the Federal Republic of Germany through GTZ, seven of the sixty-six gazetted forest parks were successfully managed through protection against the annual bush fires and through enrichment planting

4 Due to the limitations of the first policy objectives and the 1978 forest legislation for the realisation of the GFMC which aims at the sustainable and cost effective management of the natural forest resources, a policy and legislation review were undertaken in 1995 and 1998 respectively.

The new policy (1995 - 2005) aims at maintaining 30% of the total land area under forest cover and to manage at least 75% of this area.

The total forest land area, which is about 43 percent of the total landmass of the country, is estimated at approximately 505 300 hectares include the mangrove forests. Approximately 32,729 hectares, which is 7% of the total forest area, constitutes the 66 gazetted forest parks. Currently the state forestland area is the largest (78%), while no areas are identified as protection forest. Community and private forest areas, which register some 17 487 ha, are expected to increase as more state forestland is brought under the management of those categories.

Between 1967 to date, five additional areas received either National Park or National Reserve status as shown in table 14. However, the Bao-bolong wetland reserve with an area of about 22,000 ha is not yet gazetted although this was scheduled for 1997. This reserve was designated as the first RAMSAR site. All the protected areas together cover about 3.3% of the national territory. The latest Wildlife policy aims at increasing this proportion to 5% considering a proportional regional distribution.

Forestry in the Gambia is an integrated live-support system to many Gambians and the resources contribute significantly to the living of the Gambian population. Trees and shrubs are commonly used in traditional medical treatments and for other uses. Many women especially in the Western Division, rely on the natural forests for their subsistence.

5 1. Introduction

About a century ago most of the Gambian land territory was reported to be covered by dense and almost impenetrable forest even after large forest areas have been already cleared for groundnut cultivation. At that time the forests were likewise rich in wildlife as they constituted the habitat for a variety of large mammals which are nowadays rare (such as hippopotamus, waterbuck, roan, serial, and Caracas) or locally extinct (such as buffalo, giraffe, elephant, lion, etc.).

With increasing population, the equilibrium between human and nature became disturbed and a vicious cycle of forest destruction was initiated. The main causes of this cycle are rampant fires that systematically burn most of the vegetation cover and other human activities, in particular the practice of shifting cultivation and commercial fuelwood exploitation.

The process of forest deterioration was probably accelerated by the decline of the men annual rainfall since early 70s. In The Gambia, like all other countries in the sub-Saharan Africa, rainfall is the second most important factor apart from human influence determining the chance of successful forest management. In years with exceptional less rainfall, as it was the case in 1990/91 and before in 1982/83, an increased drying down of both indigenous and introduced tree species of various ages is reported. Uncertainty exists among professional as to what tree species should be propagated for planting if the actual trend of climatic changes continues at the same speed.

2. Forest classifications

The present nature vegetation is characterised by a secondary woodland to more tree and shrub savanna. The following plant associations can be found in the country (Kasper, 1993): • ~beach sands and coastal scrub, • ~coastal woodland, • ~mangroves, • ~variously brackish and freshwater swamps. • ~salty mud flats and salt pans. • ~reverie (gallery) forests and forest on river islands, and • ~savanna woodland, parklands, and bush fallow.

The above classification was used for the purpose of tree species identification only.

The 1983 national forestry inventory and land-use mapping classified the Gambia forests according to their stock density with the exception of gallery and mangrove forests as indicated in table 1.

6 Table 1: Land use Classes of Forests

Classification Description I Mangrove A Mangroves more than 7 meters high, mainly Rhizophora II mangrove B Mangroves less than 7 meters high, III Gallery forest Forests along side of water courses with tree height above 7 meters IV Closed woodland Forests on freely drained soils with tree cover of 50% or more (canopy density) V Open woodland Forests on freely drained soils with 10% - 50% tree cover VI Tree and shrub savanna Tree and shrub vegetation on freely drained soils with less than 10% tree cover or tree heights less than 11 meters VII Tree and shrub savanna with previous Tree and shrub savanna with indications of cultivation previous cultivation VIII Wooded upland crops Cultivated land on freely drained soils with less than 10% tree cover IX Upland crops with isolated or no Cultivated land on freely drained soils with trees relatively few or no trees X Swamps cultivated Mainly rice cultivation near water courses XI Swamps uncultivated Area near water courses with some vegetation cover, but uncultivated XII Barren flats Saline soils near water courses without vegetation cover XIII Water surface XIV Towns, Villages Source: Forestry Department, GGFP Report No. 10, 1983

The land use classes for the national forest resources inventory 1997/98 based their classification on the land use types mapped by the National Environment Agency (NEA) as: • Agriculture with trees, • Shrub Savanna (crown cover of 2-20%) • Savanna Woodland (crown cover of 20-40%) • Savanna Woodland /Woodland Transition (crown cover of 40-60%) • Dry Woodland (crown cover above 60%) including Gallery Forest and Riparian Forest

However, the classification of the NEA land use types is difficult to compare with the 1983-land use classes. To evaluate the land use changes, an assessment based on the 1982 and 1993 aerial photos was undertaken by Teusan in 1998. For the land use changes monitoring (LCM) the following classification was adopted (Teusan, 1999):

• I Closed woodland with more than 60% crown cover • II Woodland savanna with crown cover of 20 to 60% • III Tree and shrub savanna with crown cover of 2 to 20% • IV Agriculture with more than 10% trees

7 • V Agriculture with less than 10% trees • VI Fallow land • VII Mangroves • VIII Others

For classification purposes, eight wildlife habitat types are distinguished as: - mangroves, - coastal dunes, - coastal forests, - barren flats, - seasonal moist forests, - gallery forests, - fresh water swamps, and - dry woodland savannah types.

The new forest legislation distinguishes four broad forest categories: - state forests (Forest parks & other Forests), - community forests, - private forests, and - national parks/nature reserves. This latter category is administered and managed by the Department of Parks and Wildlife.

The discussions in this document will focus on the 1983 forest classification, as it is the most frequently used in the country.

3. Status of the Gambian forests

8 Table 2: Development of forest cover from 1946 to 1999

1946 1968 1980 1993 1999 Closed woodland (%) 60.1 6.0 1.3 1.1 0.7 Open woodland (%) 13.3 17.6 10.7 7.8 6.2 Savanna (%) 7.8 31.7 24.8 31.8 34.6 Total forest cover (%) 81.2 57.3 36.8 40.7 41.5 Population density (person 25.0 35.0 57.0 91.0 108 per km2) Source: Ridder (1991), NEA (1997), Teusan (1999) and own calculations

The fugues of 1980, 1993 and 1999 reflect the area of forest cover in percent of the national territory of 1,129,500 hectares (land and water surface). The reference area for those of 1946 and 1968 is not known. The comparison of the figures of 1946 and 1968 with the figures of 1980 and 1993 is limited due to the different classification systems used. Those of 1999 are an estimation.

