Natural and Cultural Landscapes of Equatorial Africa

Abstract

This paper attempts to characterise various cultural landscapes in the area of Equatorial Africa. To achieve this, the contents of various thematic maps and satellite photos representing: areas covered with forests (mostly secondary forests), nature reserves, areas of extensive and intensive agriculture and urban-industrial areas were overlaid with the contents of map of potential vegetation (which represent, to use a simplification, the natural, primeval landscape). The method applied allowed for distinguishing five types of cultural landscape that correspond to five levels of transformation of the primeval landscape.

Keywords

• natural landscape
• cultural landscape
• transformation
• prediction