Infiltration des forêts classées de Côte d’Ivoire: une réalité favorable à la « mort » programmée du patrimoine forestier ivoirien

The Ivorian forest is in difficulty and even endangered because of its advanced degradation. Of 16 million hectares, there are still about 3.5 to 2 million today. This drastic reduction of forests, especially protected areas, is due to an irrational agriculture of forest resources through shifting cultivation on slash and mining-type abusive logging that has led to a degradation of the forest cover. Safeguarding the Ivorian classified forests is an objective at the heart of the debates of the life of the Ivorian nation. In the past, Ivorian forests used to occupy a large part of the national territory. Today, human activities have reduced them in many places. Yet they play very important ecological roles. Infiltration or clandestine occupation of forests classified by the population follows a logic of subsistence or survival. Communities therefore live at the expense of the forest not only for their agricultural activity but also by collecting fuel, fiber and medicines. In addition, illegal gold panning nowadays inside forests classified by peasants who have become "gold diggers" has also contributed and continues to exacerbate the phenomenon. As a result, there are several land conflicts that disrupt social cohesion and weaken the social fabric between the communities living around the classified forests. Therefore, unanimously, the national and international community believes that "The Ivorian forest lives a tragedy: the fauna, flora and our waters are in danger. The Ivorian forest is dying. It's just disappearing