Carbon stocks in forest ecosystems, when released as a result of forest degradation, contribute to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To quantify and assess the rates of these changes, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recommends that the REDD+ mechanism use a combination of Earth observational data and field inventories. To this end, our study characterized land-cover changes and forest-cover dynamics in Togo between 1985 and 2020, using the supervised classification of Landsat 5, 7, and 8 images on the Google Earth Engine platform with the Random Forest (RF) algorithm. Overall image classification accuracies for all target years ranged from 0.91 to 0.98, with Kappa coefficients ranging between 0.86 and 0.96. Analysis indicated that all land cover classes, which were identified at the beginning of the study period, have undergone changes at several levels, with a reduction in forest area from 49.9% of the national territory in 1985, to 23.8% in 2020. These losses of forest cover have mainly been to agriculture, savannahs, and urbanization. The annual change in forest cover was estimated at −2.11% per year, with annual deforestation at 422.15 km² per year, which corresponds to a contraction in forest cover of 0.74% per year over the 35-year period being considered. Ecological Zone IV (mountainous, with dense semi-deciduous forests) is the one region (of five) that has best conserved its forest area over this period. This study contributes to the mission of forestry and territorial administration in Togo by providing methods and historical data regarding land cover that would help to control the factors involved in forest area reductions, reinforcing the system of measurement, notification, and verification within the REDD+ framework, and ensuring better, long-lasting management of forest ecosystems.

Ethnobotanical knowledge is useful in development of management and conservation of plant genetic resources. In this study, ethnobotanical investigations were conducted in Sudanian zone of Togo to identify use values knowledge of Sterculia setigera tree. Information was obtained with the aid of semistructured interviews. Three (3) ethnic groups: Bassar, Moba, and Konkomba belonging to ten (10) localities were investigated. Use knowledge of Sterculia setigera through these ethnic groups was assessed using four use indices: reported use (RU), plant part value (PPV), specific reported use (SU), and intraspecific use value (IUV). Sixty (60) informants of 43 years old were interviewed. The plant parts values and specific uses are raised more in the Moba's ethnic group. The main quoted uses are medicinal, religious, food, and cosmetic. Thus, fourteen (14) treatments of ailments are assigned to it. Considering the various uses, it is crucial to validate scientifically the therapeutic uses and safety of these plants through phytochemical screening, different biological activity tests, and toxicological studies.

Les feux de végétation restent un facteur écologique important pour la gestion durable des écosystèmes. Cependant, la défaillance dans la gestion efficiente de ce dernier demeure une contrainte majeure pour la conservation de la biodiversité et l’équilibre écologique des écosystèmes tropicaux. En vue de donner des pistes pour une gestion efficiente des feux de végétation au Togo, une étude phytosociologique et une évaluation de la biomasse combustible ont été réalisées. Les inventaires phytosociologiques au sein de 354 placettes de 10 m x 10 m ont permis d’évaluer la flore pyrophyte. Les biomasses combustibles humide et sèche ont été quantifiées sur la base 1062 échantillons coupés à intérieur des quadras de 1 m x 1 m. La florule pyrophyte identifiée est de 466 espèces à dominance des Poaceae (40,48 %) dont la proportion est variable en fonction des conditions écologiques. À l’exception de la zone forestière (Zone IV, 16,64 %), on note une nette dominance des Paoceae dans les autres zones avec une proportion de plus de 40 %. Les espèces dominantes sont : Chromolaena odorata, Sporobolus pyramidalis, Hyparrhenia rufa, Panicum maximum, Andropogon gayanus et Imperata cylindrica. La similarité est plus élevée entre les zones I et II et entre les zones III et V. La biomasse des zones brûlées est estimée à 5,42 t MS/ha en moyenne. Les biomasses les plus élevées sont obtenues dans les zones écologiques V et III (7,30 t MS/ha et 6,15 t MS/ha), tandis que la plus faible correspond à la zone IV (3,65 t MS/ha). Des études à l’échelle régionale, préfectorale et locale seraient plus conseillées en vue de prendre en compte les réalités microclimatiques, de déterminer les vulnérabilités et d’en déduire des mesures spécifiques de gestion.