Wildlife of Burkina Faso - Flora

Flora

The flora of Burkina Faso is composed of 2067 plant species. The most important families in terms of species richness and abundance are the grasses (Poaceae) and legumes (Fabaceae). Many species are distributed widely in the savannas regions of Africa. There are however two endemic plants, Pandanus brevifrugalis and Isoetes jaegeri.

Approximately 15% of the country has forest cover while wooded land constitutes approximately 34% of the area. Very little closed forest can be found and this is mainly of the gallery forest type along waterways. The open forests include savanna of four types, namely Sahelian, Sahelian-Sudanian, Sudanian, and Sudanian-Guinean. Though much of the country is dry and sparse, vegetation can vary considerably. Northern Burkina Faso consists mainly of savanna, acacia woodland, and during the wet season, prickly shrubs and stunted trees flourish. Herbaceous plants include broadleaf deciduous, shrub, desert shrub, semi-desert savanna and thorny scrub. Crops include Banana, Cassava, Bougainvillea, Cotton, Guava, Maize, Spinach, Malabar Spinach, Millet, Onions, Papaya, Sorghum, Tomatoes, and Yams. Most of the country consists of sparse savanna grasslands, with the occasional shrub or acacia. Although the country only has about 15% forest cover overall, there are many forests in the south, growing denser along the banks of the perennial rivers. These include Diéfoula Forest, Logoniégué Forest, Laba Forest, Dida Forest, Koulbi National Forest, Bontioli Reserve Forest, Nabere Partial Reserve Forest, Koflandé Forest, Maro Forest, Tui Forest, Deux Balés Forest, Kalio Forest, Tisse Forest, Dibon Forest, Pâ Forest, Mou Forest, Boulon Forest, Tigo Forest, Nakambe Forest and Niangoloko Forest, of which about 16% have official protection.

Poverty means that deforestation is a problem in the country and each year the country loses approximately 32,000 hectares of forests, to make way for agriculture and for fuelwood, which around 90% of the national population are dependent upon. Numerous NGOs are active in the country, educating farmers and encouraging them to minimize land clearing and plant trees as well as cultivate the land.

Shea nuts termed "women's gold" used to make shea butter, cosmetics and chocolates in Burkina Faso Shea nut processing by women in Burkina Faso

Trees of note include the shea tree (known as "Karité" in the local Dioula language and the baobab (hibiscus tree). Although the shea tree is indigenous to the semi-arid Sahel region of West Africa, Burkina Faso contains the largest number of them. The shea tree is extremely important to the Burkinabe people and is termed as "women's gold" by the villagers, because the nuts of shea tree can be collected and then processed by crushing and grinding to yield shea butter, important in cuisine and in exports, for use in the manufacture of chocolate and cosmetics such as soap. Shea nuts are the country's third most important export, after cotton and livestock; in 1997, an average tonne of unprocessed shea nuts sold domestically for CFA70,000 (US$980) and overseas for CFA1,00,000 (US$1400). The most important centres of shea butter production are in Sissili Province and Ziro Province. The bark of the tree is also used as an ingredient in traditional medicines and the shell of nut is said to be able to repel mosquitoes and is also said to protect existing trees. The Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea) is also grown in abundance; Burkina Faso produced some 20,000 tonnes in 1989, after peanuts (160,000 tonnes) and cowpeas (74,000 tonnes). Between 1982 and 1985, an attempt was made to improve the Bambara groundnut, an initiative which involved the participation of plant breeders in the Grain Legumes Programme.

The country contains populations of Vitellaria paradoxa trees, which often have problems with parasites of the 'Loranthaceae family. Four species of Tapinanthus (Tapinanthus dodoneifolius, Tapinanthus globiferus, Tapinanthus ophiodes and Tapinanthus pentagonia) are widespread all across Burkina Faso and Mali and are also subject to being affected by pests. Other trees include Acacia, Flamboyant Tree, Delonix regia, and Neem Tree.