Abstract

Effects of Logging in the Congo Basin Rainforests
Track: Climate Change and Conservation
Authors: Rachel Kornak

The Congo Basin in Central Africa is home to the world's second largest concentration of tropical rainforests. These forests have been used for multiple activities with competing goals such as timber extraction, conservation, and agriculture. Massive overhauls to laws governing forests were implemented in the region in the late 1990's in an effort to promote more sustainable logging practices. We used ArcGIS, Spatial Analyst, and Geostatistical Analyst to determine if these changes actually led to improved forest conditions. We started by digitizing the location and characteristics of logging roads visible in Landsat imagery for three snapshots in time (before, during, and after legislation changes). We then conducted a spatial analysis of road patterns within units of different land management practices. We then compared the results over time. The results of our analysis can be applied to other regions of the world where forest conservation is a priority.