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The south of Benin, a country in West Africa, is still home to remnants of dense forests that benefit from a particularly rainy sub-equatorial climate, with annual rainfall of up to 1,200 mm. These forest ecosystems are an integral part of the West African forest block, which stretches from Liberia to Togo. However, despite their richness and ecological importance, these forests are unfortunately subject to strong human pressures, particularly from slash-and-burn agriculture, intensive logging and the growing urbanisation of coastal areas. Preserving these forests is crucial, however, as they are home to remarkable plant and animal biodiversity, with many endemic species. What's more, these forests play an essential role in regulating the local climate, protecting soil and water resources, as well as providing local populations with a vital source of energy wood, non-timber forest products and support for their traditional agricultural practices. Faced with these conservation challenges, identifying and characterising the main tree species found in the forests of southern and central Benin, forest species and their ecology is an essential prerequisite for implementing sustainable management and restoration strategies for these threatened forest ecosystems in southern Benin. This work aims to identify and draw attention to the different forest species, specially tree forest species present in southern and central Benin.The dataset provides information on forest species found in southern and central Benin, West Africa. This dataset is extremely useful for forestry research, as it focuses mainly on the various forest species of major importance. It can be used as a basis for characterising individuals or populations of species, based on their abundance in relation to anthropogenic pressure and changes in environmental conditions.These species are characteristic of forests and, above all, are of particular interest both to populations and to managers of protected areas. Field collections were initiated in 2007 as part of natural forest inventory work. The data collected have been completed by various field works that followed this work on forest species in southern Benin. The latest version of the dataset is publicly and freely accessible on the GBIF website at the address https://www.gbif.org/dataset/aff3a10a-a86b-4eff-98e4-d63f92fd6f7e.It should be noted that the fact that the collection and monitoring were carried out in southern Benin, a region known for its great diversity of species, over a period of 10 years making these data particularly relevant information to study the effects of climate change and human pressure on ecosystems in this area.

Benin is not a big forest country, and the sustainable management of forest relics and their resources is a priority for the managers. This study was conducted in the forest regions of Pobè and Kétou located in Southeast Benin with the objective of characterizing the ethnobotanical forest species prioritized by the local populations for their different uses. Specifically, it aimed to identify the ethnobotanical priority species for conservation, characterize the ethnobotanical value of these priority species, and analyze the tree organ harvesting methods used for the sustainable management of the forest species. Data have been collected from 287 local populations investigated and on the specimens collected on the field, which allowed to identify the scientific name. The combination of the citation frequencies, the method of reproduction, the vulnerability scores, and the IUCN status of the species has allowed to identify five priority ethnobotanical species per forest. The software Ri386_3.5.1 has been used for the different analysis such as the calculation of the various frequencies and the correspondence factor analysis to show the relationships between socioethnic groups, organs used, and the categories of use. The priority species identified in the forest of Pobè are Milicia excelsa, Khaya senegalensis, Anogeissus leiocarpa, Ceiba pentandra, and Adansonia digitata. The priority species identified in the forest of Dogo-Kétou are Vitellaria paradoxa, Prosopis africana, Pterocarpus erinaceus, Khaya senegalensis, and Anogeissus leiocarpa. This study has revealed 54 tree species gathered into 47 genera and 25 botanical families. Their different parts have been harvested for many kinds of utilization such as medicinal, commercial, feeding, medico-magic, and artisanal. The most commonly used organs were leaves, fruits, seeds, barks, roots, and wood. The harvesting methods include cutting poles, cutting twigs and branches to harvest leaves, debarking the trunk, felling trees for wood, cutting roots, picking and harvesting fruits and seeds, and harvesting of flowers. Cutting down trees and picking flowers, fruits, and seeds have been the methods of harvesting, which affect negatively regeneration of the tree populations. It is then important to sensitize the local people on the sustainable management of their forest resources through the conception and implementation of a project program focused on forest conservation.