Transboundary Central African Protected Area Complexes Demonstrate Varied Effectiveness in Reducing Predicted Risk of Deforestation Attributed to Small-Scale Agriculture
The forests of Central Africa constitute the continent’s largest continuous tract of forest, maintained in part by over 200 protected areas across six countries with varying levels of restriction and enforcement. Despite protection, these Central African forests are subject to a multitude of overlap...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Remote Sensing |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/16/1/204 |
| _version_ | 1797358169089900544 |
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| author | Katie P. Bernhard Aurélie C. Shapiro Rémi d’Annunzio Joël Masimo Kabuanga |
| author_facet | Katie P. Bernhard Aurélie C. Shapiro Rémi d’Annunzio Joël Masimo Kabuanga |
| author_sort | Katie P. Bernhard |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The forests of Central Africa constitute the continent’s largest continuous tract of forest, maintained in part by over 200 protected areas across six countries with varying levels of restriction and enforcement. Despite protection, these Central African forests are subject to a multitude of overlapping proximate and underlying drivers of deforestation and degradation, such as conversion to small-scale agriculture. This pilot study explored whether transboundary protected area complexes featuring mixed resource-use restriction categories are effective in reducing the predicted disturbance risk to intact forests attributed to small-scale agriculture. At two transboundary protected area complex sites in Central Africa, we used Google Earth Engine and a suite of earth observation (EO) data, including a dataset derived using a replicable, open-source methodology stemming from a regional collaboration, to predict the increased risk of deforestation and degradation of intact forests caused by small-scale agriculture. For each complex, we then statistically compared the predicted increased risk between protected and unprotected forests for a stratified random sample of 2 km sites (n = 4000). We found varied effectiveness of protected areas for reducing the predicted risk of deforestation and degradation to intact forests attributed to agriculture by both the site and category of protected areas within the complex. Our early results have implications for sustainable agriculture development, forest conservation, and protected areas management and provide a direction for future research into spatial planning. Spatial planning could optimize the configuration of protected area types within transboundary complexes to achieve both forest conservation and sustainable agricultural production outcomes. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T14:57:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-08a70cfe85aa4965ad309994739497a2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-4292 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T14:57:57Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj.art-08a70cfe85aa4965ad309994739497a22024-01-10T15:08:00ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922024-01-0116120410.3390/rs16010204Transboundary Central African Protected Area Complexes Demonstrate Varied Effectiveness in Reducing Predicted Risk of Deforestation Attributed to Small-Scale AgricultureKatie P. Bernhard0Aurélie C. Shapiro1Rémi d’Annunzio2Joël Masimo Kabuanga3Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Management, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USAForestry Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 00153 Rome, ItalyForestry Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 00153 Rome, ItalyFaculté des Sciences Agronomiques, Université du Bas-Uélé, Buta, Democratic Republic of the CongoThe forests of Central Africa constitute the continent’s largest continuous tract of forest, maintained in part by over 200 protected areas across six countries with varying levels of restriction and enforcement. Despite protection, these Central African forests are subject to a multitude of overlapping proximate and underlying drivers of deforestation and degradation, such as conversion to small-scale agriculture. This pilot study explored whether transboundary protected area complexes featuring mixed resource-use restriction categories are effective in reducing the predicted disturbance risk to intact forests attributed to small-scale agriculture. At two transboundary protected area complex sites in Central Africa, we used Google Earth Engine and a suite of earth observation (EO) data, including a dataset derived using a replicable, open-source methodology stemming from a regional collaboration, to predict the increased risk of deforestation and degradation of intact forests caused by small-scale agriculture. For each complex, we then statistically compared the predicted increased risk between protected and unprotected forests for a stratified random sample of 2 km sites (n = 4000). We found varied effectiveness of protected areas for reducing the predicted risk of deforestation and degradation to intact forests attributed to agriculture by both the site and category of protected areas within the complex. Our early results have implications for sustainable agriculture development, forest conservation, and protected areas management and provide a direction for future research into spatial planning. Spatial planning could optimize the configuration of protected area types within transboundary complexes to achieve both forest conservation and sustainable agricultural production outcomes.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/16/1/204earth observationdrivers of deforestationsmall-scale agricultureenvironmental degradationprotected areasspatial planning |
| spellingShingle | Katie P. Bernhard Aurélie C. Shapiro Rémi d’Annunzio Joël Masimo Kabuanga Transboundary Central African Protected Area Complexes Demonstrate Varied Effectiveness in Reducing Predicted Risk of Deforestation Attributed to Small-Scale Agriculture Remote Sensing earth observation drivers of deforestation small-scale agriculture environmental degradation protected areas spatial planning |
| title | Transboundary Central African Protected Area Complexes Demonstrate Varied Effectiveness in Reducing Predicted Risk of Deforestation Attributed to Small-Scale Agriculture |
| title_full | Transboundary Central African Protected Area Complexes Demonstrate Varied Effectiveness in Reducing Predicted Risk of Deforestation Attributed to Small-Scale Agriculture |
| title_fullStr | Transboundary Central African Protected Area Complexes Demonstrate Varied Effectiveness in Reducing Predicted Risk of Deforestation Attributed to Small-Scale Agriculture |
| title_full_unstemmed | Transboundary Central African Protected Area Complexes Demonstrate Varied Effectiveness in Reducing Predicted Risk of Deforestation Attributed to Small-Scale Agriculture |
| title_short | Transboundary Central African Protected Area Complexes Demonstrate Varied Effectiveness in Reducing Predicted Risk of Deforestation Attributed to Small-Scale Agriculture |
| title_sort | transboundary central african protected area complexes demonstrate varied effectiveness in reducing predicted risk of deforestation attributed to small scale agriculture |
| topic | earth observation drivers of deforestation small-scale agriculture environmental degradation protected areas spatial planning |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/16/1/204 |
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