ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses a savanna as a continuous herbaceous stratum essentially composed of perennial grasses and scattered with tortuous tree vegetation of varying densities. In the Sudano-Sahelian zone of West Africa, with an annual rainfall of 800-1400 mm, savannas have apparently been regressing, although scientific evidence for this regression is scarce, both at the regional and local levels. The extent of the savannas diminishing and decreasing in terms of biomass and biodiversity could be a result of a combination of biophysical processes, such as climate change, and human activities such as the establishment of new fields by savanna clearing, firewood cutting and overgrazing on lands spared from farming. Forest inventories in Mali were conducted in 1997 for savannas and fallows, including young fallows that are periodically converted into parklands. In Mali the method that has been used is more centred on understanding people’s preferences and uses than on resource dynamics.
