An assessment of recent peat forest disturbances and their drivers in the Cuvette Centrale, Africa

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cg.authorship.typesCGIAR multi-centreen
cg.contributor.affiliationWageningen University & Researchen
cg.contributor.affiliationGFZ German Research Centre for Geosciencesen
cg.contributor.affiliationCenter for International Forestry Researchen
cg.contributor.affiliationCentre de Coopération International en Recherche Agronomique Pour le Développementen
cg.contributor.affiliationIPB Universityen
cg.contributor.affiliationUniversité de Kisanganien
cg.contributor.donorNorway's International Climate and Forest Initiativeen
cg.contributor.donorEuropean Commissionen
cg.contributor.donorNederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoeken
cg.contributor.donorUnited States Agency for International Developmenten
cg.coverage.countryCongo, Democratic Republic of
cg.coverage.iso3166-alpha2CD
cg.coverage.regionAfrica
cg.creator.identifierKarimon Nesha: 0000-0002-4990-4356en
cg.creator.identifierMartin Herold: 0000-0003-0246-6886en
cg.creator.identifierJohannes Reiche: 0000-0002-4327-4349en
cg.creator.identifierRobert Masolele: 0000-0001-6108-3282en
cg.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad6679en
cg.isijournalISI Journalen
cg.journalEnvironmental Research Lettersen
cg.reviewStatusPeer Reviewen
cg.subject.actionAreaResilient Agrifood Systems
cg.subject.cipCLIMATE CHANGEen
cg.subject.cipCLIMATE-SMART AGRICULTUREen
cg.subject.cipBIODIVERSITY FOR THE FUTUREen
cg.subject.impactAreaEnvironmental health and biodiversity
cg.subject.sdgSDG 13 - Climate actionen
cg.subject.sdgSDG 15 - Life on Landen
cg.subject.sdgSDG 14 - Life below wateren
dc.contributor.authorNesha, K.en
dc.contributor.authorHerold, M.en
dc.contributor.authorReiche, J.en
dc.contributor.authorMasolele, R.en
dc.contributor.authorHergoualc’h, K.en
dc.contributor.authorSwails, E.en
dc.contributor.authorMurdiyarso, D.en
dc.contributor.authorEwango, C.E.N.en
dc.date.accessioned2024-09-19T14:36:25Zen
dc.date.available2024-09-19T14:36:25Zen
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/152302
dc.titleAn assessment of recent peat forest disturbances and their drivers in the Cuvette Centrale, Africaen
dcterms.abstractThe largest tropical peatland complex in the Cuvette Centrale is marked by persistent knowledge gaps. We assessed recent peat forest disturbances and their direct drivers from 2019 to 2021 in Cuvette Centrale, spanning the Republic of Congo (ROC) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Utilizing peatland maps and Radar for Detecting Deforestation alert data, we analyzed spatial and temporal patterns of disturbances. Further, we examined 2267 randomly sampled peat forest disturbance events through visual interpretation of monthly Planet and Sentinel 2A data to identify direct drivers. Our findings revealed that between 2019 and 2021, about 91% of disturbances occurred in DRC, with hotspots concentrated in the northwest Sud-Ubangi district. Disturbances predominantly followed a sharp seasonal pattern, recurring during the first half of each year with temporal hotspots emerging between February and May, closely associated with smallholder agriculture activities. Smallholder agriculture accounted for over 88% of disturbances in Cuvette Centrale, representing a leading role both in ROC (similar to 77%) and DRC (similar to 89%). While small-scale logging contributed 7% to the disturbances in the region, it constituted an important driver (18%) in the ROC. Other drivers included floods, roads, and settlements. Approximately 77% of disturbances occurred outside managed forest concessions in Cuvette Centrale, with 40% extending into protected areas. About 90% of disturbances were concentrated within 1 km of peat forest edges and similar to 76% of the disturbances occurred within 5 km of road or river networks. The insights underscore the crucial need for effective peat forest conservation strategies in Cuvette Centrale and can inform national policies targeting peatland protection, aligning with commitments in the Brazzaville Declaration and the Paris Agreement. Further, our findings on direct driver assessment could serve as a reference dataset for machine learning models to automate the visual interpretation and upscale the assessment across the entire regionen
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Access
dcterms.audienceAcademicsen
dcterms.audienceCGIARen
dcterms.audienceDevelopment Practitionersen
dcterms.audienceDonorsen
dcterms.audienceExtensionen
dcterms.audienceFarmersen
dcterms.audienceGeneral Publicen
dcterms.audienceNGOsen
dcterms.audiencePolicy Makersen
dcterms.audienceScientistsen
dcterms.bibliographicCitationNesha, K.; Herold, M.; Reiche, J.; Masolele, R.; Hergoualc’h, K.; Swails, E.; Murdiyarso, D.; Ewango, C.E. N. 2024. An assessment of recent peat forest disturbances and their drivers in the Cuvette Centrale, Africa. Environmental Research Letters. ISSN 1748-9326. 19(10). https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad6679en
dcterms.issued2024-09-13en
dcterms.languageen
dcterms.licenseCC-BY-4.0
dcterms.subjectsmallholdersen
dcterms.subjectbiodiversityen
dcterms.subjectdeforestationen
dcterms.subjectpollinatorsen
dcterms.typeJournal Item

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