Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
16
Comparative management
of the savanna woodland
in Ghana and Guinea:
A preliminary analysis
Lewis Enu-Kwesi, Vincent V. Vordzogbe, Diallo Amirou,
and Diallo Daouda
Introduction
The Republics of Ghana and Guinea are both located in West Africa. They have
similar vegetation zones that have been modified through anthropogenic factors
such as agriculture, logging, and the quest for biomass either directly as fuelwood
or for conversion into charcoal.
Recently Thies (1995) classified the forest-savanna transition zone of West
Africa to cover virtually the entire area between 5°N and 10°N. This broad area
includes the forest-savanna transition zone as well as the entire Guinea savanna
zone of Ghana and the area around Kouroussa-Moussaya in north-eastern
Guinea (Figure 16.1; see also Map A; Swaine and Hall, 1986).
Preliminary observations had indicated close similarity as well as differences
in the composition of species in this broadly classified transition zone. There also
appears to be very close cultural similarity among people of Ghana and Guinea
in terms of the use of flora to enhance their livelihoods.
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