WBC-VIII-Vol.4 – Resources – Forestry, Plantations and ... - BambuSC

305 clumps /ha at Eltogola forest site to 1100 clumps /ha at Kokaya forest site. However, the average number of
clumps for all studied sites of South Kordofan was estimated at around 543 clumps /ha.
Discussion
The present work showed that bamboo is naturally distributed in a disjuncted manner in South Kordofan State.
The inventory covered eight forest sites but only two of them were reserved forests. The management plans of
these forests excluded bamboo despite its clear importance as a commonly used market item. Variations
between the eight sites in stocking may be attributed to proximity of some of the studied sites to highly
populated areas which exerted heavy pressure and over exploitation of bamboo resource. This was shown
clearly by the fact that the remotely located forest sites like Kokaya (1100), Abu Faida (850) and Alfaras (615)
were better stocked compared to the sites located near towns and highly populated villages like Omjamena and
Eltogola forest sites with (110) and (310) clumps/ha respectively. The prominent bamboo species in the areas is
Oxytenanthera abyssinica according to Andrews (1950), but however, the present work have identified a new
bamboo species growing naturally in some forest sites viz. Sinarundinaria alpina. Bamboo in some sites form
almost pure stands, but generally found mixed with different forest tree associates. The most frequent
associates of bamboo in all its ocurrencies in these sites are Combretum species and Diospyrus messpiliformis.
Tree species like Anogeissus leiocarpus, Commiphora abyssinica Sclerocarya birrea and Dichrostachys
cinerea were found growing with bamboos in some of the inventoried sites but not as frequent as the
combretum and diospyrus species mentioned above. These results are in agreement with the reports outlined by
Mooney (1963), Williamson (1974), Jiping (1987) and Diab (2002) on tree species associated with bamboo in
some tropical areas of Africa.
Results of this works indicate that the average stocking of the bamboo is 543 clumps/ha. This stocking seems to
be quite reasonable compared to other naturally growing bamboo stands else where (297-325) clumps/ha. If
these forest sites were carefully managed and protected for sustainable culm production they will certainly
contribute to the welfare of rural people as an income generating activity and employment. In addition, research
and development is timely needed to quantify and assess the bamboo resource, develop silvicultural and
appropriate harvesting techniques and marketing opportunities. This work is recommended to be replicated at
the national level especially at the Blue Nile and South Dar fur states where bamboos grow naturally at different
sites but were not inventoried yet.
VIII World Bamboo Congress Proceedings Vol 4-101