Open Journal of Ecology, 2020, 10, 141-159 https://www.scirp.org/journal/oje ISSN Online: 2162-1993 ISSN Print: 2162-1985 DOI: 10.4236/oje.2020.104010 Apr. 3, 2020 141 Open Journal of Ecology Assessment of the Protected Areas Strategy in Togo under Sustainable Management: The Case Study of Oti-Keran, Togodo, and Abdoulaye Faunal Reserve Kossi Fandjinou 1,2 , Kebin Zhang 1* , Fousseni Folega 2 , Beckline Mukete 3 , Xiaohui Yang 4* , Kperkouma Wala 2 , Koffi Akpagana 2 , Eve Bohnett 5 1 School of Soil and Water Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China 2 Laboratoire de Botanique et d’Ecologie Végétale, Université de Lome, Lome, Togo 3 Department of Forest Management, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China 4 Institute of Desertification Studies, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing, China 5 Departement of Landscape Architecture, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA Abstract This study aims to identify the drivers of environmental degradation due to the dependency of surrounding residents on three protected areas in Togo, Africa (Oti-Keran, Togodo, and Abdoulaye national parks (abbr. OTA na- tional parks)). Surveys of villagers conducted in and around the OTA nation- al parks added to data downloaded from Indexmundi data portal. Nation- al-level trend analysis results indicated: 1) the number of terrestrial protected areas showed an upward trend, while savannah and forest cover showed alarming decrease trends. 2) At the local level, supplying socio-economic needs in the three selected protected areas directly resulted in biodiversity degradation through animal grazing, hunting and farming. 3) Over 70% of the respondent’s livelihoods consisted of farming and related dependencies on the protected areas for timber and non-timber forest products and income despite the protected status hold by these classified areas. 4) The OTA na- tional parks have been experiencing an increase of anthropogenic pressure such as uncontrolled tree logging and hunting, which seriously impacts ani- mal and vegetation biodiversity. 5) Policymakers should invest more resources in implementing an integrated management system based not only on a holistic vision of the PA that includes participatory management but also accounts for multi-dimensional principles to enable anthropogenic activities in and around the protected areas to satisfy sustainable development requirements. How to cite this paper: Fandjinou, K., Zhang, K.B., Folega, F., Mukete, B., Yang, X.H., Wala, K., Akpagana, K. and Bohnett, E. (2020) Assessment of the Protected Areas Strategy in Togo under Sustainable Man- agement: The Case Study of Oti-Keran, To- godo, and Abdoulaye Faunal Reserve. Open Journal of Ecology, 10, 141-159. https://doi.org/10.4236/oje.2020.104010 Received: February 28, 2020 Accepted: March 31, 2020 Published: April 3, 2020 Copyright © 2020 by author(s) and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial International License (CC BY-NC 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ Open Access