High Resolution Satellite Imagery Shows an Increase in Rwanda's Forest Cover

In the late 1980s, the country of Rwanda’s image began to shift from a socially and environmentally progressive society to one that had fallen on hard times due to a decrease in agricultural output and governmental change. Outside interest from countries supplying aid also began to change with their desire to see democratic reform. This eventually led to a civil war in 1990, where the Rwandan Patriotic Front, a rebel movement comprised of Tutsis, clashed with government and military fighters comprised of Hutus. In 1994, Hutus took control of the government and issued orders to exterminate all Tutsis.

The civil war caused massive damage to the forests and natural resources, destroying hundreds of thousands of acres of land due to fighting and modification by refugees trying to make new homes. Today, forest covers only 20% of the country, and none is considered primary or old growth forest. Rwanda is located in the rain forest region of Africa, and deforestation in the area can be devastating to species that require the canopy for their livelihood, such as mountain gorillas.

Researchers at the University of Louisville, Jacob Noel, Dr. Jessica McCarty and Dr. Jennie Burnett, have studied forest cover patterns by employing satellite imagery. Large-scale deforestation can affect the international community by reducing oxygen production and forests’ ability to sequester greenhouse gases. Using Landsat Thematic Mapper images from 1986-2001 over Rwanda’s Gishwati Rainforest, Noel et al. analyzed forest cover loss during the period. The 1986 imagery showed nearly 100,000 hectares of forest cover, whereas in 2001 there was only 600 hectares left – a reduction in cover of over 99%!

Continuing their study, they used recent high-resolution imagery coming from dates into 2008 to measure any positive changes in forest cover. They looked at three districts in southern Rwanda: Huye, Nyarugur, and Nyamagabe. There has been a large reforestation effort in the country since 2000, and currently 7.7% of the nation is considered protected areas.

After a noticeable decrease in vegetation from 1986-2000, a period of increased vegetation occurred between the period from 2000-2008. A Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was used to measure reflectance values in each image. Deeper shades of blue showed a negative change in vegetation, while deeper shades of red indicated a positive change. Imagery from as late as 2008 showed that the area of study had reached 99.62% cover, up from 89.15% in 1989.

The researchers were then able to conclude that government policy was indeed a major factor in forest recovery and vegetative growth. The results of this study will hopefully lead to the implementation of a better policy for land use, as well as further consideration on growth regulations in the area.

A decrease in vegetation between 2000-2002 shown in blue areas.



An increase in vegetation between 2002-2008 shown in dark red areas.




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