Land Cover Dynamics in the Northwestern Virunga Landscape: An Analysis of the Past Two Decades in a Dynamic Economic and Security Context

Abstract

The Beni region in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is grappling with socioeconomic development and security challenges that have affected its natural ecosystems, especially those located in the northern Virunga National Park. This study aims to document the anthropization of the northwestern Virunga landscape from 1995 to 2021 in the context of insecurity. Using a cartographic approach and ecological-landscape-analysis tools, this study delves into the overall landscape changes through a comparative analysis of protected and unprotected areas. These investigations focus on landscape composition, transitions between land-cover classes, and the spatial transformation process. The northwestern Virunga landscape is undergoing significant land cover changes due to the influence of insecurity on socioeconomic activities, primarily agriculture. Agricultural land encompasses a larger area than other land-cover types. However, its expansion has decelerated since the 2000s. The loss of forested area is discontinuous. During relatively stable periods (1995–2005), forests exhibited a reduction of up to 2.90% in area, while in the period of the return of Iturian refugees to their province, followed by terrorist insecurity in Beni (2005–2021), the forested area increased by 2.07%. Savannah areas, which are mainly located in the graben rift valley and near Butembo, have been more heavily affected by human activity than forests. Ultimately, the apparent stability of the landscape can be attributed to its protected areas, especially Virunga National Park.