Yawo Konko

“The Dahomey Gap” is a human-derived mostly savannah region that separates the Guineo-Congolian rainforest block into two major units: the Upper Guinean and the Lower Guinean Forest blocks. Several forest patches are distributed throughout this savannah-dominated habitat. The mammal communities in the Dahomey Gap region have been poorly studied. In this paper we analyse the species richness and abundance of, as well as conservation implications for, medium and large mammals (especially ungulates) inhabiting a complex of flooded forests near the Mono river in south-eastern Togo. We use several field methods to describe the species richness of mammals in this area, including camera-trapping, recce transects, Kilometric Index of Abundance (KIA) estimates, examination of hunters’ catches and face-to-face hunter interviews. Overall, we directly recorded 19 species that coexist in these forests. Based on interviews, nine other species were confirmed as present in the study area. Only five species were common: Cephalophus rufilatus, Tragelaphus scriptus, Chlorocebus aethiops, Atilax paludinosus and Herpestes ichneumon. The area still contains various threatened species such as Tragelaphus spekii and Hippopotamus amphibius. We stress that to ensure the protection of the Dahomey Gap mammals, it is important to seriously consider protecting not only the forest patches but also the surroundings, mainly savannah landscapes.

Climate warming is a global phenomenon which is affecting the whole climate system. One of its consequences is the longer duration of drought periods, which is increasing the frequency of bush fires. Uncontrolled wildfires disrupt the ecology and functions of ecosystems, sometimes eroding them. This study, focusing on satellite monitoring during the bush fire season in 2018-2019, offers a contribution to support bush fire management in Togo. We explore the potential of new satellite data from Sentinel-2 (S-2), available as open-access remote sensing data for optical detection of burned areas and mapping of both utilitarian and uncontrolled fires. The data can also be used to test the performance of bush fire mapping methods by means of the NBR index (Normalized Burn Ratio), initially designed for Landsat images to assess burned plant biomass. The results show the potential usefulness of S-2 images in mapping burned areas and a satisfactory performance of the NBR method with S-2 images. Mapping of bushfires shows that utilitarian fires account for 21.75% of all fires as opposed to 78.25% for uncontrolled fires. Together, the bush fires recorded destroyed plant cover over 5,878 km(2), or 10.39% of Togo's surface area. The plant cover burned mainly comprises savannah land (33.12%), crops and fallows (24.48%), plantations (14.59%), open woodland (14.43%) and riparian forest (13.02%). The results obtained provide tangible evidence to support monitoring, awareness-raising, planning and development of bush fire prevention and management plans.