Table 3: Change in forest area in The Gambia (ha.)

Year 1972 1980 1988 1993 1999 Abs. change (ha) 333,200 108,700 6,850 3,425 1,027 Percentage change 33% 6.3% 5% 3% Change (ha) -224,500 -4,020 -3,325 -2,398 Source: Ridder (1991), Danso (1998) and own estimations

Table 3 illustrates a global degradation of 3% of the total forest area. This slow rate of degradation is achieved through the extension efforts of the forestry service and the rapid expansion of the community involvement in forest management.

However, with all the doubt in data accuracy, the table manifest a processes of continues forest degradation that started in the early 50s when the population counted to just 280,000 persons. At present, the Gambia’s population is estimated by Munderlain (1999) to be 1.280.700. The results of the recent land use monitoring by Teusan (1999) indicate that the total forest area has increased in confirmation with table 2. This increase can be explained by a drop in groundnut production areas resulting less forests being cleared for extensive cash crop production. Portions of former agricultural lands were even allowed to regenerate to secondary tree and shrub savannah.

However, this positive trend from the agricultural production sector is undermined as the forest cover still undergoes severe degradation processes by frequent bush fires and uncontrolled exploitation. The reduced biodiversity in secondary forest also limits the output of forest use particularly that of non-wood forest products.

The downward changes in the forest cover to more secondary savannah also manifests changes in the tree composition. The changes indicate the continuous invasion and domination of more fire and drought resistant tree species. Tables 4 and 5 below illustrate the change of tree species composition in open woodlands and tree and shrub savannah based on the results of the national forest inventories carried out in 1982 and 1997. In

9 these tables, the species are listed according to their frequency based on the basal area per hectare. In both forest types, three major trends are prominent:

• the over-utilisation of the most common firewood species such as Pterocarpus erinaceus and Terminalia macroptera, which once clearly dominated the natural forests,

• a clear shift towards more fire and drought resistant species such as Combretum glutinosum, Bombax bounopozense and Cordyla African, and

• the regression potential and ability of tree species of both forest types are high and possible as long as bushfire incidences can be kept to the minimum.

Table 4: Change of condition of open woodlands from 1982 to 1997

Tree species Number per ha Volume (m3) per Regeneration per ha ha 198 199 +/- 198 199 +/- 198 199 +/- 2 7 % 2 7 % 2 7 % Pterocarpus erinaceus 25 9.7 -61 11.4 4.9 -57 23.0 70 204 Terminalia macroptera 22 11.1 -50 6.7 2.3 -66 11.4 179 52 Elaeis Guinness 8 3.1 -61 - - 0 14 1 -93 Cordyla African 13 7.4 -43 3.7 3.2 -14 1 12 110 0 Combretum 32 29.0 -9 2.9 3.5 21 138 335 143 gultinosum Combretum niggrna 23 12.8 -44 2.7 1.3 -52 252 652 159 Daniella oliveri 4 4.7 18 3.6 1.6 -56 3 6 100 Khaya senegalensis 1 0.3 -70 5.4 3.4 -37 2 3 50 Parkia biglobosa 9 0.8 -91 3.0 3.1 3 8 2 -75 Other species 51 42.1 -17 16.9 9.1 -46 303 111 267 2 Total Open woodland 188 121 -36 56.3 32.4 -42 862 237 175 2 Source: Thoma & Sillah 1999

10 Table 5: Change of condition of tree and shrub savanna from 1982 to 1997

Tree species Number per ha Volume (m3) per Regeneration per ha ha 1982 1997 +/- 1982 1997 +/- 1982 1997 +/-% % % Combretum 42 32.9 -22 3.2 3.8 19 587 458 -22 glutinosum Pterocarpus erinaceus 8 5.0 -38 2 2 0 18 31 72 Terminal macroptera 10 5.1 -49 1.7 0.8 -53 85 147 73 Cordyla africana 3 5.7 90 1.3 2.7 108 2 11 450 Bombax 1 4.2 320 0.4 2.1 425 3 19 355 bounopozense Combretum nigrans 9 7.6 -16 0.6 0.6 0 164 602 267 Proposes africana 2 1.1 -45 0.5 0.7 40 4 1 -75 Other species 32 31.0 -3 5.7 6.9 21 212 113 437 8 Total Tree/Shrub 107 92.6 -13 15.4 19.6 27 107 240 124 Savanna 5 7 Sources: Thoma & Sillah 1999

During the period, the numbers and stocking volume in open woodland has reduced by 36% and 42%. High valued species like Elaeis, Pterocarpus, etc. and some other important components of the woodland population such as Khaya, Borassus, Parinari, Mitragyna, Detarium, Ceiba, and Albizzia have reduced to the lowest. They could soon be marginalised as long as the trend of forest degradation continues.

Compared to the woodlands, less dramatic changes took place in the tree and shrub savannah. Here, the species distribution of 1997 looks very similar to that of 1982. However, the species composition of tree and shrub savannah is further narrowed. This is probably due to the effect of regular fires and fuelwood exploitation, resulting to the considerable increase of more fire resistant species at the cost of the major firewood and timber species. In the tree and shrub savannah, 27% increase in stocking volume in 1997 compared to 1982 can be noticed. The increase can be explained by the continues expansion of tree and shrub Savannah land use type since 1968 as in table 1.

The regeneration in the savannah forest shows a substantially increase. In particular pioneer species including some important firewood species have multiplied their regeneration from 1982 to 1997. This development is probably due to the decline in agricultural activities, leaving formerly open lands to grow back to savannah vegetation. In addition, the promotion of community forestry and related extension work has certainly contributed to reducing fire in the recent years leaving more regeneration to survive. However, the regeneration of some high valued species such as Elaesis, Parkia, and Prosopis has seriously decreased in woodland and savannah.

The changes in the tree species composition of woodlands and savannahs indicate a clear trend towards an increasingly uniformity in the forests with only a few species. Such forests do not provide a diversification of habitats for the indigenous flora and fauna as the natural forests did in the past. At the same time, the multiple use character of these

11 forests is being lost which will force rural people more and more to search for alternatives.

