Ecosystem contributions of Sudanian agroforestry parklands in their diversity. Scientific views vs. perceptions of local societies

Abstract

International audienceThe parkland is a widespread rural agroforestry landscape in dry Sudanian Africa. The woody stratum produces goods and delivers ecosystem services that are essential for the well-being and resilience of rural populations. It also generates disservices that influence the density and composition of parkland in case of mechanised farming. Moreover, fallow land, where some species regenerate, is becoming scarcer, and soils fertility decreases. The result is a trend towards specialisation, ageing and thinning tree density. Before considering support for regeneration, the diversity of local situations requires a nuanced and contextualised analysis of the park's states and contributions, and listening to the viewpoints of the stakeholders. Within the framework of the Leapagri Ramses2 program, a participatory diagnosis of ecosystem services was carried out along a 50km regional transect of Koumbia-Dano (Burkina Faso), following mappings, an agroforestry inventory (264 plots of 0.8ha) and an in situ survey of the families of 67 inventoried fields. As a result, the classic tree ecosystem services (shade, biodiversity, carbon sequestration, infiltration, fertility, forest products) assessed from the inventory vary greatly between villages according to soils and the state of economic development. Farmers' views on the expected services (hierarchy, disservices) are complicated by divergent interests within the same household and between households, depending on the cropping systems adopted or the types of farm. There are also personal or philosophical expectations linked to traditions and social affiliations such as ethnicity, clan, religion, age class, gender and education. These studies on the diversity of parks and their complex contributions to societies complete the knowledge on specialised parks. The two scientific and endogenous perspectives also complement each other to serve as inputs to multi- stakeholder debates on engaging or not in the restoration of degraded parks