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Usage Patterns and Conservation Practices of Wild Palm Species (Arecaceae) in Western Burkina Faso

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Abstract

Wild palms provide high-value resources and contribute to generating income for rural people. This study documents the usage patterns and conservation practices of wild palms in Western Burkina Faso. An ethnobotanical survey was conducted with 258 participants across five different communities. The participants cited seven palm species. The number of palm species cited per participant varied according to their ethnic group, gender, and age category. Elaeis guineensis and Borassus akeassii were the most cited and useful species. The influence of ethnic group, gender, and age on use values depended on the specific palm species among the communities. Local people adopted natural assisted regeneration (watering, protecting, and taking care of seedlings that germinate naturally) and cultivation to conserve Borassus akeassii and Elaeis guineensis. Local conservation practices and sustainable exploitation of wild palms are needed for their successful and effective conservation in the semi-arid climatic context of Burkina Faso.

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Data Availability

The datasets used in the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), for providing financial and academic supports through the graduate research program in climate change and biodiversity of the West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use program (WASCAL). We are also grateful to local people in Western Burkina Faso for accepting to share their knowledge on the palms. We also acknowledge our field guides for their help during the data collection

Funding

The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) through the WASCAL programme provides funding for this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Biologie et Ecologie Végétales, Université Joseph KI-ZERBO, Ouagadougou, 03 BP 7021, Burkina Faso

    Aboubacar-Oumar Zon, Fanta Reine Sheirita Tiétiambou & Amadé Ouédraogo

  2. West African Science Service on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL), Graduate Research Program in Climate Change and Biodiversity, UFR-Biosciences, University Felix Houphouët Boigny, 31BP165, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

    Aboubacar-Oumar Zon & Edouard Konan Kouassi

  3. Centre universitaire de Gaoua, Université Nazi BONI, Bobo-Dioulasso, 01 BP 1091, Burkina Faso

    Fanta Reine Sheirita Tiétiambou

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  1. Aboubacar-Oumar Zon
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  2. Edouard Konan Kouassi
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Contributions

AOZ and AO conceived the work. AOZ collected and processed the data with advices from FRST, EKK, and AO. AOZ drafted the manuscript with assistance of FRST, EKK, and AO. AO and EKK supervised the work. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Aboubacar-Oumar Zon.

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Ethics Approval and Consent to Participate

The research was conducted with respect of individual liberty, customs, and beliefs. We first explained the objectives of the work to chiefs of the village and each participant and got their authorization to conduct the study. Individual consent to participate in the study was obtained prior to the administration of the questionnaire. Only people that consented to participate in the study as volunteers were interviewed.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Zon, AO., Kouassi, E.K., Tiétiambou, F.R.S. et al. Usage Patterns and Conservation Practices of Wild Palm Species (Arecaceae) in Western Burkina Faso. Econ Bot (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12231-023-09595-6

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