4. Land use shifts

In The Gambia four agro-ecological zones are distinguished: the Sahelian, the Sudano- Sahelian, the Sudanian and the Guinean. The increased land degradation process during the last decades has already moved the Sahelian zone further south.

Based on the Land use changes between 1980 and 1993 monitored by Teusan (1999), the major shifts in land use indicated in table 2 and 6 are discussed below:

4.1 Forested lands The total forested lands have increased due to a reversion of former agricultural land (mainly follow land) into tree and shrub savannah. Only the northern part of the country register a slight decrease

4.2 Woodlands Closed and open woodland has been reducing by 3.1% or 2,700 ha per year due to forest degradation and conversion into agricultural land. The most severe degradation of woodlands occur in the central and eastern part of the country.

4.3 Mangroves Suffered a slight but nevertheless alarming decreases (650 ha per year) in their total surface area. The causes are diebacks due to disturbed water exchange, conversion into rice, shrimps and fish farms and illegal exploitation. Sillah and Bojang in 1997 have however indicated good potentials for the regeneration of the mangrove forests. There is no current reliable data on mangroves, as the last inventory including this forest type was conducted in 1983. The existence of the Lowland Agricultural Development Project (LADEP) in 1997 with a 20 years life span to produce rice within the swamps will have an effect on the mangrove and riverine ecosystems.

4.4 Fallow areas The fallow areas have decreased by almost 50,000 ha or 4.4% due to conversion into tree and shrub savannah, agriculture with no trees or to a lesser extent into agriculture with trees. There is a loose gradient of decrease observable from the west to the east of the country. The reduction of fallow areas into forestlands has also some connection, with the rural-urban drift. The balon areas and divisional growth centres can be estimated to be growing by about 28% per year. This phenomenon deprives the rural areas of labour force, in particular the working age labour force. The remaining work labour force, mainly elderly, women and children, concentrate their farming activities only around the settlement. Those short-distanced concentrated farms are mostly not allowed to fallow more than a year or two.

The new forest legislation considers fallow land as forests if the number of trees per hectare with diameter at breast high of twenty centimetres or more exceed one hundred. Based on this definition, agricultural lands reverted to forests fall under the provisions of the Forest Bill and Forest Regulations of 1998 and thus become forest reserves. This 12 means that statutory law replaces customary tenure rights, which may result to land use conflicts. The establishment of private natural forest would probably be the best compromise to avoid conflicts and to maintain an adequate forest cover on such lands.

4.5 Agriculture with trees The class remained relatively unchanged. While a portion was converted into agriculture with no trees, almost the same proportion was added from fallow areas and woodland. There is a concentration of agriculture with trees in the West part of the country whereas the more up-river area is more agricultural without trees.

4.6 Agriculture with no trees The class increased in the average by 1.3% or 1,140 ha per year. Here, the soil is constantly exposed and under stress. Poor soils and poor production yield, even with high input of chemical fertiliser is a widespread characteristic.

4.7 Others The western parts of the country have the highest percentage of land classified “others” with increasing tendency, whereas up-river this category decreases due to migration patterns both internal and external.

Table 6: Land use change in The Gambia (1980-1993)

Land use category 1980 1993 change m (ha) (%) (ha) (%) (ha) (%) Woodland 14,400 1.3 12,000 1.1 -2,400 1.1 Savannah woodland 121,600 10.7 88,800 7.8 -32,800 -2.9 Tree & shrub savannah 280,400 24.8 360,800 31.9 80,400 7.1 Agriculture with trees 84,000 7.4 85,200 7.5 1,200 0.1 Agriculture no trees 226,400 20.0 241,200 21.3 14,800 1.3 Fallow area 138,800 12.3 89,200 7.9 -49,600 -4.4 Mangroves 68,000 6.0 59,600 5.3 -8,400 -0.7 Others 198,800 198,80 17.6 195.600 17.3 -3,200 -0.3 0 Total ,132,400 100.0 1,132,400 100.0 0 0.0 Sources: Teusan, 1999

Based on the findings the following conclusions can be drawn:

~the major reserves of arable land are be found in the Western and Northern part of the country mainly in former fallow lands. The rest of the arable lands can only be found under forest cover. For this reason, remaining woodlands covering better sites are always attractive as agricultural land with the highest tendency in the west and central part of the country.

~in regions that have marginal soils (most parts of the eastern part of the country) seems to have forested lands being already pushed to non-arable sites and fallow lands on marginal sites were recovered back to tree and shrub savannah;

13 ~the increased demand on wood products in urban and semi-urban areas confirmed the highest decreases of woodlands in these areas compared to the others. This has a direct connection with the population growth of those areas and the socio-economic developments.

~the steady diminution of trees on farmlands particularly in the east, leads to increased wind and water erosion and negatively affects the soil water and nutrition cycles; ~the decrease of fallow lands and, thus, shorter fallow periods is wide spread, but more prominent the northern part of the country; and

~the change in tree species composition to more fire resistant species is steadily pushing the natural vegetation woodland species to almost local extinction.

5. Degradation of forests

As a result of the unsustainable usage such as the extraction of wood and non-wood products, expansion of agricultural activities and frequent incidences of fire, most of the forests have undergone changes, more often to secondary succession, resulting to lesser dense forests, poor regeneration potential, lower growth, undesirable grass occupation and lower plant species diversity.

5.1 Forest fires Fire was and is still being used as the most expedient tool for agricultural land preparation. The main causes of the destructive bush and forest fires is therefore uncontrolled burning of farmlands and deliberately set fires. While fire does not create much destruction in closed forests, in the situation of most Gambian savannah forest it is very destructive. Forests are very open stimulating grass growth. In addition, the disturbed woodland and savannah vegetation accumulates a considerable amount of combustible material during the rainy season so that succeeding fires in the dry season burn hotter and even large trees succumb. Annual hot fires eradicate most of the natural tree regeneration, which further opens the forest, induces additional grass growth and, thus, accelerates the vicious circle of forest destruction. The increases of secondary savannah composed of reduced number of mainly fire and drought resistant vegetation cover is a direct result of frequent fire.

Bush and forest fires have been affecting an averaged of about 80% of the Gambian forest lands. However, an estimation of about 67% of wild fires, a reduction of about 13% from the normal average, was registered between 1995 to 1999. This is more due to the expansion of community involvement in forest management in almost countrywide.

