Détails de l’article

The vulnerability of pastoral resources to the impacts of artisanal gold mining has hindered the development of animal production in recent decades in the rural commune of Domba, Bougouni region of Mali. This study aims to contribute to a better understanding of the impact of artisanal gold panning on pastoral resources. To this end, phytoecological surveys and samples of herbaceous biomass and pastoral value were carried out on the gold panning site. The Domba artisanal gold mining site comprises 21 herbaceous species, belonging to 20 genera and 9 families. Poaceae (42.86%) and Lamiaceae (14.29), are the most dominant in the study area followed by Cyperaceae, Fabaceae and Rubiaceae with each 9.52%. On the other hand, the lowest contributions are those of Acanthaceae, Cochlospermaceae and Malvaceae each contributed 4.76%. The production of herbaceous biomass is very low in the artisanal gold mining site, either 0.9 tonnes of DM/ha. This would be due to strong pressure exerted by gold miners in the rural commune of Domba. The pastoral value obtained is 12.53% in the gold mining site. This result is significantly lower than the reference value indicated which is 50%. This result could be due to the impacts of artisanal gold mining on pastoral resources, particularly herbaceous resources. This also results in environmental degradation, deforestation, pollution of water resources, reduction of grazing areas and loss of biodiversity. For good management of pastoral resources, it is necessary to undertake activities including the restoration of old gold mining sites, the development of pastoral areas and their enrichment with fodder species. Keywords: gold, pastoral resources, gold mining site, Mali