Earth observation-based multi-scale impact assessment of internally displaced person (IDP) camps on wood resources in Zalingei, Darfur

Spröhnle, Kristin; Kranz, Olaf; Schöepfer, Elisabeth; Moeller, Matthias; Voigt, Stefan

doi:10.1080/10106049.2015.1062053

Cited by 13 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Clearly, these pressures impact wild plant resources, particularly in terms of their use as "famine food" and as animal fodder, firewood, and construction wood (e.g. see Spröhnlea et al 2016). In addition, nomadic pastoralists and the Fur farmers in West Darfur, today represented by distinct political groups, may place different priorities on each of the species we surveyed; our study focused on assessments by indigenous Fur farmers, who make up over 75% of the rural population, and who use both established farmland, and upland pastures for seasonal pastoralism.…”

Section: Species and [Family]mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Indigenous knowledge of wild plants collected in Darfur, Sudan

et al. 2020

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Background: The lives of the "Fur", indigenous people of Darfur, Sudan are intimately connected to local wild plants, but the traditional uses of these plants are, so far, poorly documented. Many species are indigenous to the region, but others are introduced, and have naturalized over millennia.Methods: For a month each summer from 2014-2016, using questionnaire interviews, direct observation of practices, and a literature review, 58 species were identified. An "importance value" for each was determined, based on the intensity and season(s) of use, in eight use categories. For each species, a "concordance ratio" characterized the degree of agreement between indigenous knowledge and our current "scientific understanding" of their value.Results: All species were multi-use; animal forage, "other functional uses", traditional medicine, and construction predominated. Some species are declining due to overharvesting by the growing local population, exacerbated by conflict and refugee encampments. Most of the species are used in traditional medicines, but active ingredients have been scientifically confirmed for only half of them. Surprisingly, several species with known medicinal ingredients are not used locally. Conclusions:The "Fur" people have long combined agriculture with pastoralism and wildcrafting. For this to be sustainable, it is critical to understand cultural contexts and recognize multi-use species. This can help identify new medicines, and guide sustainable development of local resources, adapted to local conditions. Naturalized wild fruit trees may have evolved drought resistance in this increasingly dry savanna climate; such genes might usefully be incorporated in crop strains elsewhere as climate change proceeds.

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Section: Species and [Family]mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is growing evidence of localized depletion of species with high TIV values, particularly around IDP camps (Spröhnlea et al 2016). The urgency of this situation suggests that scientists and local communities should collaborate to track the use, and abundance of each of these multi-use species.…”

Section: Species and [Family]mentioning

confidence: 99%

Indigenous knowledge of wild plants collected in Darfur, Sudan

et al. 2020

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“…The monitoring of refugee camp expansion and the resultant degradation of the environment and forest cover change using earth observation data such as aerial photography, LiDAR, and high-resolution satellite imagery (i.e., Quick bird, IKONOS) has been seen quite often in practice [29][30][31][32]. Different methodologies with varying degrees of resources, costs, accuracy, expertise and technology have been applied in tracking refugee camps and assessing environmental impacts on the camps' surroundings.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, Lodhi et al (1998) [33] monitored land cover changes and environmental impacts using Landsat imagery with unsupervised classification in the Siran Valley in northern Pakistan resulting from an influx of Afghan refugees in the early 1990s. Spröhnle et al (2016) [32] observed the impacts of internally displaced person (IDP) camps on wood resources in Zalingei, Darfur using high resolution satellite imagery between 2003 and 2008. Their research found that increasing IDP camps caused a considerable decrease in woody vegetation surrounding the camp area.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rohingya Refugee Crisis and Forest Cover Change in Teknaf, Bangladesh

