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Trees, Shrubs and Lianas of West African Dry Zones (French version)

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Tropical Forest Goods and Ecosystem Services: Facing Global Change

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Michel Arbonnier
Montpellier, France
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The Prix Clément Jacquiot for Michel Arbonnier

20/08/2010 - Snippets

Michel Arbonnier is the recipient of the Prix Clément Jacquiot awarded by the Académie d’Agriculture de France for his reference book Trees, Shrubs and Lianas of West African Dry Zones.

The Académie d’Agriculture de France has just awarded a very prestigious prize to Michel Arbonnier for his book Trees, Shrubs and Lianas of West African Dry Zones. The Prix Clément Jacquiot will officially be given to the CIRAD researcher on 6 October, et a ceremony presided by Bruno Le Maire, the French Minister of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries.

The book, of which a third edition was published in 2009, is much more than just a flora: it is a veritable field guide based on the author's fifteen years' experience of forest development. The Académie d’agriculture de France chose this botanical and ethnobotanical reference book because, in the words of its members, it is appreciated by researchers, teachers and woodland managers in the countries concerned.

In effect, the book fills a gap in the available documentation on the flora of West African dry zones. It lists 360 woody species that are easily identifiable from 1300 colour photos of flowers, fruits, leaves and bark. And since trees play a role in the landscape balance through a range of functions and services, the book also includes an up-to-date inventory of the traditional uses of the different parts of each plant in pharmacopeia, the human and animal diet, and agronomy.

Michel Arbonnier is a forester and botanist at CIRAD. For thirty years, he has been studying the flora of Africa. He also has plans for two new books: one on the orchids of the mountains of central Africa, and another on the woody species of the same region.

Trees, Shrubs and Lianas of West African Dry Zones
Michel Arbonnier
MNHN-Quae co-publication
2009