Human activities, exacerbated by periods of armed conflict, have impacted the biodiversity-rich forests in Western Rwanda during recent decades, creating a need to enhance forest protection and restoration policies that address widespread environmental degradation in this mountainous region. Contrasting observations and the lack of recent forest-cover maps make reliable assessments of forest-cover change in Western Rwanda difficult. We investigate forest-cover dynamics across Western Rwanda between 1986 and 2019, using the random forest algorithm to classify a suite of Landsat-5, Landsat-7, and Landsat-8 images to produce forest-cover maps at quadrennial intervals. Approximately 19% (23,412 ha) of the initial forest extent was lost between 1986 and 2006, primarily due to pastureland expansion and forest conversions associated with armed conflicts. Forest loss peaked between 2010 and 2014, a period corresponding to rapid extension of public infrastructures and overexploitation of forest products to supply the growing urban areas. Western Rwanda experienced a 17% increase in forest cover between 1986 (144,792 ha) and 2019 (169,197 ha), due to the establishment of tree plantations around protected areas and throughout agricultural land-uses. The published forest datasets for Western Rwanda either overestimate forest area due to confusions with agricultural land cover or they underestimate deforestation due to the complex mountainous terrain. Ongoing forest losses and increasing isolation of natural forests pose significant threats to the biodiversity habitats and the sustainable supply of ecosystem services in this densely populated, globally important biodiversity hotspot region.

在最近几十年中，由于武装冲突而加剧的人类活动已经影响了卢旺达西部生物多样性丰富的森林，因此有必要加强森林保护和恢复政策，以解决该山区广泛的环境退化问题。对比的观察和最近森林覆盖图的缺乏使得难以对卢旺达西部地区的森林覆盖变化进行可靠的评估。我们使用随机森林算法对1986年至2019年整个卢旺达西部的森林覆盖动态进行了分类，以对Landsat-5，Landsat-7和Landsat-8图像套件进行分类，以每四年的间隔生成森林覆盖图。在1986年至2006年之间，大约有19％的原始森林面积（23,412公顷）消失了，这主要是由于牧场扩张和与武装冲突有关的森林改建。森林损失在2010年至2014年达到顶峰，这段时期对应于公共基础设施的迅速扩展和森林产品的过度开发，以为不断增长的城市地区提供产品。卢旺达西部地区在1986年（144,792公顷）至2019年（169,197公顷）之间的森林覆盖率增长了17％，这是由于在保护区周围和整个农业土地利用领域建立了树木种植园。卢旺达西部的已发布森林数据集由于与农业用地覆盖的混淆而高估了森林面积，或者由于复杂的山地地形而低估了森林砍伐。在这个人口稠密，全球重要的生物多样性热点地区，持续的森林流失和日益增加的天然林隔离对生物多样性栖息地和生态系统服务的可持续供应构成了严重威胁。