Mkiwa Braison P, Mauya Ernest W, Jonas Justo N, Mbeyale Gimbage E
Department of Ecosystems and Conservation, College of Forestry, Wildlife and Tourism, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania.
Department of Forest Engineering and Wood Sciences, College of Forestry, Wildlife and Tourism, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania.
PLoS One. 2025 Jun 6;20(6):e0311865. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0311865. eCollection 2025.
Despite the numerous negative effects of tropical forest fires in Tanzania, the sources and effects remain insufficiently documented. This study aimed to develop an integrated approach that combines geospatial tools and socio-economic data to assess the sources and effects of forest fires and map burn severity and its trends over 10 years in West Usambara Mountain Forests. Three approaches including Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA), satellite image analysis, and direct observation were used to generate information on spatial and temporal forest fire severity. Findings revealed that farm preparation (38.2%) and charcoal preparation (21.2%) are the primary source of these forest fires. Burn severity maps showed 32.12% to 20.31% of combined high and low severity areas, with a total burned area of 3,296.96 hectares, accounting for 15.86% of the reserves. The differenced Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (dNDVI) maps revealed 36.30% to 21.10 of high and low severity areas, while post-fire NBR and NDVI time series indicated a significant vegetation loss (0.21 to 0.36). This study demonstrates the integration of remote sensing and socio-economic approaches to enhance forest fire management, conservation, policy enforcement, and community awareness that can be upscaled to other forest areas for effective management.
尽管坦桑尼亚的热带森林火灾存在诸多负面影响，但其来源和影响仍记录不足。本研究旨在开发一种综合方法，将地理空间工具和社会经济数据结合起来，以评估森林火灾的来源和影响，并绘制10年来西乌桑巴拉山林火灾害严重程度及其趋势图。采用参与式农村评估（PRA）、卫星图像分析和直接观测三种方法来获取有关森林火灾严重程度的时空信息。研究结果表明，农事准备（38.2%）和木炭制备（21.2%）是这些森林火灾的主要来源。火灾严重程度图显示，高严重度和低严重度区域合计占32.12%至20.31%，总烧毁面积为3296.96公顷，占保护区面积的15.86%。差值归一化植被指数（dNDVI）图显示，高严重度和低严重度区域占36.30%至21.10%，而火灾后归一化燃烧比（NBR）和植被指数（NDVI）时间序列表明植被有显著损失（0.21至0.36）。本研究展示了将遥感和社会经济方法相结合，以加强森林火灾管理、保护、政策执行和社区意识，这种方法可推广到其他林区以进行有效管理。
