EFFICACITÉ DES AIRES PROTÉGÉES DANS LA CONSERVATION D’HABITATS FAVORABLES PRIORITAIRES DE LIGNEUX DE VALEUR AU BÉNIN

The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of protected areas in Benin for the conservation of favourable and priority habitats for the following tree species of socio-economic importance: Afzelia africana , Anogeissus leiocarpa , Burkea africana , Daniellia oliveri , Deta- rium microcarpum , Prosopis africana and Khaya senegalensis . We combined maximum entropy (Maxent) techniques with GIS to predict potentially favourable areas for cultivating and conserving these species. Zonation  software  was  used  to model priority habitats. Data points where the species were present were col- lected and linked to bioclimatic variables derived from monthly temperature and rainfall figures from the Africlim database and to edaphic (soil) variables. In term  of environmental determinism, the most favourable areas were predicted by bio- climatic variables such as mean diurnal temperature range (Bio2), mean annual rainfall (Bio12), potential evapotrans- piration (PET) and a biophysical ground variable. The most favourable protected areas for the seven tree species extended northwards from the Ketou listed forest (7°43’N) in the Guinean zone, from the Agoua listed forest (8°30’N) in the Suda- no-Guinean zone and from the Pend-  jari National Park area (10°35’N) in the Sudanian zone. Gap analysis of habitat conservation showed that the protected area network was effective in the Suda- nian zone (9°75’-12°27’N), minimally effective in the Guinean zone (6°50’- 7°40’N) and not effective at all in the Sudano-Guinean zone.