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

Simple item page
cg.authorship.typesCGIAR multi-centreen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationWageningen University & Researchen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationGFZ German Research Centre for Geosciencesen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationCenter for International Forestry Researchen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationCentre de Coopération International en Recherche Agronomique Pour le Développementen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationIPB Universityen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationUniversité de Kisanganien_US
cg.coverage.regionAfricaen_US
cg.creator.identifierKarimon Nesha: 0000-0002-4990-4356en_US
cg.creator.identifierMartin Herold: 0000-0003-0246-6886en_US
cg.creator.identifierJohannes Reiche: 0000-0002-4327-4349en_US
cg.creator.identifierRobert Masolele: 0000-0001-6108-3282en_US
cg.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad6679en_US
cg.subject.actionAreaResilient Agrifood Systemsen_US
cg.subject.cipCLIMATE CHANGEen_US
cg.subject.cipCLIMATE-SMART AGRICULTUREen_US
cg.subject.cipBIODIVERSITY FOR THE FUTUREen_US
cg.subject.impactAreaEnvironmental health and biodiversityen_US
cg.subject.sdgSDG 2 - Zero Hungeren_US
cg.subject.sdgSDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Productionen_US
cg.subject.sdgSDG 15 - Life on Landen_US
dc.contributor.authorNesha, K.en_US
dc.contributor.authorHerold, M.en_US
dc.contributor.authorReiche, J.en_US
dc.contributor.authorMasolele, R.en_US
dc.contributor.authorHergoualc’h, K.en_US
dc.contributor.authorSwails, E.en_US
dc.contributor.authorMurdiyarso, D.en_US
dc.contributor.authorEwango, C.E.N.en_US
dc.date.accessioned2024-09-19T14:36:25Zen_US
dc.date.available2024-09-19T14:36:25Zen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/152302en_US
dc.titleAn assessment of recent peat forest disturbances and their drivers in the Cuvette Centrale, Africaen_US
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_US
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Accessen_US
dcterms.audienceAcademicsen_US
dcterms.audienceCGIARen_US
dcterms.audienceDevelopment Practitionersen_US
dcterms.audienceDonorsen_US
dcterms.audienceExtensionen_US
dcterms.audienceFarmersen_US
dcterms.audienceGeneral Publicen_US
dcterms.audienceNGOsen_US
dcterms.audiencePolicy Makersen_US
dcterms.audienceScientistsen_US
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. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad6679en_US
dcterms.issued2024-09-13en_US
dcterms.languageenen_US
dcterms.licenseCC-BY-4.0en_US
dcterms.subjectsmallholdersen_US
dcterms.subjectbiodiversityen_US
dcterms.subjectdeforestationen_US
dcterms.subjectpollinatorsen_US
dcterms.typeJournal Itemen_US

Files

License bundle

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.75 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download

Collections

CIP Journal Articles
CIP Science Goal: Biodiversity