et al. 2018

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Following a targeted campaign of violence by Myanmar military, police, and local militias, more than half a million Rohingya refugees have fled to neighboring Bangladesh since August 2017, joining thousands of others living in overcrowded settlement camps in Teknaf. To accommodate this mass influx of refugees, forestland is razed to build spontaneous settlements, resulting in an enormous threat to wildlife habitats, biodiversity, and entire ecosystems in the region. Although reports indicate that this rapid and vast expansion of refugee camps in Teknaf is causing large scale environmental destruction and degradation of forestlands, no study to date has quantified the camp expansion extent or forest cover loss. Using remotely sensed Sentinel-2A and-2B imagery and a random forest (RF) machine learning algorithm with ground observation data, we quantified the territorial expansion of refugee settlements and resulting degradation of the ecological resources surrounding the three largest concentrations of refugee camps-Kutupalong-Balukhali, Nayapara-Leda and Unchiprang-that developed between pre-and post-August of 2017. Employing RF as an image classification approach for this study with a cross-validation technique, we obtained a high overall classification accuracy of 94.53% and 95.14% for 2016 and 2017 land cover maps, respectively, with overall Kappa statistics of 0.93 and 0.94. The producer and user accuracy for forest cover ranged between 92.98-98.21% and 96.49-92.98%, respectively. Results derived from the thematic maps indicate a substantial expansion of refugee settlements in the three refugee camp study sites, with an increase of 175 to 1530 hectares between 2016 and 2017, and a net growth rate of 774%. The greatest camp expansion is observed in the Kutupalong-Balukhali site, growing from 146 ha to 1365 ha with a net increase of 1219 ha (total growth rate of 835%) in the same time period. While the refugee camps' occupancy expanded at a rapid rate, this gain mostly occurred by replacing the forested land, degrading the forest cover surrounding the three camps by 2283 ha. Such rapid degradation of forested land has already triggered ecological problems and disturbed wildlife habitats in the area since many of these makeshift resettlement camps were set up in or near corridors for wild elephants, causing the death of several Rohingyas by elephant trampling. Hence, the findings of this study may motivate the Bangladesh government and international humanitarian organizations to develop better plans to protect the ecologically sensitive forested land and wildlife habitats surrounding the refugee camps, enable more informed management of the settlements, and assist in more sustainable resource mobilization for the Rohingya refugees.

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“…Previous vegetation cover change research in Darfur [ 29 , 31 , 32 ] was done before 2016. All those studies were conducted in Central, Western, and North Darfur.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of the environmental impacts of conflict-driven Internally Displaced Persons: A sentinel-2 satellite based analysis of land use/cover changes in the Kas locality, Darfur, Sudan

Ahmed,

Rotich,

Czimber

2024

PLoS ONE

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Internal displacement of populations due to armed conflicts can substantially impact a region’s Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) and the efforts towards the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The objective of this study was to determine the effects of conflict-driven Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) on vegetation cover and environmental sustainability in the Kas locality of Darfur, Sudan. Supervised classification and change analysis were performed on Sentinel-2 satellite images for the years 2016 and 2022 using QGIS software. The Sentinel-2 Level 2A data were analysed using the Random Forest (RF) Machine Learning (ML) classifier. Five land cover types were successfully classified (agricultural land, vegetation cover, built-up area, sand, and bareland) with overall accuracies of more than 86% and Kappa coefficients greater than 0.74. The results revealed a 35.33% (-10.20 km2) decline in vegetation cover area over the six-year study period, equivalent to an average annual loss rate of -5.89% (-1.70 km2) of vegetation cover. In contrast, agricultural land and built-up areas increased by 17.53% (98.12 km2) and 60.53% (5.29 km2) respectively between the two study years. The trends of the changes among different LULC classes suggest potential influences of human activities especially the IDPs, natural processes, and a combination of both in the study area. This study highlights the impacts of IDPs on natural resources and land cover patterns in a conflict-affected region. It also offers pertinent data that can support decision-makers in restoring the affected areas and preventing further environmental degradation for sustainability.

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Earth observation-based multi-scale impact assessment of internally displaced person (IDP) camps on wood resources in Zalingei, Darfur

Cited by 13 publications

References 35 publications

Indigenous knowledge of wild plants collected in Darfur, Sudan

Indigenous knowledge of wild plants collected in Darfur, Sudan

Rohingya Refugee Crisis and Forest Cover Change in Teknaf, Bangladesh

Assessment of the environmental impacts of conflict-driven Internally Displaced Persons: A sentinel-2 satellite based analysis of land use/cover changes in the Kas locality, Darfur, Sudan

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