LIDAR mission in Mbalmayo

The Mbalmayo site is located about 1 hour's drive south of Yaoundé, Cameroon. At the heart of the site, a forest remnant of around 1,000 hectares, with a mixture of mixed terra firma forests, forests characteristic of semi-flooded areas and stands of Gilbertiodendron dewevrei - a gregarious species widely distributed in Central Africa - is in a remarkable state of conservation given its very close proximity to the country's capital. Surrounding these forests, for dozens of kilometres, is a predominantly forested landscape that is more representative of the highly anthropised areas of Central Africa, where degraded forests (artisanal logging, firewood harvesting, etc.), agro-forests (e.g. cocoa under shade) and food production fields alternate. This degradation gradient is of particular interest for the objectives of Pillar 1, as it will enable satellite biomass mapping algorithms to be calibrated and evaluated on very different levels of biomass.

Since 2020, the forests of the Mbalmayo site have been the focus of a research programme led by a consortium comprising the Ecole des Eaux et Foret de Mbalmayo (ENEF), the University of Yaoundé I (UY-I) and the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD, UMR AMAP). Current research focuses on describing the structure, floristic and functional compositions, and phenology of the forests. The unique character of these forests, the research already underway and the geographical proximity of the ENEF and its infrastructure (herbarium, geomatics room, laboratories, etc.) - just ten kilometres away - have enabled the site to join the short list of OFVi's regional super-sites.

To meet the needs of Pillar 1, field missions will be organised over the coming months and years to produce the most accurate and reliable mapping possible of forest biomass and biodiversity in the area. It is in this context that the first LIDAR coverage was acquired at the beginning of the year, as LIDAR height maps are the best current proxy for forest biomass.