State and evolution of the African rainforests between 1990 and 2010

This paper presents a map of Africa's rainforests for 2005. Derived from moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer data at a spatial resolution of 250 m and with an overall accuracy of 84%, this map provides new levels of spatial and thematic detail. The map is accompanied by measurements o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B. Biological sciences 2013-09, Vol.368 (1625), p.20120300-20120300
Main Authors: Mayaux, P, Pekel, J.-F, Desclee, B, Donnay, F, Lupi, A, Achard, F, Clerici, M, Bodart, C, Brink, A, Nasi, R, Belward, A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Africa
African Rainforests
Agriculture
BOSQUE HUMEDO
Carbon Cycle
CARTOGRAFIA
CARTOGRAPHIE
CARTOGRAPHY
Climate Change
Conservation of Natural Resources
DEBOISEMENT
DEFORESTACION
DEFORESTATION
Earth Observation
EARTH OBSERVATION SATELLITES
Ecosystem
FORET HUMIDE
Humans
MONITORING
Rain
RAIN FORESTS
Rural Population
SATELITES DE OBSERVACION TERRESTRE
SATELLITES D'OBSERVATION DE LA TERRE
SURVEILLANCE
Time Factors
Trees - metabolism
Tropical Climate
Urban Population
VIGILANCIA
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Summary:This paper presents a map of Africa's rainforests for 2005. Derived from moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer data at a spatial resolution of 250 m and with an overall accuracy of 84%, this map provides new levels of spatial and thematic detail. The map is accompanied by measurements of deforestation between 1990, 2000 and 2010 for West Africa, Central Africa and Madagascar derived from a systematic sample of Landsat images—imagery from equivalent platforms is used to fill gaps in the Landsat record. Net deforestation is estimated at 0.28% yr−1 for the period 1990–2000 and 0.14% yr−1 for the period 2000–2010. West Africa and Madagascar exhibit a much higher deforestation rate than the Congo Basin, for example, three times higher for West Africa and nine times higher for Madagascar. Analysis of variance over the Congo Basin is then used to show that expanding agriculture and increasing fuelwood demands are key drivers of deforestation in the region, whereas well-controlled timber exploitation programmes have little or no direct influence on forest-cover reduction at present. Rural and urban population concentrations and fluxes are also identified as strong underlying causes of deforestation in this study.
ISSN:0962-8436
1471-2970
DOI:10.1098/rstb.2012.0300