PROJECT TOGO - 
the Details 2010 - today

We are looking forward to an independent forest inventory, run by two
Student (Department of Forestry) of the College of Forestry in Rottenburg.
Morena Merkelbach and Tobias Ruhnau will be in the period from January 2019 to
Be in Togo at the beginning of March 2019 to prepare the forest inventory
carry out a follow-up and write a written report.

Since 2012 natureOffice has been running a climate protection project in the area of natural forest afforestation in Togo. The project area is divided into two areas, with a small one area of 85 ha in Fokpo, the larger area of 900 ha in Abouzokope.

GPS coordinates Area Starting point Fokpo: N6 ° 46.257 | E0 ° 52,374
GPS coordinates Area Starting point Abouzokope: N6 ° 40.109 | E0 ° 42.920

Since 2012, up to 15 mostly indigenous tree species have been growing on both 
areas planted. The seeds are usually collected in-house or, if appropriate,
purchased from local retailers. The purchase is controlled and monitored by
Namatie Palabe. The seeds are grown in two nurseries, each directly
the surfaces lie, used. The finished seedlings are then, at the beginning
the rainy season in April / May or in September / October introduced into the areas.

Leg planting the seedlings is first a circle of about 3 feet free of vegetation
made. This work is done with the traditional in Togo machete.
The same tool is used to dig a suitably large hole (about 20x20x20 cm) and insert
the seedling. In rare cases, it is poured.

Twice a year, after the two rainy seasons, measures the area around the planted
seedling in turn from damming vegetation ready, so that is enough light to the
seedlings comes. In addition, the created fire curtains (18 km in the total length)
twice a year from the overgrowing elephant grass liberated. This article
The work will be carried out simultaneously by up to 50 employees from the
surrounding villages done. Payment is via the previously with the village
communities negotiated salary. The payment in cash takes place at the end of the week. In forestry work men and women work side by side and on an equal footing.

Task for Morena Merkelbach and Tobias Ruhnau

In the practical period from 07.01.2019 to 07.03 inclusive. 2019 should wife
Merkelbach and Mr Ruhnau first set the limit for the project in Abouzokope.
and planting area, align with the existing documents and
update if necessary.
Furthermore, the area is divided into appropriate management units / departments.

In these an inventory of planted trees / seedlings is carried out.
In addition, the individual departments should be assessed visually. The following
Questions must be answered:

• Location and size of the departments / subdivisions (marking in the area, recording with GPS coordinates, representation in maps).
  
• When were the areas planted (new planting, reworking, natural regeneration, etc.)?
  
• Which tree species were planted (native, non-native, etc.)?
  
• What is the proportion of natural regeneration?
  
• How big are the trees on average (average tree height, growth performance, etc.)?
  
• What percentage of the departmental area is wooded (forestation percentage)?
  
• Did damage occur? What are the causes (fire, biting, insects, ...)?
  
• Are improvements required (to what extent, which tree species, when, etc.)?
  
• Are further forest management measures necessary (which, when, to what extent, etc.)?

The basis for recording / verifying the areas are the data from the certification of the project according to the gold standard (project document (PD), certifica-
report, shapefiles, etc.).
At least two employees of the natureOffice team plus two to three forest students of the State Agricultural School in
Kpalimé will be available for support.

The results should be recorded in writing, evaluated and summarized in a report in German. This should serve as a starting point for the planning of further forestry work.
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We are two students, Morena Merkelbach and Tobias Ruhnau,
School of Forestry in Rottenburg am Neckar. We study both in the 5th
Semester the B. Sc. Forestry. In the current integrated practical semester
there is a possibility to divide the time, therefore we work two months
together at Project Togo.

Because of a strong interest in global contexts, alien flora &
Fauna and, above all, climate protection, we opted for an internship at the
natureOffice GmbH decided in Project Togo. For this period was a
Task tailored to us, which fits both our field of expertise, as well as a necessary basis for further work in the future represents: On inventory of the reforested natural forest in Abouzokopé. We chose an inventory decided in the form of a sampling procedure.

On the forest area of ​​570 hectares we have various geoinformation
systems (QGIS, Garmin BaseCamp and OsmAnd) 247 GPS points created in
150-meter grid. In the area we then visited these points and recorded a variety of
values within a radius of 10 meters. Including the counting of the different tree
species, the heights of the individual trees or even the Bottom shading degrees.

The work itself has worked closely with the local team took place. So we often have teams of two to accommodate the Data made, since the Togolese colleagues much better with the knowing of the terrain as well as the vegetation.

 All in all, the cooperation, on-site support and communication worked very well. We are pleased that we had the opportunity to take this internship and hope that our work will continue to bear fruit in the future.

A biodiversity study commissioned by natureOffice named

BIODIVERSITÉ ET DYNAMIQUE SPATIO-TEMPORELLE DE LA FORÊT D'ABOUDJOKOPE

was carried out by the National De Formation Agricole Institute (INFA) in Kpalimé in collaboration with the University of Lomé and presented the first version.

The study is concerned with reproducing a snapshot of the natural forest area within PROJECT TOGO and showing and describing the changes compared to an unprocessed area, as well as a change process from 2012 to 2018.

A first interim report, submitted on 1 February, confirms the massive reduction of previously existing savannas in favor of forest land.

A total of 276 types of vegetation (trees, shrubs, flowers and moss plants) were counted on the area. The biodiversity is concentrated in the inner core of the area.
In the outer edge of the area, however, 208 vegetation types were still registered, which points to a significant expansion of diversity beyond the area borders. This means that the natural forest area of ​​PROJECT TOGO works on the biodiversity far beyond the actual area.

After the study was presented at the institute, we will report in detail on the results and publish the document.