Bamboo resources in Togo

The reduction of the forest resources requires the use of some under-utilized timber and Non Timber Forest Products such as the bamboos. This study analyses the diversity, ecological and morphological characteristics and the uses of 257 bamboos clumps dispersed in different zones in Togo. The results show that most of the clumps are natural groves, occupying 76.6% of the total bamboo area in Togo, and the proportion of the private plantations is 23.4%. The bamboo clumps are generally of small size. Five local or naturalized species have been encountered: Bambusa arundinacea, Bambusa multiplex, Bambusa vulgaris, Bambusa vulgaris var. striata and Oxytenanthera abyssinica. Twenty other species introduced recently are in experimentation in the Opportunities Industrialization Centers (OIC-Togo). The most two frequent bamboos are Bambusa vulgaris (85.21% of the clumps) and Oxytenanthera abyssinica (11.28%). Both bamboo species have a contrasted ecology; the first is abundant in the guinean zone of the country and the second in the sudanese zone. The usual practices assessment of the bamboo species show that in Togo, the production, exploitation and processing are again at the craft level. The management of the forest resources in Togo requires more exploitation of the bamboos species, as an alternative to limit the human pressure on thetraditional plant species (Teak, Iroko, Mahogen, Afzelia, etc.).Keywords: Non Timber Forest Products, traditional exploitation, management, technology transfer