Other effects and impacts of bush and forest fires in The Gambia include: ~change and loss of habitat for the indigenous plant and animal population ~soil and water degradation due to release and export of mineral elements stored in the burnt biomass, and deterioration of physical and chemical soil properties ~change in species composition and bio-diversity ~waste of biomass which could be used for fuel, fodder, composting, etc. ~change in micro-climate 14 ~air pollution and increase in the ‘green house effect’.

5.2 Uncontrolled usage of forest products Usage here is referred to more of the domestic rural usage of forest products such as collection of fuelwood for family cooking, post for fencing, collection of bush tea and local medicines.

The introduction of the state owned forest park management concept in the 50s and the enactment of the forest legislation in 1977 vested on the stated control power over the nation’s forest. The population started to perceive their traditional activities in the forest as ‘illegal’ only to be policed by the Forestry Department (FD). On the other side, the FD entrusted with the sustainable management of the national forest cover was and is still not in position to ensure controlled forest utilisation without adequate support provided by forest adjacent communities.

The local population’s feeling of being alienated from forest resource management, the increasing fears and mistrust towards FD personnel being responsible for the exploitation of surrounding forest through licensing and permits, and the FD’s constraints in terns of finance and personnel to effectively monitor forest operations are the major reason why natural forest, except those with a known ownership and protection status, are still widely considered open access recourses to which the ‘tragedy of the common’ thesis applies (Thoma & Sillah). These resources therefore suffer severe degradation, because there is less control as long as nobody can be sure of having access to the long-term benefits of use. This leads to the ‘rational’ strategy of getting as much as possible use now without regard to long-term usability and to the lack in the interest of investing into any resource conservation measure.

5.3 Increasing demand on forest products in particular fuel wood The rapid population growth has led to an increased demand of forest products in particular fuelwood, construction material and fence posts. Firewood and other products collected and used for home consumption are traditionally regarded by rural households as free commodities. The prize of commercial fuelwood do not include the stumpage fees per -se, rather the market value is determined by the work and cost involved for collection, processing and transportation.

A fuelwood survey recently carried out by National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) indicated that 97.8% of all households surveyed use wood as primary source of fuel particularly for cooking. Presently for the majority of the Gambian population no other energy source is economical than wood. According to the survey results, some 73% of the households sampled use the traditional 3-stone stove for cooking. Some, mainly the urban and semi-urban households use metal, gas or charcoal stoves. Astonishingly, none of the rural households interviewed used improved mud stoves such as the `kumba gaye’ type according to the NARI. The conclusion from the survey result is the unwillingness of all the sampled households to locally adopt improved energy saving cooking systems.

The burring properties of wood plays an important role in the selection of fuel wood species for cooking. The most important wood attributes are its caloric value, smoke production, workability, flammability, production of good charcoal, and smell (i.e. the taste of the food). Certain tree species like Pterocarpus erinaceaus, Terminally macroptera 15 and Combretum glutionsum fulfil the preferred attributes more compared to others, and are therefore the most demanded species. Consequently, these species are being over- exploited and getting scarce in some parts of the country. The scarcity as indicated in table 7 force the rural farmers to use wood of less quality such as Gmelina arborea or branchwood that are sold at a lower prize. The introduction of branchwood in the market is very recent, only in 1998. Before this time, there was no market for branchwood.

Various studies have been undertaken to estimate the fuelwood consumption and demand of the country. These estimates gave consumption rates varying from 0.34 to 1.44 m3 per capita and year (Steiner, 1996 and NARI, 1999). Since fuelwood consumption per capital repressively increases with population growth, the real annual consumption most probably lies at present within the range of 0.4 and 0.6 m3 per capital. By assuming an average value of 0.5 m3, the annual fuelwood consumption would amount to about 650,000 m3 which is more than the annual increment of the country’s forest cover of about 523,000 m3 (excluding mangroves and Gmelina plantations) as estimated by Ludwig and Bojang (1999). However, it would not be accurate to compare both figures directly since rural households traditionally collect dry branchwood the volume of which is not computed in forest inventories and thus not included in the volume and increment data provided in table 7. Therefore, national inventories and surveys are deficient in estimating real consumption values.

Sustainable wood supply becomes much more critical by taking into account that an essential wood quantity is annually eaten by bush fires, used for other domestic and commercial purposes such as fencing, construction, fish smoking, carpentry, lime and salt production, without records. At present, the countries wood demand is covered through import of firewood canted wood, timber and palm split from neighbouring countries and by further over-exploiting the natural forests through illegal felling, as the decrease of stocking volume in the following table clearly indicates (the increase of stocking volume of tree and shrub savannah is explained by the increase in it’s area).

Table 7: Comparison of stocking volumes and annual increments (1982 - 1997)

Land use class Total stocking Volume of Annual volumes (1,000 dead wood increment m3) (1,000 m3) (1,000 m3) 1982 1997 +/- 198 199 +/- 198 199 +/- % 2 7 % 2 7 % Closed wood land 943 553 -41 56 11 -80 26 13 -50 Open wood 6,724 2,915 -57 403 189 -53 146 89 -39 land Tree & shrub 4,346 7,140 64 521 560 7 112 253 12 savannah 6 Agriculture with trees 1,630 1,770 9 49 92 88 34 51 50 Agriculture with no trees 1,494 2,285 53 120 518 332 23 72 21 3 Fallow land 1,430 1,366 -4 114 77 -32 42 45 7 Plantations 72 64 -8 0 0 0 6 7 1 Total 16567 16029 -5 1263 1447 15 384 525 38 Sources: Thoma & Sillah, 1999 16 Although the total stocking volume of the national forest cover seems to have declined just by 5% from 1982 to 1997 and a promising increase in the annual increment on woody biomass of 38% particularly on agricultural lands, the estimates on the actual and future demand of forest products call for immediate actions in order to counteract the acceleration of the on-going degradation trend.

Charcoal, the production of which was banned in The Gambia in 1980, is mainly used for brewing and for ironing. The new Forestry Bill 1998 however permits the vending only provided it is acquired through importation and accompanied by a document from the country of origin. The vendors, majority of which a women, import from Senegal through an informal trade.

In urban areas, a good part of all households uses gas for boiling, for re-heating the children’s food and a few for cooking. The use of kerosene is limited to providing light at night. Almost 70% of the rural and some 50% of the urban and semi-urban households use kerosene for this purpose.

