Abstract
The study had as objective to investigate the land use/land cover change from 1980 to 2019 in the Dja Biosphere Reserve using GIS and remote sensing techniques and the evolution of agroforestry practices. Semi structured questionnaires were administered to 320 farmers who were randomly selected from 35 villages of the Dja Biosphere Reserve characterized by the presence of agroforestry systems. The land use map revealed six classes which were dense humid forest, perennial crop-based agroforestry practices, river, wetland, built up and bare areas. Between 1980 and 2008, dense humid forest lost -4.9% of its area to the benefits of perennial crop-based agroforestry practices, built up and bare land. Between 2008 and 2019, dense humid forest gain 1.77% of its area due to increase in perennial crop-based agroforestry practices and a subsequent increase in vegetation cover. Perennial crop-based agroforestry practices and built up increase progressively from 1980 to 2019. Farmers perceived hunting (36.3%), slash and burn agriculture (43.3%) and harvesting of tree-based products (20.3%) as the anthropogenic activities impacting the reserve negatively. The evolution of agroforestry practices were observed on the field, but the precise area under agroforestry practices in the study area need to be estimated. As a mitigation strategy to livelihood needs as well as the rehabilitation of degraded land, the conversion of pure cultivated agricultural land into agroforestry is a major opportunity.
Highlights
Protected areas such as national parks and reserves are the cornerstone of global biodiversity conservation (UNEP, 2004) and they provide a wide range of biological resources and ecosystem services (Dudley, 2008)
In 2008 (Figure 4), perennial crop-based agroforestry practices occupied an area of 2% (20,350.98 ha), wetland 7.7% (77,194.89 ha), buildup and bare land 0.33% (863.55 ha) and humid dense forests covered 89.98% (740,222.00 ha)
Perennial crop-based agroforestry practices is highly concentrated in the West and East clusters of the reserve and in the south mostly in villages situated along the roads
Summary
Protected areas such as national parks and reserves are the cornerstone of global biodiversity conservation (UNEP, 2004) and they provide a wide range of biological resources and ecosystem services (Dudley, 2008). The increasing dynamics of land cover/land use takes various forms such as enhanced vulnerability, mainly the reduction in vegetation cover and the degradation of biodiversity (Barana et al, 2016), rangeland degradation (Mohammed et al, 2017), and adverse impacts on livelihoods (Gebreslassie, 2014) This is the case of the Dja Biosphere Reserve in Cameroon which is endowed with forests of exceptional economic and social value, and habitat of a variety of flora and fauna, supplying many commercial and subsistence products (Ashley & Mbile, 2005). To ensure sustainable development in Dja and its peripheral zones, it was necessary to monitor the ongoing processes on land use and land cover pattern over a period of 29 years This is needed so that the authorities associated with development of DBR generate planning models so that the available land is used in a most rational and optimal way which requires the present and past land use and land cover information of the study area. It is under this premise that, the main aim of the study was to investigate the land use/land cover changes and the evolution of agroforestry practices in the Dja Biosphere Reserve using GIS and remote sensing techniques couple with socio-economic information
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