Spatial analysis of reforestation sites in the far-north region of Cameroon

Following the great drought which struck the Sahel countries including the northern part of Cameroon in the mid-1970s, Cameroon, like the other states of the sub-region located on the edge of the Sahara, decided to implement implement drought control activities. This study taking place in the Far North region of Cameroon, generally fits into the field of characterization of natural environments. It aims to structure and highlight the situation of certain reforestation sites in the far north region. Therefore, to achieve the expected results, we used two specific methods of data collection, namely: the in situ method (floristic inventories using the plot method) and the indirect method (downloading of iconographic data on the SOGEFI platforms, COPERNICUS, ATLAS and GEOFABRIK), for remote sensing analysis purposes with a Landsat OLI/TIR image from November 13, 2023 and photogrammetric shots with Pix4. The inventory data and measurements taken in the field were recorded in CSV and/or XLSX formats for the purposes of statistical analyzes (PAST, Excel) or cartographic operations (Qgis versions 3.22 and 2.18). To this end, the field surveys collected in situ made it possible to carry out thematic mapping using the inverse distance interpolation (IDW) method. The processing of remote sensing data consisted of assembling satellite images using “mosaicking”, radiometric and geometric corrections, and spatial filtering using ENVI and SAGA Gis software. The analysis of these images consisted of calculating vegetation indices (the NDVI adjusted to the ground). It thus appears that the reforestation sites have a deciduous population, a natural habitat composed of shrub savannah, tree savannah, grassy savannah, steppe and meadow. Reforestation sites are sometimes less drained, sometimes very poorly drained due to the unfavorable structure and texture of the soils, in certain sites in the region. In addition, only the sites of Djiddel and Gawel 2 among the Diamaré sites have a better level of canopy, with an average regeneration rate of 36.11%. In Mayo-Kani, only the sites of Moumour, Kéra, Bipaing, Piwa, Mindif and Laf have a better level of canopy, with an average regeneration rate of 47.70%. In Mayo-Tsanaga, only the Boula-Mokong site has a better level of canopy, with an average regeneration rate of 44.66%. In Mayo-Danay, only one site has a better level of canopy, namely the Daiba-Kalfou site. Furthermore, sites in this department have an average regeneration rate of 49.25%. In Logone and Chari, most of the sites have an acceptable level of canopy since no site in this department has a very appreciable level of canopy. However, sites in this department have an average regeneration rate of 39%.