Livestock is an important social and economic component for the livelihoods of resource-poor farmers in North Africa. A portion of livestock feed resources is forest rangeland. Overgrazing and a failure to use rotational grazing systems prevent the proper functioning of forest ecosystems. To protect vegetation and to guarantee human activities, natural resources manager need tools for supporting decision-making. The North African forest ecosystems are composed mainly of Quercus suber trees. The aim of this work is to develop models relating fodder production as the dependent variable to the independent variables: Quercus suber canopy cover, ecological factors, and human pressure. This paper presents the methodological approach used in the Kroumiry-Mogody mountains (Tunisia). Initially, a forest inventory based on stratified sampling was conducted looking at density, height, and canopy cover. A comparative study was later established. In parallel, a survey was conducted in the surrounding agglomerations to assess the impact of human activities. The buffer technique was used to establish the relationship between fodder production and distribution, canopy cover, and human pressure. The methodology involved the creation of a specific zone around each agglomeration, which was mainly a function of the distance to the forest, the topographical features, and the number of domestic animals. The proposed approach will provide forestry managers with the ability to determinate different levels of anthropogenic pressure and to respond with contingency measures for each of these levels.

En Afrique du Nord, l’élevage constitue une activité économique et sociale importante pour les ménages à faible revenus. Les parcours forestiers contribuent à la satisfaction des besoins fourragers du cheptel. La durabilité de ces écosystèmes est, donc, mise en cause par la pression anthropozoïque. Nous avons étudié, en premier lieu, les relations qui existent dans un écosystème de chêne liège (Quercus suber) en Afrique du Nord. Notre objectif étant de développer des modèles d’estimation de la production fourragère herbacée sous le chêne liège en fonction du couvert arboré, des facteurs écologiques et de la pression anthropique. Un inventaire des paramètres dendrométriques et une appréciation de l’impact de l’activité humaine ont été réalisés. Des zones tampons ont été créées autours des agglomérations pour définir les différents niveaux de dégradation.