| Resume |
Background: This research aimed at assessing the
diversity of timber species used in wood carving in
southern Benin, identify various sources of wood as
well as most species used. We also stated that wood
is recorded as the most used part for carving. The
scarcity or availability of species with quality wood
and their causes in recent years were assessed.
Carvers’ willingness to contribute to species
conservation was also documented. With a
perspective of sustainable forest conservation, the
impact of wood carving activity on forests was also
assessed.
Methods: A preliminary survey was conducted to
determine the number of wood carvers in three
districts of Southern Benin. A semi-structured
questionnaire was used to collect data from twelve
wood carvers. Data was analyzed through
descriptive statistics, mainly using percentages and
mean. We determined the Use Value of the most
used species for woods in order to assess their
relative importance.
Results: Twenty-two species were used in wood
carving with most species having red or yellow wood.
The purchase of wood in industrial markets was the
predominant source, followed by the direct purchase
from plantation and tree owners. Among the main
woody species used including Diospyros
mespiliformis, Chlorophora excelsa, Tectona grandis
and Gmelina arborea, the Use Value (i.e. relative
importance in terms of diversity of uses) was the
highest with G. arborea and C. excelsa. While most
of carvers mainly accused logging of making wood scarce and destroying forests and plantations, only a
minority (25%) own G. arborea and A. auriculiformis
plantations. Carvers indicated their willingness to have
plantations of T. grandis and G. arborea for personal
use and trade.
Promoting reforestation and timber species
plantation are plausible through integrated policies,
such as:
(i). Developing appropriate silviculture;
(ii). Sensitizing actors about forest
conservation, the need for appropriate silviculture by
giving priority to the quality of products and
techniques at all stages;
(iii). Strengthening forestry services capacities,
consolidating technical achievements and
monitoring forestry actions;
(iv). Establishing, consolidating and developing
sustainable self-promotion capacities of rural
populations mainly women's groups, based on the
integrated land development, beneficiaries'
entrepreneurial participation and the commercialization chain promotion at community
and regional scales
(v). Creating and supporting institutional
structures in monitoring learning;
(vi). Promoting the advent of self-managed
rural forestry based on the principle that reforestation
really develops whether it can generate its own
resources.
Conclusions: A diverse range of tree species are
used in carving in Southern Benin. The most used
species were D. mespiliformis, C. excelsa, T. grandis
and G. arborea. Gmelina arborea and C. excelsa had
the highest Use Value. Carvers indicated their
willingness to contribute to species plantation and
conservation. Wood carving had an impact on forest
and thus a need to promote reforestation and
plantation, and to raise awareness with wood carvers
on sustainable resource utilization and management. |
(PDF)