Figure 4

Space structure of study area. On this figure are located the two transects on foot, two pictures of the northern and southern rural areas, and the results of remote sensing analysis. The North and the South transects start in the rural area and go towards the town of Bonon. The pictures of the northern area show that almost all the landscape is exploited by humans. The pictures from the southern area show an association of crops and "natural" vegetation. With the remote sensing analysis results, we can see that all the study area is very exploited by humans and that the relict forest and uncultivated lowgrounds subsist only in the Marahoué national park and in parts of the southern rural area. In the northern rural area, most of the lowgrounds are cultivated. Coffee and cocoa plantations are present everywhere in the rural area, but not close to the biggest human settlements (town and villages).