[List of Publications]

[Annual Report 97 :
Table of Contents]

There is a growing recognition that native forest regeneration within plantations can add value in many ways to tree planting programmes including, in certain cases, increased economic returns. During 1995-96 vegetation, fauna and microfauna studies were conducted in Congo and South Africa. The purpose was to check under which circumstances (historical and current land-use practices, proximity to natural forest, degree of site degradation, plant management intensity and plantation species selection) and the extent to which establishment of tree plantations on degraded lands can enhance biodiversity of indigenous and naturalised plant species and restore faunal biodiversity. Research results obtained during this first phase have been published in 1997 in a special issue of Forest Ecology and Management.

Extension of the work began during the last quarter of 1997 with the same collaborators from Congo, France and South Africa. The research focus will be on understanding reasons for changes in soil biological fertility when converting savanna to eucalyptus plantations and through successive rotations of eucalypt plantations.