TITLE:
Spatio-Temporal Dynamic of Land Use in the Dja-Odzala-Minkébé Landscape between Cameroon, Congo and Gabon: Influence on the Evolution of Forest Cover in a Context of Cross-Border Cooperation
AUTHORS:
Martin Tadoum, Martin Tchamba, Armand Tanougong
KEYWORDS:
Cross-Border Area, Cooperation Agreement, Land Use, Forest Covert, TRIDOM
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Forestry,
Vol.11 No.3,
June
18,
2021
ABSTRACT: This study is being carried out in the cross-border
area of the tri-national Dja-Odzala-Minkébé (TRIDOM), subject of a cooperation
agreement between Cameroon, Congo and Gabon in 2005. The purpose of this study is to
analyze the dynamics of changes in land use in the context of cross-border
cooperation. Geographic information systems and remote sensing were used to
produce the various land use maps. For this purpose, the MERIS satellite images
for the periods 1992, 2005 and 2018 were used. The exploration of the different
images and the field visits made it possible to identify the following six land
use classes: dense forests, degraded/deforested forests, savannas, swamp
forests, buildings and bare soils, water surfaces. It emerges that the TRIDOM
landscape is mainly occupied by dense forests which represent 97.02%, 96.72%
and 96.52% respectively in 1992, 2005 and 2018. Then, degraded/deforested
forests and savannas which would correspond to cultivation areas and fallow
land only represent respectively 1.06% and 0.68% of the landscape in 1992. This
proportion in 2005 is respectively 1.22% and 0.77%, whereas in 2018, it is
respectively 1.36% and 0.81% of the massif. The landscape of TRIDOM has not
experienced any significant land use change during the period after the signing
of the cooperation agreement. Historical rates of deforestation are low during
the period under study. They are estimated at 0.042% and 0.030% respectively
for the period 1992-2005 and the period 2005-2018. These low rates of
deforestation seem to be due to the measures taken to secure and sustainably
manage the massif taken by the three countries, the low population density in
this area and the still difficult level of accessibility of a large part of the
massif.