Assessment of land use and land cover (LULC) and vegetation degradation state from wildfire within the scope of forest landscape restoration (FLR) in Cameroon
Forest-Savannah transition zones are increasingly vulnerable due to their position between the savannah and forest ecosystems, and their ecological and biophysical characteristics. This study evaluates the spatiotemporal dynamics of land use and land cover (LULC), degradation, and wildfire links. Ra...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2025-12-01
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| Series: | European Journal of Remote Sensing |
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| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/22797254.2025.2498955 |
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| author | Kueshi Sémanou Dahan Hamza Moluh Njoya Shibire Bekele Eshetu Kossi Hounkpati Harifidy Rakoto Ratsimba Stefan Sieber Katharina Löhr |
| author_facet | Kueshi Sémanou Dahan Hamza Moluh Njoya Shibire Bekele Eshetu Kossi Hounkpati Harifidy Rakoto Ratsimba Stefan Sieber Katharina Löhr |
| author_sort | Kueshi Sémanou Dahan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Forest-Savannah transition zones are increasingly vulnerable due to their position between the savannah and forest ecosystems, and their ecological and biophysical characteristics. This study evaluates the spatiotemporal dynamics of land use and land cover (LULC), degradation, and wildfire links. Random Forest (RF) classifier was used in Google Earth Engine (GEE) with Landsat 7 and 8 imageries (2001, 2015, 2023), high-quality LULC maps were produced with spectral indices. The classifier demonstrated accuracies ranging from 83% to 96%, supported by F1-Score, Precision, and Recall metrics. Overall, Wooded Land and Gallery Forest increased by 35.29%, followed by Savanna Grassland and Farmland (16.2%). Conversely, Rock Outcrop declined by 23.6%, while Bare and Built-Up Areas, Dense Forest, Water Bodies, and Mosaic Forest-Savannah decreased by 13.7%, 6.9%, 4%, and 3.7%, respectively. Savannah and farmland areas were the most burned (30–36%), followed by 25 Wooded Land (21–24%) and Dense Forest (10–14%). Savannah areas also experienced the highest fire frequency (19 events). Fire occurrence was higher in areas with low vegetation cover than densely vegetated areas and conservation zones. Savannah and farmland remained the most degraded and fire-prone. An improved monitoring approach is needed for reduction and mitigation to avoid irreversible degradation caused by wildfire. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-dfb5eae56f2e4aa985bc478a066da459 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2279-7254 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Journal of Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj-art-dfb5eae56f2e4aa985bc478a066da4592025-08-20T02:27:16ZengTaylor & Francis GroupEuropean Journal of Remote Sensing2279-72542025-12-0158110.1080/22797254.2025.2498955Assessment of land use and land cover (LULC) and vegetation degradation state from wildfire within the scope of forest landscape restoration (FLR) in CameroonKueshi Sémanou Dahan0Hamza Moluh Njoya1Shibire Bekele Eshetu2Kossi Hounkpati3Harifidy Rakoto Ratsimba4Stefan Sieber5Katharina Löhr6Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Sustainable Land Use in Developing Countries, Müncheberg, GermanyLeibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Sustainable Land Use in Developing Countries, Müncheberg, GermanyLeibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Sustainable Land Use in Developing Countries, Müncheberg, GermanyLeibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Sustainable Land Use in Developing Countries, Müncheberg, GermanySchool of Agronomy, Department of Water and Forest, Land,Landscape and Development Research Lab (LLandDev), University of Antananarivo, Ankatso, Antananarivo, MadagascarLeibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Sustainable Land Use in Developing Countries, Müncheberg, GermanyLeibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Sustainable Land Use in Developing Countries, Müncheberg, GermanyForest-Savannah transition zones are increasingly vulnerable due to their position between the savannah and forest ecosystems, and their ecological and biophysical characteristics. This study evaluates the spatiotemporal dynamics of land use and land cover (LULC), degradation, and wildfire links. Random Forest (RF) classifier was used in Google Earth Engine (GEE) with Landsat 7 and 8 imageries (2001, 2015, 2023), high-quality LULC maps were produced with spectral indices. The classifier demonstrated accuracies ranging from 83% to 96%, supported by F1-Score, Precision, and Recall metrics. Overall, Wooded Land and Gallery Forest increased by 35.29%, followed by Savanna Grassland and Farmland (16.2%). Conversely, Rock Outcrop declined by 23.6%, while Bare and Built-Up Areas, Dense Forest, Water Bodies, and Mosaic Forest-Savannah decreased by 13.7%, 6.9%, 4%, and 3.7%, respectively. Savannah and farmland areas were the most burned (30–36%), followed by 25 Wooded Land (21–24%) and Dense Forest (10–14%). Savannah areas also experienced the highest fire frequency (19 events). Fire occurrence was higher in areas with low vegetation cover than densely vegetated areas and conservation zones. Savannah and farmland remained the most degraded and fire-prone. An improved monitoring approach is needed for reduction and mitigation to avoid irreversible degradation caused by wildfire.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/22797254.2025.2498955FireForest land restorationforest degradationLULCRandom ForestCameroon |
| spellingShingle | Kueshi Sémanou Dahan Hamza Moluh Njoya Shibire Bekele Eshetu Kossi Hounkpati Harifidy Rakoto Ratsimba Stefan Sieber Katharina Löhr Assessment of land use and land cover (LULC) and vegetation degradation state from wildfire within the scope of forest landscape restoration (FLR) in Cameroon European Journal of Remote Sensing Fire Forest land restoration forest degradation LULC Random Forest Cameroon |
| title | Assessment of land use and land cover (LULC) and vegetation degradation state from wildfire within the scope of forest landscape restoration (FLR) in Cameroon |
| title_full | Assessment of land use and land cover (LULC) and vegetation degradation state from wildfire within the scope of forest landscape restoration (FLR) in Cameroon |
| title_fullStr | Assessment of land use and land cover (LULC) and vegetation degradation state from wildfire within the scope of forest landscape restoration (FLR) in Cameroon |
| title_full_unstemmed | Assessment of land use and land cover (LULC) and vegetation degradation state from wildfire within the scope of forest landscape restoration (FLR) in Cameroon |
| title_short | Assessment of land use and land cover (LULC) and vegetation degradation state from wildfire within the scope of forest landscape restoration (FLR) in Cameroon |
| title_sort | assessment of land use and land cover lulc and vegetation degradation state from wildfire within the scope of forest landscape restoration flr in cameroon |
| topic | Fire Forest land restoration forest degradation LULC Random Forest Cameroon |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/22797254.2025.2498955 |
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