5.4 Conversion of forest into farmland Closed and open woodlands, sometimes also called ‘virgin’ lands, with a total area of some 100,800 ha in 1992, are still being converted into agricultural lands at an estimated rate of about 1.3% or 1,400 ha per annum. The highest conversion rates occur in the central part of the country.

According to the Government of The Gambia (GoTG, 1996), some 52% or 588.800 ha of the country’s surface land area comprises of arable land. In 1993, a total of 415,600 ha was classified as land used for agricultural production including fallow land. Thus, most of the potential arable lands are probably found in the remaining woodlands while a considerable portion is certainly included in the land use category ‘others’. On the other side, these woodlands constitute the remaining habitats for the diminishing indigenous plant and animal population that deserve highest protection.

The on-going conversion of woodlands into agricultural lands is mainly due to a shortage of arable land caused by applying inappropriate (traditional) farming practices, poverty and population growth (Munderlein 1999). Another contributing factor is the customary land tenure system, by which founder families own most of the agricultural lands. These landowners are mostly unwilling to lend out arable lands, therefore the landless people are force to clear forestlands in order to secure a piece for crop production. Prevailing interest conflict between agricultural and forest production call for socially acceptable land use regulations and land use planning at local level.

5.5 Over-grazing of forest resources Woodland and savanna resources account for approximately two third of livestock feed supplies in the country. As a result of frequent fires and selective grazing by livestock, the herbs and grass layer has changed from previously dominant perennials to annuals, and the frequency of unpalatable dicotyledon species has increased (Schwartz, 1999). Although the country’s livestock populations seem to be rather stable during the last 20 years (Schwartz, 1999), the changing vegetation cover towards less favourable dire conditions forces farmers and livestock owners to graze their stock in areas less suitable thus aggravating and accelerating forest and land degradation processes. In the recent 17 years, an increase in seasonal migration of livestock from northern Senegal is observed in the central and eastern part of the country. On the south bank of the river, Gambian livestock owners partly feed their animals in the Cassamance.

A dire shortage of suitable pastures usually occurs from February to June when much of the dry materials are being destroyed by fire, termites and trampling. This is the period when shrubs and tree regeneration is intensively browsed. Unfortunately, no information and data could be obtained which allow to qualify the damage on trees caused by forest grazing. Descheres and ludwig (1994) could not find a correlation between livestock grazing pressure and browsing intensity on tree regeneration in Kasila community forest. However, they collected the field data in December/January when browsing has not yet reached its peak.

6. Forest categories

As indicated in chapter 2, the new forest legislation distinguishes four broad forest categories: state forests, community forests, private forests, and national parks/nature reserves. The latter category is administered and managed by the Department of Parks and Wildlife.

Table 8: Forests under controlled management

DIVISION Forested Control management (ha) No management/protection (ha) land 1) Forest Communit Communit Privat Total Forest Forest Total y control y e (ha) parks state forest forests forest ha % parks reserves ha % Western 73,300 3,355 0 6,203 100 9,658 13.2 512 63,130 63,642 86.8 Lower River 66,500 1,758 0 3,465 0 5,223 7.9 4,431 56,846 61,277 92.1 Central River 154,600 7,233 0 5,924 0 13,157 8.5 10,412 131,031 141,443 91.5 Upper River 113,200 858 0 1.565 0 2,423 2.1 2,178 108,599 11.,777 97.9 North Bank 41,200 0 0 230 0 230 0.6 3,290 37,680 40,970 99.4 The Gambia 448,80 13,204 0 17,387 100 30,691 6.8 20,823 397,286 418,109 93.2 1) Without forested national parks/reserves and without mangrove forests Source: Thoma & Sillah (1999)

Table 9: Proportion of forest categories under management Forest type categories Total area Area % Description Forest parks 32,729 6.5 Forest reserves managed by Forestry Department Community forests 17,387 3.3 Forest managed by designated communities Private Forests 100 0.09 Forest growing or planted on privately owned lands Protection forests - Forest managed for the main purpose of maintaining or improving the local environment Protected forests 74,00 14.4 All mangroves and riverine forests managed by Forestry Department State forests 388284 75.7 All other remaining forest under the control of Forestry Department except if they exist in National parks or in nature reserves Total 512,500 99.99 Source: Based on Danso 1998 18 State forests comprise the gazetted forest parks and forests reserves. Some 13,204 ha or 39% of the total forest park area of 34,027 ha are at present under management as indicated in table 8. The managed forest park area includes some 2, 135 ha of Gmelina plantations all located in the western part of the country. According to the GFMC, at least a managed forest park area of some 17,000 ha is needed for demonstration and training purposes. The remaining forest park area shall be managed by pursuing other management objectives.

Most of the forest reserves are located on customary village lands. Forest reserves and forest parks not yet under controlled management (i.e. only the licensing system of management) by either adjacent communities or the FD (still some 93% of the countries forest cover) undergo severe deterioration. Those forest reserves are forested areas that are either to be handed over to local communities (community forests), jointly managed with local communities (community controlled state forests -CCSF-), or converted into another land use. A concept for the joint management of forest reserves by the FD and local communities was recently developed. The concept should focuses on communities that have already established their community forest.

Since the inception of community forestry in 1992, some 17,387 ha of community forests are preliminary surveyed and demarcated as indicated in table 8. The actual rate of community forest expansion is roughly estimated at about 4,000 to 6,000 ha per year. The vision of the FD as stipulated in the forest policy (1995 - 2005) is to have some 200,000 ha of community forests established by the year 2005.

Although private forest both natural and plantations are foreseen in the forest policy and legislation, to date only one private Gmelina plantation of about 100 ha exists which was even established before the new policy was formulated. At the moment, the FD’s highest priority is to bring as much as possible of forest reserves under one form of community management. Considering the increasing wood demand, however, the FD should pay equal attention to promoting and supporting private woodlots.

7. Forest Management

Prior to the designation of the Department of Forestry in 1976, the then forestry unit under the Department of Agriculture concentrated only on the protection of the natural forest and the establishment of plantations.

With the creation of the Department, and the subsequent enactment of the subsection's first policy and legislation in 1976 and 1978 respectively, the young forestry service focus its attention on: - - Law enforcement - Issuing and control of forest exploitation licenses - Collection of royalties - Conservation, protection and development of forest parks (gazetted forests) - Continuation of plantation and woodlot establishment for the domestic supply of wood products (especially fuelwood) to reduce pressure on the natural forests. 19 The efforts in plantation and woodlot development to supply wood products and to improve the status quo of the natural resources could not be successfully achieved as desired. This was due to the high demand on forest resources, the frequency of uncontrolled bush fire and the high cost of plantation development. Furthermore, the predicted rate of forest destruction (about 5 -6% annually), has been faster than both the establishment rate of plantations and the development of a more efficient forestry extension service for the effective and sustainable management of forest resources.

