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

Abstract
Distribution and Assessment of Bamboo
in South Kordofan State, Sudan
Ahmed M A Eldoma, 1 Eiman E. E. Diab 2 and Gamal Eldien M Abbakar 3
1 Sudan University for Science and Technology, Faculty of Forestry and Range Science, Khartoum, Sudan
2 Institute of Environment and Natural Recourses, National Centre for Research, Khartoum, Sudan
3 Forests National Corporation, South Kordofan State, Kadogli, Sudan.
An inventory and assessment of bamboo was carried out in eight different sites in South Kordofan State of the
Sudan. The common bamboo species growing in the area is Oxytenanthera abyssinica. However, Findings of
the present study revealed the occurrence of a second bamboo species in some forest sites inventoried viz.
Sinarundinaria alpina. It has not been commonly known before to be indigenous to South Kordofan. Results
obtained indicate significant differences between the forest sites in stocking and other growth characteristics. In
this connection, stocking ranged from 305 to 1100 clumps/ha. These differences may be attributed to over
exploitation as related to proximity or remoteness from populated areas. The study emphasized the importance
of further research work and development of the country’s bamboo resource at large and particularly South
Kordofan, the Blue Nile and South Darfur States where bamboos are naturally growing.
Introduction
Sudan is one of the largest African countries. It covers approximately 2.5 million km 2 . It is located between
latitude 4 - 22 0 N and Longitude 22 - 36 0 E. (Fig 1). The forest resources endowment of the country is highly
diverse ranging from mere desert scrub at the northern frontiers to very rich savannah and pockets of tropical
rain forest in the southern parts of the country. Even though Sudan is not rich in its forest resources but the fact
remains that it is one of the African countries having potentialities of diversified forest products. Bamboo is one
of several forest resources of the country that has received only very meager attention. Only very little and
fragmented efforts were made to assess the bamboo resources of the country. The problem of proper
management and maintenance of the remaining bamboo forest resource has been strongly emphasized in
conjunction with the present day deterioration of the natural forests of the country as a result of over exploitation
and desertification (Elhouri et al. 2001). Vast areas of natural forests of South Kordofan include bamboo as an
integral part of them. Consequently, information is needed on the bamboo resource as a prerequisite for proper
planning, sustainable management, maintenance and protection. Andrews (1950) and Khan (1966) have reported
that Oxytenathera abyssinica is the only bamboo species that grows in the Sudan as indigenous species. This has
been further supported by Kigomgo (1988), Elamin (1990) and Hashim (1997). However they reported that
another bamboo species viz. Sinarundinaria alpina which was formerly known as (Arundinaria alpina ) is
naturally growing in the upper reaches of the Imatong mountains in Sothern Sudan. Phytogegraphically, bamboo
VIII World Bamboo Congress Proceedings Vol 4-97