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22
Country
Area in year
2000
(km
Loss by
clearing
(km
% loss by
clearing
Gain by
regrowth
(km
Area in year
2010
(km
Net change
2000-2010
(%)
Cameroon
2060
376
18.2
366
2051
-0.47
Gabon
2030
379
18.7
324
1976
-2.70
RoC
6
2
35.4
2
6
-2.50
DRC
242
15
6.1
11
238
-1.60
Total
4339
771
17.8
703
4271
-1.58
Country
Mangrove area
under protection
in 2000
Loss by
clearing
(km
Gain by
regrowth
(km
% loss Net change
2000-2010 (%)
Cameroon
1691
38
35 22.4
-1.72
Gabon
779
91
80 11.7
-1.44
RoC
5
2
1 34.6
-0.04
DRC
151
4
4 2.5
+0.03
Total
1104
134
120 12.2
-1.30
Table 2: Changes in Mangrove cover for Central African countries - Cameroon, RoC, DRC and Gabon
Table 3 – Rates of loss in protected areas (World Database on Protected Areas, UNEP-WCMC 2012)
The hotspots of deforestation identified from
the classified satellite imagery are interesting
for this study, as they present themost pressing
opportunities for ecological restoration. Using
protected area data from the World Database
on Protected Areas for the region we can see
(Table 2 and 3) that all countries exhibited
high rates of loss of mangroves both overall
and inside protected areas except for DRC.
In Cameroon, high areas of deforestation
were recorded in the peri-urban areas around
Douala and Bonaberi, with almost complete
loss of mangrove stands in many areas
and deforestation rates above 90% (Figure
2). Mangrove area within protected areas
showed similar patterns of losses and gains to
overall rates of loss and gain (Table 3). In DRC,
hotspots of deforestation are found at the
edge of mangrove forests as shown by Figure
2, where hotspots of deforestation are defined
by areas where patch loss is higher than the
rest of the country and which are marked as
red on the maps. A similar picture is shown in
the RoC, with hotspots of deforestation at the
edge of mangrove forests and also in some
areas of Conkouati-Douli National Park which
contains 78% of the country’s mangroves
but seems to offer them little protection
and exhibits 40-50% deforestation in some
areas. In Gabon, deforestation hotspots
are found in the peri-urban areas around
Libreville, Port Gentil and SetteCama, with
over 90% deforestation in some places. 36% of
Gabonese mangroves fall within 12 protected
areas, but high deforestation rates also seem
to be apparent here in some areas. However,
it should be verified when the protected
areas were put in place and the trajectory of
mangrove cover since the protected areas
were actually declared before assessing their
effectiveness. High regrowth is also evident
in all countries, but the data does not show
us the quality and density of the forest and
whether the condition of existing patches
continues to degrade and become less dense.
Overall, the results of the satellite imagery
analysis show that the low net loss rates
mask the fact that there are areas of very high
deforestation, especially around peri-urban
areas. They also mask localized deforestation
and forest degradation, and thus the data are
most useful for identifying the particularly
high areas of deforestation for intervention
and management.