Mapping forest and pasture cover of Western Rif (Chefchaouen)

Abstract

Northern Morocco harbors the large-scale oak forests in the country, surrounded by an agricultural mosaic. The mountainous topography and the existing forest vegetation explain the strong predominance of grazing goats in these woodlands. Despite the socio-economic role and the predominance of pastoral activities, especially in Western Rif (Chefchaouen), there is little information about the current land cover mapping of forests and pasture. Mapping has become a central element of current natural resource management strategies to implement appropriate development policies. The objective of this study was to produce a land cover map of Chefchaouen in order to determine the forest and pastureland cover based on remote sensing data. This study allowed us to identify four types of pasturelands (forest, pasture mixed with forest, pasture, and pasture mixed with cropland). According to the classification results, forest, pasture, and cropland cover an area of 39, 3.9, and 3.1%, respectively. The largest cover land was recorded by pasture mixed with cropland (51.5%). The land cover results of the forest class agree with the statistics data reported in the official reports, except for the land cover of classes including pastures, because they have never been studied before. Overall, this research makes a contribution to know the current land cover types in Western Rif for future interventions in order to develop and manage forest and pasture areas.

Keywords

• forêt
• pâturage
• couverture terrestre
• télédétection
• nord du maroc