Description

The knowledge of forest carbon stock plays a crucial role in understanding and addressing the environmental, climate, and sustainability challenges associated with forest ecosystems. This study focuses on the Forest Carbon Stock (FCS) in the Congo Basin Forests (CBFs), the second largest tropical rainforest in the world. The study aims to address several questions related to FCS and land use/land cover changes in Cameroon, Gabon, and Congo between 1992 and 2020. The study utilized data from the FAOSTAT database, including land use and land cover datasets. Statistical analyses were performed to assess trends, correlations, and the impact of land use/land cover on FCS. The results indicated an upward trend in urban areas and agriculture, accompanied by a corresponding decrease in FCS in all three countries examined. Bivariate plots showed the relationship between FCS and urban area as well as FCS and agriculture. The plots revealed increasing urban areas and agriculture, while FCS declined. Mann-Kendall and Sen’s slope estimator tests confirmed the trends in urban areas, agriculture, and other land use/land cover types.