Among the most common tree species planted both exotic and indigenous, there are only two exotic species, Azadirachta indica Eucalyptus camaludensis var. which over the past decades seem not to be affected by climatic changes, nor are they attractive to domestic and wild animals, and they re-sprout even after serious fire hazards. At least under present conditions, these species can be propagated with minimal investments and minimal risk of failure. However, taking into account that the use of these species is limited and that their increasing abundance may adversely affect agricultural production as well as the biodiversity in plant and animal population. Due to the ability to suppress natural vegetation, the further propagation of the Neem tree should be limited to the North bank of the country.

The experiences gained in the management of natural forests since the existence of the Gambian-German Forestry Project (GGFP) within the Forestry service in 1980, were used to develop a natural forest management model called “The Gambian Forest Management Concept (GFMC)”. The concept is an approach to conserve and improve the forest resources of The Gambia in order to supply as much of the country’s demand for forest products as possible through sustainable management. The concept is an integrated approach based on the following strategies: i) to obtain and maintain a diversified structure in executing and implementing forest management activities; ii) to increase the awareness of individuals, communities and the Gambian population on the importance of forests; iii) to conserve the existing forest areas (or what will be defined as permanent forests by the National Forest Land Use Plan): iv) to manage these forests according to the principles of natural forest management in a sustainable, ecologically adapted and socially acceptable way;

20 v) to minimise the cost of management and conservation by using the resource’s capacity of self-regeneration and to improve its production capacity with a minimum of silvicultural inputs; vi) to hand over responsibility and management functions to communities and other managers in order to minimise government input in terms of man-power and finance;

Due to the limitations of the first policy objectives and the 1978 forest legislation for the realisation of the GFMC which aims at the sustainable and cost effective management of the natural forest resources, a policy and legislation review were undertaken in 1995 and 1998 respectively.

The new policy (1995 - 2005) aims at maintaining 30% of the total land area under forest cover and to manage at least 75% of this area. The anticipated areas of managed forests as it relates to total land area per administrative zone (divisions) is given in table 10.

Table 10: Total planned management forest area per division 1995 - 2005

Divisions Total land area (ha.) Anticipated managed areas (ha.) Western 188,500 42,413 Lower River 155,800 35,055 Central River 307,400 69165 Upper River 198,900 44,753 North Bank 211,400 47,565 Gambia (Total) 1,062000 238,950 Source: Danso A. 1998

The current policy targets an area of 200,000 ha of state forestland to be under community forest management by the year 2005. The potential community forest areas as compared to forest parks can be deduced from table 11.

Table 11: Forest parks and potential community forest areas

Division Total area (ha) Forest parks area (ha) Potential community forest areas (ha) Good Degraded WD 188,500 4,347 2,511 35,550 LRD 155,800 5,690 3,115 26,250 CRD 307,400 16,996 7,550 44,620 URD 198,900 3,440 15,830 25,480 NBD 211,400 2,256 3,815 41,490 Total 1,114,700 32,729 32,821 173,390 Source: National Forest Inventory, 1983; Forestry Department/GGFP Project proposal

21 The present forestry policy succeeded also in creating a National Forestry Fund (NFF) effective 1996, which mandates the Forestry Department to retain 50% of all revenues generated in any fiscal year for financing of forest management operations in addition to government budgetary allocations. However, the availability of such additional fund, could only improve the recurrent cost situation as it could not at the current level of revenue off-take, meet the need for staff training and development investment.

In line with the policy, the FD proposed relevant strategic issues as the National Forest Action Plan (NFAP). The finalisation of NFAP was scheduled for 1997 but got stocked. Nevertheless, a considerable achievement have been made in implementing major strategic issues such as legislation review, the second national forest inventory, community forestry expansion and awareness creation, and forest park management. Based on the NFAP, box 1 entails the major strategies of the FD.

Box 1: Institutional strategies for sustainable forest management

1. Ensure development of policy implementation tools. 2. Reserve, maintain and develop forestland resources covering at least 30% of the total land areas. 3. To ensure that 75% of the forest lands are managed 4. Ensure active participation of the public in community forest management. 5. Define principles for forest management planning for state, community and private forests. 6. Develop new strategies for the prevention and control of bushfires. 7. Ensure suitable wood supply to forest produce for urban and rural population. 8. Ensure that licenses, permits, royalties, stumpage fees reflect the replacement cost of the forest produce. 9 Ensure co-ordination of all forest activities at all levels through the FD. 10. Contribute co-ordination and harmonisation of forestry and related sectors. 11. Support applied forestry research to acquire baseline data. 12. Support tree planting in the urban areas. 13. Maintain a forestry service with an adequate number of sate at all levels. 14. Institutionalise in country training for sate, villagers and NGOs. 15. Improve FD’s physical infrastructures and equipment. 16. Provide adequate funding for the FD.

8. Wildlife Management

The protected area system of the Gambia dates back to 1916 when Abuko Nature reserve was protected as a water catchment area. In 1968 the Department of Wildlife, now the Department of parks and Wildlife Management (DPWM), was established.

The DPWM is mandated to conserve and to restore the nature habitats and their biodiversity within protected areas, and in recent also to provide direct benefits to local communities adjacent to protected areas through sound natural resources management practices and from eco-tourism. Surprisingly, the department has no comprehensive policy on the management of protected areas and the involvement of the local population. The Wildlife Act of 1977 needs to be thoroughly revisited in order to cope with the changes and challenges of the decade. 22 Between 1967 to date, five additional areas received either National Park or National Reserve status as shown in table 14. However, the Bao-bolong wetland reserve with an area of about 22,000 ha is not yet gazetted although this was scheduled for 1997. This reserve was designated as the first RAMSAR site. All the protected areas together cover about 3.3% of the national territory. The latest Wildlife policy aims at increasing this proportion to 5% considering a proportional regional distribution.

