Mapping and Quantification of Miombo Deforestation in the Lubumbashi Charcoal Production Basin (DR Congo): Spatial Extent and Changes between 1990 and 2022

Héritier Khoji Muteya (), Dieu-donné N’Tambwe Nghonda, Franco Mwamba Kalenda, Harold Strammer, François Munyemba Kankumbi, François Malaisse, Jean-François Bastin, Yannick Useni Sikuzani and Jan Bogaert ()
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Héritier Khoji Muteya: Unité Ecologie, Restauration Ecologique et Paysage, Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques, Université de Lubumbashi, Lubumbashi BP 1825, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Dieu-donné N’Tambwe Nghonda: Unité Ecologie, Restauration Ecologique et Paysage, Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques, Université de Lubumbashi, Lubumbashi BP 1825, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Franco Mwamba Kalenda: Unité Évaluation de L’aptitude des Terres et Agrométéorologie, Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques, Université de Lubumbashi, Lubumbashi BP 1825, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Harold Strammer: Unité Biodiversité et Paysage, Université de Liège—Gembloux Agro-BioTech, 5030 Gembloux, Belgium
François Munyemba Kankumbi: Unité Ecologie, Restauration Ecologique et Paysage, Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques, Université de Lubumbashi, Lubumbashi BP 1825, Democratic Republic of the Congo
François Malaisse: Unité Biodiversité et Paysage, Université de Liège—Gembloux Agro-BioTech, 5030 Gembloux, Belgium
Jean-François Bastin: Unité Biodiversité et Paysage, Université de Liège—Gembloux Agro-BioTech, 5030 Gembloux, Belgium
Yannick Useni Sikuzani: Unité Ecologie, Restauration Ecologique et Paysage, Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques, Université de Lubumbashi, Lubumbashi BP 1825, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Jan Bogaert: Unité Biodiversité et Paysage, Université de Liège—Gembloux Agro-BioTech, 5030 Gembloux, Belgium

Land, 2023, vol. 12, issue 10, 1-23

Abstract: Population growth in the city of Lubumbashi in the southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) is leading to increased energy needs, endangering the balance of the miombo woodland in the rural area referred to as the Lubumbashi charcoal production basin (LCPB). In this study, we quantified the deforestation of the miombo woodland in the LCPB via remote sensing and landscape ecology analysis tools. Thus, the analysis of Landsat images from 1990, 1998, 2008, 2015 and 2022 was supported by the random forest classifier. The results showed that the LCPB lost more than half of its miombo woodland cover between 1990 (77.90%) and 2022 (39.92%) and was converted mainly to wooded savannah (21.68%), grassland (37.26%), agriculture (2.03%) and built-up and bare soil (0.19). Consecutively, grassland became the new dominant land cover in 2022 (40%). Therefore, the deforestation rate (−1.51%) is almost six-times higher than the national average (−0.26%). However, persistent miombo woodland is characterised by a reduction, over time, in its largest patch area and the complexity of its shape. Consequently, because of anthropogenic activities, the dynamics of the landscape pattern are mainly characterised by the attrition of the miombo woodland and the creation of wooded savannah, grassland, agriculture and built-up and bare soil. Thus, it is urgent to develop a forest management plan and find alternatives to energy sources and the sedentarisation of agriculture by supporting local producers to reverse these dynamics.

Keywords: anthropogenic pressure; charcoal; miombo woodland; landscape ecology; GIS/remote sensing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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