State and Trend of Deforestation in Côte d’Ivoire

IMAGES is an interactive online platform that offers a variety of spatial and economic data and tools to help monitor the forest cover and assist in a wide range of spatial planning tasks. IMAGES was created in 2016 for the Ivorian government and other key stakeholders to some of the country’s needs in tackling deforestation.

The IMAGES system is now in use in South West of Cȏte d’Ivoire and is being maintained by the Ministry of Planning and Development. IMAGES forest loss maps are updated every 12 days, highlighting recent forest loss alongside strategic land use planning data. Note that forest loss may not always be deforestation. Forest loss may be due to different factors including deforestation, logging, fire, mining or uprooted trees IMAGES was co-financed through the UK Space Agency’s International Partnership Programme (IPP) and delivered by Vivid Economics and Remote Sensing Applications Consultants (RSAC), two UK-based SMEs. It is now run by the Ministry of Planning and Development, Ivory Coast.

Building on the success of the piloting phase, IMAGES has now been extended to the rest of the country, effectively equipping the Ivorian Government with a national forest monitoring tool.

Using IMAGES’ data on land use cover and past deforestation alerts, Vivid Economics’ latest report sets out the state and trends of deforestation in Ivory Coast:

  • Between 2019 and 2020, 68,000 hectares of primary forest, 2.2% of remaining forest, were lost in Côte d’Ivoire.
  • More than 75% of recorded deforestation took place in Western and Centre-East rural areas.
  • Forêts Classées account for 21% of forest losses.
  • Previous IMAGES data for the South West region of the country reveals that region of Cavally and the Forêt Classée de Goin Debé have both lost approximately 40% their remaining forest over the past three years.
  • Ongoing losses have left a landscape of fragmented forests at higher risk of further deforestation.
  • The authorities should put in place strong protection and enforcement resources to the last intact islands of rainforest in the country and engage with rural communities to protect and/or reforest their remaining fragmented forest.

For more information on IMAGES, visit the website