Table 12: Status of protected areas

Name Status Date Gazetted Division Area (ha) Abuko National 1968 Western 105 Reserve Division River Gambia National Park 1978 Central River 586 Niumi National Park 1986 North Bank 4,940 Kiang West National Park 1987 Lower River 11,526 Tanji Bird Nature 1993 Western 612 Reserve Bao-Bolong Nature not yet North Bank 22,000 Reserve Total 39,769 Source: NEA (1997)

Due to the absence of sufficient and adequate resources, the DPWM could not contribute much to the rehabilitation of the degraded fauna and flora of protected areas. Reliable information on wildlife population and distribution is yet to be produced. However, from local knowledge and from field observations, indications are that certain species of animal are locally extinct or threatened with extinction. Since most of the larger mammals have disappeared, increasing pressure is exerted on the smaller and intermediate species such as bushbuck, duiker, etc. for domestic consumption. Others such as warthogs, primates (in particular baboons) and hippopotamus are killed not for food but in order to reduce the damage to agricultural crops.

Apart from wildlife poaching, the primary cause of wildlife disappearance is the habitat destruction. The habitats both in and outside the protected areas are gradually destroyed for various reasons as explained above for other forested lands. Among the most prominent wildlife species to be found in large numbers these days are the birds which make The Gambia still attractive as safari country.

Three of the protected areas are currently open to the public namely Abuko, Tanji Bird Reserve and Kiang West National Park (KWNP). Apart from KWNP, no other protected area has a management plan or any guiding document to assist in management. KWNP represents a departure from the traditional and very restrictive concept of national park management to conserving the existing flora and fauna in collaboration with the resident population.

The DPWM is operating in a kind of legal vacuum without any formal policy, but has been guided through its development programmes by the Wildlife Conservation Act, the Wildlife Regulations and the Banjul Declaration all of 1977. Presently, the DPWM is 23 focusing particularly in the areas of coastal habitats, eco-tourism, settlement patterns and over-population, buffer zone management, hunting, migratory species, boarder ecosystems, multiple land use, and collaboration.

Box 2: Related biodiversity/wildlife policy objectives

~to establish protected areas covering at least 5% of the total land area for the conservation, protection, management and sustainable use of fun and flora with a view to improve the management capacity of the DPWM and increase revenue generation from wildlife resources for the development of both wildlife and surrounding communities;

~to respect, recognise and en sure adequate protection for the indigenous knowledge, practices and innovations of local communities as they relate to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity;

~to carry out research in order to provide baseline information necessary for the formulation on protected area management plans;

~to ensure access to genetic resources originating from The Gambia both in and outside the country and to prevent all forms of bio-piracy through appropriate legislative measures; and

~to introduce appropriate incentive measures for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity;

~to retain a portion of revenue

The existing wildlife policy and legislation are inadequate in meeting modern conservation requirements, as they are considered incomplete and over protective without any clear definition of the role of local communities in the protection and management of wildlife. Private investment to gain communities’ interests in the conservation of flora and fauna and cost sharing arrangements are yet to be considered. Therefore, the DPWM has drawn up a draft policy document for the sector in 1994. This policy, however, was never formally adopted.

After recent consultations with IUCN, the DPWM started to review the policy of 1994. A first draft version of the biodiversity/wildlife policy already exists. This exercise will be followed by a legislative review of the wildlife legislation. The main sector related biodiversity/wildlife policy objectives are listed in box 2.

9. Forest uses and related issues (Utilisation)

Forestry in The Gambia is an integrated live-support system to many Gambians and the resources contribute significantly to the living of the Gambian population. Trees and shrubs are commonly used in traditional medical treatments and for other uses. Many

24 women especially in the Western Division, rely on the natural forests for their subsistence.

The coastal forests including the mangrove forests, also provide the local communities with wood products for construction and energy. The existence of mangrove forests on either side of the river banks up to about 250 kilometres upstream, also play a significant role in maintaining stability of the river banks and provide habitat for many migratory birds and a life support system to many other plants, animals and aquatic life. The mangroves that provide natural habitat for oysters also provide many Gambians, mostly women with some source of subsistence.

However, the results of the coastal resources assessments under the climate change scenarios, indicate a possible inundation of most of the mangroves on the coastal areas because of a predicted sea level rise that could affect The Gambia.

The upland forests continue to provide energy, construction and building material, food and local medicine to both rural and urban settlements. As such, it significantly contributes to the socio-economic development of the people of this country in providing the above mentioned resources, job opportunities and income.

What is obvious, is the frequent bush fires that continue to destroy more trees, reducing the available firewood volume close to settlement areas and increasing the distance for collection. Therefore, until the moment that bush fires are brought under control by increasing managed forest areas (forest parks and community forests), fires will continue to damage more available wood.

Table 13 depicts what was predicted for the total volume per hectare (V/ha.), timber volume per hectare (Vs/ha.) and firewood volume per hectare (V/ha.) in each division based on the 1983 inventory as well as estimates of increment per hectare (I/ha.).

Table 13: Predicted available wood volume per division

Divisions Area (ha.) Vt/ha. m3 Vs/ha. m3 Vf/ha. m3 I/ha. m3 (1000m3) (1000m3) (1000m3) WD 149,017 29 7 21 0.7 LRD 115,370 28 8 20 0.7 NBD 149,582 25 9 16 0.6 CRD 253,002 13 3 9 0.4 URD 178,859 9 1 8 0.2 NON FORESTS 845 ,830 19 5 14 0.5

However there are indications of a decline in fuelwood consumption from 2.2 Kg/cap/day for urban and 0.72 Kg/cap/day for urban and rural areas respectively between 1992 and 1999 based on Steiner (1996) and NARI (1999). Such a decline in urban consumption could be attributed to either an increased use of other energy alternatives such as butane gas or an increase in unit price of fuelwood resulting to a more efficient use of fuelwood. The dynamics of household energy consumption was recognised in the study of Forest Revenues and Budgetary Requirements. The predictions are that urban households would switch to more convenient sources of commercial energy such as butane gas and kerosene, when there is an opportunity such as increase in incomes, even if the price of 25 firewood is relatively lower (as the price elasticity of wood equals to 1). The reduction in the use of firewood for either cooking or heating in the urban areas as reported by Von kruedener (1995) could result to a shift in purchase of more wood-furniture with increase in purchasing power, which could result to more usage of forest resources as more quality wood is required in furniture making.

Due to the degradation of the forest resources, the forests cannot meet the fuelwood demand of the population. The figures in table 14 indicate only the commercial fuelwood supplies with documents from the forestry service.

