Title
Patterns of forest loss in one of Africa’s last remaining wilderness areas: Niassa National Reserve (Northern Mozambique)
Author(s)
Allan, James R.;Grossmann, Falk;Craig, Rob ;Nelson, Alastair ;Maina, Joseph ;Flower, Kathleen ;Bampton, James ;Deffontaines, Jean-Bapiste ;Miguel, Cornelio ;Araquechande, Baldeu ;Watson, James E. M.
Published
2017
Publisher
Parks: The International Journal of Protected Areas and Conservation
Abstract
Niassa National Reserve (NNR) supports Mozambique’s largest populations of endangered fauna and
sustains the livelihoods of > 40,000 people who utilise its natural resources. Accurately monitoring finescale
spatial and temporal trends in land-use and tree-cover is increasingly used for monitoring the
ecological state of conservation areas. Here we provide essential information on land-use changes in NNR
to support ongoing conservation efforts in the region. We examined patterns of forest and woodland loss in
NNR between 2001 and 2014 using high resolution maps of global tree-cover change, and compared this
with changes in the wider region. We found that NNR lost 108 km2 of forest (0.9 per cent of its 11,970 km2
aggregated forest extent), with the majority (89 km2) of forest loss occurring due to expanding agriculture
around settlements and along main roads. Although this loss was substantial, it was lower than changes in
the surrounding region, with the adjacent districts and Provinces losing 200 km2 (3.2 per cent) and 6,594
km2 (5.7 per cent) of their respective forest extents. We found NNR’s diverse Miombo ecosystems are still
intact and could support large mega-faunal assemblages, investment in ensuring the long-term success of
NNR is an obvious global conservation priority.
Keywords
Forest loss;Habitat loss;conservation planning;monitoring;protected areas;biodiversity;conservation;African conservation
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PUB22734