Disentangling Land-Use Change in Central Africa to Understand the Role of Local and Indigenous Communities in Forest Restoration and Conservation

The Congo Basin in Central Africa is the planet’s second largest tropical rainforest and home to a diverse group of 120 million people, many of whom live in poverty and are threatened by anthropogenic change. Difficult tradeoffs between food security, economic development and the conservation of these critical ecosystems emerge at the core of land-cover and land-use change (LCLUC) in the region. This project will map and quantify LCLUC and associated carbon emissions and explore the ecosystem service benefits of different restoration scenarios across an understudied and ecologically important region of the Congo Basin. This proposed project will be carried out at two spatial scales: 1) the Tri-National Dja-Odzala-Minkébé (TRIDOM) transboundary area that spans Cameroon, Gabon, and the Republic of Congo; and 2) the Dja Biosphere Reserve, buffer zone, and surrounding landscape matrix, located in southern Cameroon. LCLUC and carbon emissions mapping will be conducted at the landscape scale using high spatial resolution Planet data in combination with Landsat, Sentinel-1, and Sentinel-2. Recently developed carbon maps will additionally be used for carbon stocks and emissions mapping. To investigate the drivers of reforestation and deforestation, with an emphasis on reduced deforestation, household surveys and spatial econometric analyses will be conducted at the Dja site-scale. Ecosystem service analyses and modeling will be used to examine several regionally relevant forest restoration scenarios at both the site (Dja) and landscape (TRIDOM) scales. Findings from this proposed research will support improved understanding of a critical carbon cycle and LCLUC hotspot. The methods developed and results produced will also contribute to OSFAC forest monitoring and carbon emissions accounting efforts in the Congo Basin. More broadly, this research is intended to guide future policy in the region, inform sustainable land-use practices and target forest restoration efforts to maximize food security, socioeconomic wellbeing, carbon sequestration, and biodiversity conservation.