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Socio-Ecological Approach to a Forest-Swamp-Savannah Mosaic Landscape Using Remote Sensing and Local Knowledge: a Case Study in the Bas-Ogooué Ramsar Site, Gabon

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Abstract

Studies of landscape dynamics in protected areas often rely exclusively on remotely-sensed data, leading to bias by neglecting how local inhabitants, who often have a long history of interaction with their environment, perceive and structure the landscape over time. Using a socio-ecological system (SES) approach in a forest-swamp-savannah mosaic within the Bas-Ogooué Ramsar site in Gabon, we assess how human populations participate in landscape dynamics over time. We first conducted a remote sensing analysis to produce a land-cover map representing the biophysical dimension of the SES. This map is based on pixel-oriented classifications, using a 2017 Sentinel-2 satellite image and 610 GPS points, that categorized the landscape in 11 ecological classes. To study the landscape’s social dimension, we collected data on local knowledge to understand how local people perceive and use the landscape. These data were collected through 19 semi-structured individual interviews, three focus groups and 3 months of participant observation during an immersive field mission. We developed a systemic approach by combining data on biophysical and social dimensions of the landscape. Our analysis shows that in the absence of continued anthropic interventions, both savannahs and swamps dominated by herbaceous vegetation will experience closure by encroaching woody vegetation, leading to eventual biodiversity loss. Our methodology based on an SES approach to landscapes could improve the conservation programs developed by Ramsar site managers. Designing actions at the local scale, rather than applying one set of actions to the entire protected area, allows the integration of human perceptions, practices and expectations, a challenge that is more than essential in the context of global change.

Highlights

  • Integrates remote sensing and local knowledge, including perceptions and practices, to develop a socio-ecological approach to the landscape.

  • Shows the advantages of using an approach based on local knowledge to map and study tropical wetlands and understand their dynamics.

  • Uses comprehension of the links between land use and land cover to produce spatial information on a specific wetland that is difficult to monitor.

  • Enables a better understanding of human-environment interactions and their associated ecosystem services within the Bas-Ogooué Ramsar site.

  • Can contribute to integration of the perceptions and practices of local populations in the planning of conservation and development programs.

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Data Availability

The remote sensing image (2017 Sentinel-2 satellite image) is available online (https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov). Because of restrictions imposed by ethics committee, other data have not been publicly deposited, but our main results can be found on the Vulcar-Fate project website (https://vulcar-fate.obs-mip.fr/). Upon reasonable request, the corresponding author may make available certain data following agreement by the principal investigator of the research project of which this study is a part.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the entire ANPN team for their support in the organization of the field mission, especially Karl, a local ecoguard who was our main interlocutor and support in the field. We sincerely thank the European Space Agency (ESA) for making the Sentinel-2 satellite image freely available. Finally, we are most grateful to all local participants in this study for their hospitality and knowledge, and especially to Rogo, for his daily support all around the landscape mosaic, and to Serge, for his help in organizing focus groups and interviews, in addition to his daily drive of the dugout canoe on the Ogooué River.

Funding

This work is part of the VULCAR-FATE project (Global change impact on vulnerable carbon reservoirs: carbon sequestration and emissions in soils and waters From the Arctic To the Equator, 2021–2024), supported by the Belmont Forum and funded by the French National Research Agency [grant numbers ANR-21-SOIL-0005]. In addition, the Belmont Soils 2020 International Scholarship awarded by the U.S. National Science Foundation also allowed extension of the initial duration of the field mission for this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. IRD GET UMR 5563 (Univ. Toulouse, CNRS, IRD), Toulouse, France

    Christophe Demichelis & Jean-Jacques Braun

  2. LETG-COSTEL UMR 6554 (Univ. Rennes, CNRS), Rennes, France

    Johan Oszwald

  3. CEFE (Univ. Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE, IRD), Montpellier, France

    Doyle Mckey

  4. CENAREST/IRET, Libreville, Gabon

    Paul-Yannick Bitome Essono

  5. Agence Nationale des Parcs Nationaux, Libreville, Gabon

    Guy-Philippe Sounguet & Jean-Jacques Braun

  6. LMI DYCOFAC (IRD), Yaoundé, Cameroun

    Jean-Jacques Braun

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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by CD and JO. The first draft of the manuscript was written by CD and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Christophe Demichelis.

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All participants in this study were voluntary and signed a consent form after a presentation of the project. During this presentation, the use of the collected data for the publication of scientific papers and reports was explicitly explained. All data collected were anonymized to protect the integrity of the participants.

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All data collection protocols for the project were approved by the France’s Institute for Development Research (IRD) Review Board and the VULCARE-FATE ethics committee.

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Demichelis, C., Oszwald, J., Mckey, D. et al. Socio-Ecological Approach to a Forest-Swamp-Savannah Mosaic Landscape Using Remote Sensing and Local Knowledge: a Case Study in the Bas-Ogooué Ramsar Site, Gabon. Environmental Management 72, 1241–1258 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-023-01827-8

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