Restoring vegetation and degraded lands by using assisted natural regeneration approach (ANRA): case study at Bankass in the centre of Mali, West Africa

Assisted natural regeneration approach was experimented in the Sahel region in the aim of restoring land and vegetation in accordance with the global objectives of the Great Green Wall for the Sahara and the Sahel Initiative. Two sites (Endé and Soula Kanda) located in the district of Bankass in the centre of Mali were concerned by this study. Assisted shoots and non-assisted shoots of Guiera senegalensis J. F. Gmel . were compared at Soula Kanda, while at Endé, only assisted shoots were monitored so that to assess the impact of this approach on the survival and the growth of the shoots of this species. The height, the diameter at the basis and the diameter at 1.30 m above the ground were measured from 2015 to 2017 at Endé and from 2016 to 2017 at Soula Kanda in November/December each year. For each treatment, thirty shoots were monitored and data were analysed using the software SYSTAT9 FOR WINDOWS. At Endé, the survival rate was 93%. At Soula Kanda, the survival rate of assisted shoots was 97% against 73% for the control. At Endé as well as at Soula Kanda, dead shoots were cut by farmers. The current annual increments at Endé were 44 cm year −1 for height and 1.27 cm year −1 for the diameter at 1.30 m above the ground. At Soula Kanda, the current annual increment for height was the same for the two treatments (20 cm year −1 ).