Impact of mangrove degradation on biodiversity and land use in Togo (2014–2024)

Faced with the threat of degradation of mangrove ecosystems, this study based on geomatics, field surveys and socio-economic surveys Analyzes the spatio -temporal dynamics of mangroves in Bas-Togo from 2014 to 2024. Sentinel-2 MSI images (2014–2024) were used to calculate the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), unsupervised classification (Maximum Likelihood) and supervised classification (K-means) to better discriminate mangrove areas. The results reveal a 35.8% decline in mangrove areas, from 1,150 ha in 2014 to 738 ha in 2024. This loss translates into a 35% decline in Rhizophora racemosa populations and a nearly 40% decrease in floristic diversity, indicating a process of ecological homogenization. At the same time, urban areas have expanded from 18% to 32%, while income from artisanal fishing has fallen by 50%. This dynamic illustrates the growing impact of direct anthropogenic pressures: unplanned urbanization, massive harvesting of mangrove wood for domestic energy, uncontrolled discharges from human activities and disruption of hydrological exchanges between lagoons and the ocean