Mystery forest loss in Central Africa

We discovered deforestation in a remote area in Eastern Central African Republic in 2017 using the fantastic Global Forest Watch. What caused this?

Chinko, in Central African Republic forms part of a greater wilderness of more than 107,000 km2 which consists of natural vegetation ranging from Sahelo-Sudanian shrublands to dense humid rainforests. The forest-savanna mosaic facilitates high biodiversity.

It was a fire!

Fire has been a key driver of habitat dynamics for millennia. In dense humid forests, fire usually results in forest clearing, while savannah vegetation is more resilient to fires. People sometimes use fires in forests to clear land for agriculture. Using data from VIRRS and Modis Burned Areas we investigated if the detected deforestation was perhaps caused by fire.

Who started the fire?

Fires caused by lightning usually happen in the late dry or early rainy season which is around March/April. It is thus very possible that lightning started this fire in late February. But, more evidence from the surroundings may suggest otherwise. It seems like the point of interest (POI on the below photo) was not an isolated case.

In fact, deforestation with similar circumstances occurred at three other points (a, b and c) all within a 50 km radius of the POI.

Four nearby cases of deforestation caused by fire all within the same period. Did lightning strike multiple times? Or, is something else going on? 🤷‍♀️