Benin Faces Alarming Tree Cover Loss with Recent Fire Incident in Atakora

Benin Faces Alarming Tree Cover Loss with Recent Fire Incident in Atakora

Benin has experienced a significant loss of tree cover over the past two decades, with the latest incident being a fire alert in the Atakora Department. The country, which boasts an area of over 11.50 million hectares, has seen a tree cover extent of approximately 168,568 hectares. However, the net change in tree cover reveals a loss of 539,499 hectares, which is a concerning 7.12% decrease.

Shifting agriculture has been the primary driver of tree cover loss, accounting for the vast majority of the hectares lost. Urbanization, although contributing to a lesser extent, has also played a role in the reduction of tree cover. Notably, the data does not include forestry as a driver, which could indicate a lack of significant commercial logging activities or insufficient data.