The study aims to analyze the traditional perception of riparian populations on the spatial-temporal evolution and importance of the Manda National Park (MNP) in the Moyen-Chari Province, in order to contribute to the implementation of a participatory and efficient strategy for its sustainable management. To do this, a survey was conducted using a questionnaire with 211 people composed of forestry officials and non-officials from the four (04) townships bordering the park. The data collected concerned the evolution of the vegetation cover, uses, degradation of plant resources and their causes. The results show that the MNP has suffered from anthropic pressure, resulting in a regression of the vegetation cover in a global way from 2009 to 2019. The main causes of the decrease in vegetation cover are overgrazing, poaching, bush fires, logging and hunting. The main uses of MNP's forest resources are for food, fodder, energy fuel, and traditional medicine. The plant species most used for various purposes are Anogeissus leiocarpus (42.36%), Terminalia laxiflora (26.97%), Flueggea virosa (21.3%), Detarium microcarpum (20.11%) and Vitellaria paradoxa (19.70%). The four townships do not differ significantly from each other in the types of uses of forest resources and the causes of their degradation. The results of scientific studies obtained on the dynamics of the park's vegetation cover confirm traditional perceptions. Hence the importance of involving local populations in studies on the sustainable management of the park.

The present work was initiated in order to evaluate the composition, structure and diversity of the flora of the Manda National Park (MNP) to contribute to its sustainable management. The survey area is a square plot of 1m x 1m and a semi plot of 10m x 10m respectively for grassy savannah and shrub savannah and a rectangular plot of 50m x 20m for woodland and tree savannah. The diameter at breast height and total height of all woody individuals were measured. The floristic inventory resulted in a total of 12885 individuals belonging to 102 species, 81 genera and 34 families. The tree savannah (78 species, 59 genera and 26 families) and woodland (65 species, 54 genera and 24 families) are richer in taxonomic groups than the shrub savannah (38 species, 32 genera and 16 families) and the grassy savannah (19 species, 18 genera and 8 families) The average density of the park and its Shannon index are respectively 1956 ind/ha and 2.82 bits. For these plant formations, their density and Shannon index are highest in the tree savannah (3507 ind/ha and 3.11 bits) and lowest in the shrub savannah (1133 ind/ha and 2.03 bits). The Piélou index for each of the plant formations is low (0.19 to 0.25), indicating a poor equi- distribution of individuals between the different species for the plant formations. In the woodland, the diametrical and vertical distributions are bell-shaped and skewed to the right, centered on young individuals. In contrast, in the Tree and Shrub Savannahs the distributions are in the shape of an inverted "J", characteristic of a formation dominated by juvenile individuals. These results lead to the conclusion that the Manda Park has a good species diversity and is under anthropic pressure due to the destruction of its vegetation cover.