The present study aimed to provide the basics needed to reconcile the fight
against poverty with the need of a good management of community resources
in the context of local and sustainable development. It focused on
the identification of geographic location and spatio-temporal dynamics of
these resources in the southeastern part of Togo. The methodological approach
was based on the spatial analysis of the area for the years 1988, 2000
and 2018 by combining optical imagery from Landsat TM, ETM+ and Sentinel-2A MSI satellites with radar imagery from Sentinel-1A IW/GRDH.
Spatial analysis showed a fragmented spatial structure undergoing major
changes for the period 1988-2018. Plantations, riparian formations, agglomerations,
water bodies and wetlands increased respectively by 4.61%,
2.09%, 1.07%, 0.43% and 0.35% annually, while forests, savannahs, crops
and fallow lands decreased annually by 0.71%, 5.87% and 1.97%. For the
“forests” class, seven community forests geographically organized in three
sub-groups were identified and mapped. The analysis of their areas pointed
to the fact that out of 667 ha of community forests in 1988, only 415 ha remain
in 2018, which means a loss of 37.78% in forest areas over the 30 years,
or an annual deforestation rate of 1.64%. The different spatial changes observed
could be attributed to several unsustainable human activities. The
land use maps for the years 1988, 2000 and 2018 will contribute to resource
localization and protection in sensitive areas or, in other words, to the integrated
and rational management of these resources. The different identified
and mapped community forests could serve as management units for managers
in developing their management plans.
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