Land Use-Land Cover Change and Drivers of Deforestation in the Patako Protected Area (Center-West of Senegal)

Abstract

Abstract:This study focus on land use-land cover changes relation to the multidimensional characteristics of spatial and temporal patterns of land dynamics and social practices. The objectives are to characterize the dynamics of land-use and landcover changes from 1992 to 2015, and to identify the drivers of deforestation and land degradation. Nine (09) types of classes were identified: humid vegetation (HV), savanna/wooded savanna (WS), savanna/shrub savanna (SSS), shrub savanna (SS), mangrove (MA), grass savanna (GS), cropland (CP), water (WA), and bare soil (BS). The process of change was analysed within a 5614.6 ha which includes the Patako protected area. The results have shown significant changes in land use-land cover for more than two decades (1992 to 2015). A high variability of land cover transfer was recorded between periods and class categories. At least, 55% of the HV changed to WS that was manifested by a loss of 16% during the first decade. The most important decline in area was recorded annually within the HV (4.8%), and the WS (2.6%), while the SSS experienced a substantial annual increase of 0.5%. The appearance of the SS (10.3%), during the last fifteen years, is a witness to degradation process as a result of anthropogenic pressure mainly for subsistence raisons. This pressure resulted to a conversion of small forested land to agricultural land on the boundary of the protected area. Tree cover represented 99.4% of the entire forest area in 1992, 97.4% in 2010, and slightly more (+1.2%) in 2015. According to this evolution, the annual rate of deforestation was estimated to 0.09% with an average of 0.11±0.08% for the three defined periods. The drivers leading to changes in land useland cover stresses the complexity that is related to sustainable management of protected areas. Urgent action is necessary to reduce loss of biodiversity due to deforestation and land degradation. For this purpose, a particular attention must be paid to the implementation of the Patako management plan under a Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) project.

Assessing the Extent of Historical, Current, and Future Land Use Systems in Uganda

“…The notable activities include the cutting down of trees, charcoal burning and poor farming methods, among others, which undermine the functionality of ecosystems [2]. The rapid conversion of natural vegetation, for example, to farmlands, could be attributed to farming techniques and agronomic approaches that aim at modern agricultural intensification [3]. For instance, in the Equateur province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the agricultural expansion through shifting cultivation is the main proximate cause of deforestation [4].…”

Land Use / Land Cover Change And Impact On Carbon Stocks In The Atacora Chain Of Mountains, A Biodiversity Hotspot In Benin (West Africa)

“…Similar patterns of land use trend over the time were described in other West African countries. These include studies in southern Burkina Faso (Ouedraogo et al, 2010), western Senegal, (Sambou et al, 2015) and south-eastern Senegal (Faye et al, 2016). A study carried out by USGS (USGS, 2016b) in a 38-year period (1975 to 2013) showed that the fastest average annual rate of cropland expansion in West Africa were found in Togo, Benin, Chad, Mauritania and Burkina Faso and in every country of the same region, agriculture was exerting pressure on the natural landscapes, replacing fragmented savanna, woodland and forests.…”

Institutional Inefficiencies and Forest Degradation in Protected Areas of Odisha: Evidence from Lakhari Valley Wildlife Sanctuary

“…The main land use activities that have major adverse effect to forest conservation in the Lakhari WLS are increasing habitation, growing agricultural and forest-based livelihood activities, forest fire and illicit timber felling. Studies have well established that these land use activities have profound impact on ecological system and biodiversity in both direct and indirect ways (Mockrin et al 2017;Mon et al 2012;Sambou et al 2015). It removes and fragments native habitat, diminishes water quality, fosters exotic species invasions, increases predation by mesopredators and pets, and introduces pollutants (McCarty and Kaza 2015;Radeloff et al 2009).…”