Deforestation and forest degradation and its impact on ecosystem services and environment across a gradient of areas with different conservation status in northern Mozambique

In this study, we propose an integrated spatially explicit approach to analyze the drivers of Deforestation and Forest Degradation (DFD), its impacts on the Provisioning Ecosystem Services (PES), environment and people livelihoods across gradient of areas with different conservation status in Northern Mozambique. The Terra and Aqua combined Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), of its Land Cover Type (MCD12Q1), Landsat 7 ETM+ and Landsat 9 OLI-2 were used to derive Land Use and Land Cover Change (LULCC) over a decade (2012–2022). A village-level survey covering 331 households engaged in harvesting several PES was also conducted. We requested households to ascertain the LULCC that occurred over a decade (2012 – 2022); the effort they applied for harvest several PES and their perceived views on the changes of some climate and environmental attributes. The results suggest that DFD increased over the decade, with a higher rate observed outside the Protected Area (PA). Most of the forest was converted into savannas (1817.7 Km2), grassland (494.1 Km2) and cropland (1324.67 km²). Cropland gain was higher in the densely populated villages, closer to main road. Household survey confirmed that population growth was the underlying driver for agriculture expansion, while forest degradation was driven by unsustainable harvesting of PES. Average distance for PES harvesting increased due resources pressure and forest scarcity, with relatively lower distance observed inside the PA. Cluster analysis detected three distinct diverging perceptions on the effect of DFD in the environment: i) A group of households who believe that temperature did not alter, and forest fires decreased; ii) another group who perceived that environmental and climate conditions overall worsened; iii) and the last group who noticed a considerable worsening of forest fires. Researchers and the decision-makers should leverage this study to improve environmental protection.