Political-military crises and vegetation dynamics in Mont Peko National Park in Cote d'Ivoire

Since its creation, Mont Peko National Park has been subject to various anthropogenic pressures, which increased during the period of armed conflict in Cote d'Ivoire between 2002 and 2011. The intensification of pressures appears to have brought an increased rate of deforestation in the park. To test this hypothesis, this study aimed to determine the effects of the conflict period on forest dynamics in the park. For this purpose, four Landsat satellite images were analysed to examine land use changes before, during and after the period of conflict. Our results show a sharp reduction in forested areas during the period of conflict, followed by further reductions in the post-conflict period. In percentage terms, 5.65% of losses occurred before the conflict period at an annual rate of 0.42%, as against 28.03% during the conflicts at an annual rate of 3.92% and 34.02% after the conflicts at an annual rate of 14.41%. This worsening deforestation in the park is linked to the illegal cultivation of cocoa. Existing pressures have thus been exacerbated by the large-scale arrival of peasant populations in the protected area during the conflict period. Our results also show the vulnerability of protected areas during conflicts and the urgency of taking security measures to prevent the risk of degradation, thus further highlighting the need for constant monitoring and management to accelerate forest regeneration in park areas converted to cocoa plantations.