ANALYSE DE LA DEFORESTATION DANS LA PERIPHERIE OUEST DE LA RESERVE DE BIOSPHERE DU DJA AU CAMEROUN, A PARTIR D'UNE SERIE MULTI-ANNUELLE D'IMAGES LANDSAT

Abstract

This article is about assessing deforestation in the western outskirts of the Dja Biosphere Reserve through Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System techniques. To do this, eight Landsat images of different dates (from 2011 to 2018) were used to produce land cover maps, through the supervised classification method and the "maximum likelihood" algorithm. The land cover classes retained for this classification are: dense forest, degraded forest, cultivated area, swampy area, residential area, bare soil and water. The analysis of the changes was made with the technique of "change detection". The results of this study showed that deforestation was significant during the study period (2011-2018). Forest surfaces have mainly been transformed into cultivation areas, swamps, degraded forests, bare soil. The observed deforestation rate is 6.8% and indicates a significant decrease in dense forest cover. The study showed deforestation trends in this outskirts. It made it possible to observe that the tendentious zones are concentrated mainly around certain human activities present in this zone (the agricultural plantation SUDCAM, the Mekin dam, inhabited places).