ESJ Natural/Life/Medical Sciences www.eujournal.org 166 Distribution and Carbon Sequestration Potential of Cola laurifolia Mast.: A Dominant Native Riparian Species along Permanent Rivers in Sub-Saharan Africa Gouwidida Elice Kabore Laboratory of Plant Biology and Ecology, University Joseph KI-ZERBO / University Center of Ziniaré Philippe Bayen Laboratory of Plant Biology and Ecology, University of Dédougou Sidzabda Djibril Dayamba African Forest Forum, Nairobi, Kenya & Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technologique (CNRST) / Institut de l’Environnement et de Recherches Agricoles (INERA), Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso Adjima Thiombiano University Joseph KI-ZERBO, Laboratory of Plant Biology and Ecology, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso Doi:10.19044/esj.2023.v19n12p166 Submitted: 01 November 2022 Accepted: 24 April 2023 Published: 30 April 2023 Copyright 2023 Author(s) Under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 OPEN ACCESS Cite As: Kabore G.E., Bayen P., Dayamba S.D. & Thiombiano A. (2023). Distribution and Carbon Sequestration Potential of Cola laurifolia Mast.: A Dominant Native Riparian Species along Permanent Rivers in Sub-Saharan Africa. European Scientific Journal, ESJ, 19 (12), 166. https://doi.org/10.19044/esj.2023.v19n12p166 Abstract The continuously increasing interest in carbon market call for adequate approaches to assess and monitor the growth and carbon of tree species. Species-specific models for estimating aboveground biomass (AGB) are the accurate means of quantifying species’ carbon pools. This study aimed at developing allometric equation for Cola laurifolia Mast., a dominant and multi-purpose riparian species along the Mouhoun River in Burkina Faso. The study first used a destructive sampling approach on thirty trees individuals of different diameter classes after collecting their dendrometric data. Explanatory parameters used to build the models were tree diameter at breast height (Dbh), basal diameter at 20 cm (D20), height (H), and mean crown diameter (MCd). Model development involved looking at different forms of models and