Table 14: Commercial fuelwood trade in The Gambia in m3

Administrative Divisions Western Lower Central North Upper Total Year Division River River Bank River The Gambia Division Division Division Division 1996 4 243.54 9 254.76 2 382.80 306.85 1 388.40 17 576.35 1997 3 858.65 7 607.45 3 689.79 326.93 2 269.85 17 752.67 19981) 14 677.10 5 653.94 13 326.81 330.50 4 942.25 38 930.60 19992) 28 891.26 5 479.12 9 048.69 359.82 1 992.07 45 770.96 Total 51 670.55 27 995.27 28 448.09 1 324.10 10 592.57 120 030.58 1) The figure for Western Division was from July to December. 2) The figures of the year are from January to September.

However, out of the country’s total commercial fuelwood supply, about 60% are acquired through an informal importation mainly from Senegal. The 40% produced in the country about 10% are branchwood (Branchwood commercialisation began in 1998).

The plantations established in around 1962 with mainly Gmelina arborea and Tectona grandis have long since reach their economic rotation, as indicated by the low increment. Up to 1987, the plantations were harvested through selective felling. In 1987, the clearfelling system was introduced with an average out turn of 2200 m3/year.

The natural forest could provide on average, approximately 1.5 thousand cubic meters of logs and the plantation 2.2 cubic meters annually as in Table 15. This contribution of plantations in meeting wood requirements to some extent minimises the demand pressure on the natural forests. Secondly the contributions of imported wood (canted or converted logs) as reflected in this table, is rising. One possible answer to the high contribution of imported wood to domestic needs, could be the market available for imported wood and the control on the local wood supplied.

Table 15: Forest Production (logs) in 1000 m3 and imported wood

Year Forest parks state Forests plantations Imported wood* 1989 0.57 0.6 1.4 99 1990 0.91 0.9 2.7 118 1991 1.05 1.9 3.5 94 1992 0.98 1.0 3.5 2194 1993 0.81 0.8 5.5 176

26 1994 0.73 0.5 4.5 1729 1995 0.32 0.1 2.8 2184 1996 0.48 0.1 2.4 3074 1997 0.22 0.1 2.3 3145 1998 0.10 0.1 2.4 4271 1999 0.06 0.1 2.2 6197 Source: Based on Forestry Department (GGFP log production data), Moukhtara Co. and Central Statistics Department *Import figures account for only number (converted wood) and not expressed in thousand m3 as in round logs.

Wild fruits, from trees and shrubs, many of which are under-exploited (some of which are either supplementary or primary food source), provide good nutritious supplements to our diet such as protein, vitamins and roughage and also medicinal values at certain times of their growing period. Table 16 provides information on common Gambian tree species that contains some of the required nutrients of the human body.

Table 16: Common Trees and their Nutritional Content per 100 g of edible portion

Energy Common Water Kcal (kj) Protein Fats Vit.A Vit.C Iron Scientific Name Name (g) (g) (g) (mg) (mg) (mg) Adansonia digital Baobab - - - --75- juice Adansonia digital Baobab 85 48 (202) 5-11 0.7 1200 75 7 leaves Anacadium Cashew 5 590 (2478) 20 -0 5 oxidentalise nut 45 Anacadium Cashew 85 56 (235) 0.7 0.4 90 250 - Occidental fruits Ziziphus China 83 63 (265) 1.8 0 30 65 0.8 Mauritania Date Ficus capensis Ficus 85 49 (206) 1.3 - 48 15 0.5 Parkia biglobosa Locus - - - - - 190 - bean-pulp Parkia biglobosa Locus bean - 22 426 37 25.5 - - 40 fermented beans Moringa olifera Neverdie 85 48 (202 5-11 0.7 1200 75 7 leaves Elaeis guinensis palm tree- 50 209 (878) 2.2 3.5 1300 - 1.5 fruits Elaeis guinensis Red palm 0.0 900 (3780) 0.0 100 3500 - - oil Detarium Tallow ------Senegalensis fruit 1250 Tamarinds indica Tamarind 20 304 2.0 - 50 10 3.0 27 Source: B.S. Platt, Tables of Representative Values of food commonly used in Tropical Countries; M. C. Latham, human Nutrition in Tropical Africa, FAO - Food and Nutrition series, No. 11. as cited in, The Gambia Forest or Desert.

List of documents reviewed

Danso, A.; 1998: Agriculture and Natural Resource Sector Review, Report of Forestry and Wildlife Sectors, Banjul.

Descheres, P.; Ludwig, R.; 1994: The Influence on Grazing Pressure on Regeneration of Forest Trees in Kasila Community Forest Reserve, GGFPO, Report No. 32. Forster, h., 1983: Evaluation of the national Forest inventory of The Gambia, GGFP, Report No. 10.

GoTG; 1996: Country-species note on 2000 Vision for Food, Agriculture and the Environment, IFPRI’s 2020 Vision initiative), Banjul, August 1996.

KASPER, P., Some Common Flora of The Gambia Reinbek: Traute Warnke Verlag, 1993. - 3-9801591-3-2,S.289.

Kasper, A.; 1994: GGFP Teaching manuscript for Applied Dry Zone Forestry, Fajara.

Ludwig, R., Bojang, L; 1998: Results and Analysis of the national Forest Resource inventory The Gambia 1997/98, URDFP, December 1998.

Munderlein, J., 1999: NAD Action Plan on Population and Social Dimensions of Desertification, Draft Report, April 1999.

NARI; 1999: Fuel Wood Usage in The Gambia, Draft Report, Banjul, February 1999.

NEA.; 1996: Finalisation of the Landuse/Land Cover maps, Map Status Report and Procedural Strategy. Gambian German Enviromental Management Project, AHT International GmbH, National Environment Agency, The Gambia

Ridder, R.M.; 1991: Land use inventory for The Gambia on The Basis of Landsat-TM Scenes Including a Comparison with Previous Investigations, Fajara.

Schwartz, H.J.; 1999: NAD Action Plan on Livestock and Range Management, Draft Report, March 1999.

Sillah, J.S.; Bojang L.; 1997: Preliminary Environmental studies on mangrove eco systems, LADEP, state Department for Agriculture, Banjul.

Steiner, C.; 1996: Die Brennhoizversorgung der Ballungsraume von Banjul and kombo St. Mary, Gambia, Gottingen, August 1996.

Thoma W. & Sillah J. S.: NAD Action Plan on Forestry and Wildlife, August 1999. 28 Teusan, S.; 1999: Monitoring of land use Change in The Gambia between 1908 and 1993, URDFP, February 1999.