Monitoring logging in the tropical forest of Republic of Congo with Landsat imagery

Selective logging is the most extensive land use in the Congo Basin, with more than 40% of the forest allocated to timber concessions. Little information is available to monitor the spatial expansion of timber extraction and its impacts on tropical forests. As part of the INFORMS project, "An Integrated Forest Monitoring System for Central Africa," we have developed a simple system to monitor the extension of logging roads using multi-temporal Landsat imagery. We also tested the utility of Landsat imagery in estimating logging intensity. This system is being used within the national forest services of the Republic of Congo and Cameroon to monitor logging expansion.