article · Land
Population growth in Lubumbashi in the southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo has dramatically increased urban energy demands, placing severe pressure on the surrounding miombo woodlands. Analysis of satellite imagery from 1990 to 2022 shows that the Lubumbashi charcoal production basin lost more than half of its forest cover during this period, declining from nearly 78 percent to under 40 percent. The cleared forest was primarily converted into grassland and wooded savannah, with grassland becoming the dominant land cover by 2022. The annual deforestation rate within the basin reached 1.51 percent, which is nearly six times the national average. Surviving forest patches are increasingly fragmented, exhibiting smaller continuous areas and simplified shapes. Addressing this environmental decline requires developing structured forest management plans, establishing alternative energy solutions, and promoting sustainable, settled agricultural practices among local producers.
Rapid urban expansion in Lubumbashi is driving critical woodland depletion to supply charcoal, accelerating deforestation far beyond national averages. Tracking these spatial patterns highlights how household energy consumption reshapes regional ecosystems. Without alternative energy supplies and sustainable land management, ongoing forest fragmentation risks permanent loss of woodland biodiversity and weakens rural environmental stability.
This research provides geospatial intelligence rather than a commercial technology. The findings can be used by clean energy ventures, carbon offset developers, and forestry authorities to target investments in household energy alternatives and sustainable agriculture. Because the research is analytical, translating it into use requires external developers or public programmes to structure viable commercial alternatives to charcoal in the region.
AI-generated from the published abstract. Always read the original work before citing.
Population growth in the city of Lubumbashi in the southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) is leading to increased energy needs, endangering the balance of the miombo woodland in the rural area referred to as the Lubumbashi charcoal production basin (LCPB). In this study, we quantified the deforestation of the miombo woodland in the LCPB via remote sensing and landscape ecology analysis tools. Thus, the analysis of Landsat images from 1990, 1998, 2008, 2015 and 2022 was supported by the random forest classifier. The results showed that the LCPB lost more than half of its miombo woodland cover between 1990 (77.90%) and 2022 (39.92%) and was converted mainly to wooded savannah (21.68%), grassland (37.26%), agriculture (2.03%) and built-up and bare soil (0.19). Consecutively, grassland became the new dominant land cover in 2022 (40%). Therefore, the deforestation rate (−1.51%) is almost six-times higher than the national average (−0.26%). However, persistent miombo woodland is characterised by a reduction, over time, in its largest patch area and the complexity of its shape. Consequently, because of anthropogenic activities, the dynamics of the landscape pattern are mainly characterised by the attrition of the miombo woodland and the creation of wooded savannah, grassland, agriculture and built-up and bare soil. Thus, it is urgent to develop a forest management plan and find alternatives to energy sources and the sedentarisation of agriculture by supporting local producers to reverse these dynamics.
This page summarises published work. The authoritative version sits with the publisher.
DOI: 10.3390/land12101852
Is something wrong with this record? Report it or request removal.
Discussion
Have you built on this work, tried to replicate it, or seen it applied in practice? Share what you know. Verified researchers and MARATTO™ domain experts can open a discussion, and any member can reply. Contributions are reviewed before they appear.
No discussion yet. Open the first thread.
New to MARATTO™? Create a free account.
