The Effectiveness of Protected Areas in Central Africa

For protected areas that are extensively forested, the rate of deforestation is one indicator of the integrity of the protected area, and the effectiveness of protected area management. The goal of this study was to examine the deforestation rate in protected areas in Central Africa. Using remote sensing techniques, I measured levels of deforestation in 87 protected areas in five countries in Central Africa from 1990-2000. To examine possible causes of deforestation I also measured the level of access in these protected areas. A lack of access to remote areas can limit deforestation, forest degradation, and the resulting loss of biodiversity while decreasing development in rural areas. Access was defined either as natural (rivers) or constructed (e.g. roads or transmission lines). The annual net deforestation rate for protected areas in Central Africa, among the protected areas studied, was 0.05%. This is lower than the annual rate of forest loss found by other studies for the entire Congo Basin forest. Based on the rates of deforestation in the entire Congo Basin and the assumption that protected areas are trying to avoid deforestation, this suggests that Central African protected