Déforestation au nord du Bénin : un éclairage par des enquêtes communautaires

Abstract

This article begins by observing the spatio-temporal heterogeneity of deforestation in Northern Benin over the past four decades. In order to understand the underlying reasons for these spatial disparities, we conducted a thorough inquiry among residents of areas where woody cover has diverged significantly from the regional trend. Utilizing textual statistical methods, our analysis of these interviews has yielded deeper insights into specific local nuances in the population's perceptions of the ongoing environmental changes within their territories. Furthermore, our investigations have underscored a worsening of social and land inequalities that impact the entire region. The persistence of deforestation in Northern Benin, alongside the expression of economic and social vulnerability among the surveyed populations, mirrors situations already observed in several other rural regions of West Africa.

Keywords

• remote sensing
• textual analysis
• local identity
• deforestation
• Benin