Context
The last national forest inventory in Côte d’Ivoire was carried out in 1979, and no comprehensive wildlife inventory had been conducted outside the Taï and Comoé parks.
Against a backdrop of increasing deforestation revealed by satellite imagery, the Ministry of Water and Forests commissioned an updated inventory of forests, wildlife and communities living without title in public forests.
The task of carrying out these three inventories was entrusted to ONF International, in collaboration with SODEFOR, OIPR and ANADER, in order to provide the country with reliable data to guide its sustainable management policies.
Activities carried out
- Nationwide coverage via a network of sampling units and transects.
- Forest inventory: state of ecosystems, tree species, degradation, plantations, land-use changes.
- Wildlife inventory: over 70,000 observations to map species and habitats.
- Socio-economic surveys: agricultural practices, cash crops, human factors contributing to deforestation.
- Integrated national assessment combining forest, wildlife and human dynamics.
- Capacity building for SODEFOR, ANADER and OIPR (training and transfer of methodologies).
The project in figures
Data collection – Forest and Wildlife Inventory of Côte d’Ivoire
1 387
Forest sampling units analysed
72 810
Wildlife observations collected.
34
Threatened species listed (IUCN Red List).
1 400
Control plots were identified and surveyed by teams.
Project details
The data collection, carried out on tablets by officially appointed technical operators, has made it possible to document:
- the forest area and its changes
- the volume of standing timber
- resulting from village practices (hunting, gathering, felling and wood use)
- regional characteristics
- forest ecosystems in relation to human occupation
soils - fauna and flora
This work now provides a solid and up-to-date baseline on the state of forests, biodiversity and agricultural pressures, which is essential for supporting public policy, guiding restoration strategies and strengthening the sustainable management of natural resources.
Field agents taking dendrometric measurements as part of the National Forest and Wildlife Inventory (IFFN), Ivory Coast.
Joint SODEFOR–ANADER–OIPR team mobilised for field surveys for the National Forest and Wildlife Inventory (IFFN) in dense rainforest areas.
Expected results
The results of the National Forest and Wildlife Inventory were presented in Abidjan on 29 June 2021, during a national workshop chaired by the Minister for Water and Forests, attended by the Director of AFD in Côte d’Ivoire. The event brought together all stakeholders in the forestry sector.
The IFFN highlights three major trends:
- the impact of socio-economic dynamics on deforestation
- the dependence of wildlife on the quality and continuity of forest ecosystems
- the influence of land tenure status on land conversion, particularly to cash crops
These results provide the Ivorian government with a solid baseline for guiding its policies on the protection, restoration and sustainable management of natural resources.
- Budget
- 5.5 million euros
- Partners
- (IGN) and IGN-FI; the Forest Development Corporation (SODEFOR), the National Agency for Rural Development Support (ANADER) and the Ivorian Office for Parks and Reserves (OIPR).
- Beneficiaries
- The beneficiaries of the IFFN project are MINEF, SODEFOR, OIPR, ANADER, the Ivorian State, and rural communities.
- Donor
- The French Development Agency (AFD), Debt Reduction and Development Contract” (C2D) program.
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