Assessing the Accuracy of Forest Cover Map for 1990, 2000 and 2010 at National Scale in Gabon

The Gabonese Agency for Space Studies and Observations (AGEOS) was set up in 2010 with one of its aims being to develop a national forest monitoring capability. In addition, the European Space Agency (ESA) has developed its activities in the Congo basin through the REDD extension of its GMES Service Element on Forest Monitoring program (GSE FM). The ESA GSE FM REDD extension project is seen by the Gabonese authorities as a precursor to the establishment of the AGEOS for the monitoring of forest cover. During this phase of the project, the production of forest area maps and forest cover change maps for 1990 and 2000 was initiated with a wall to wall approach for the total area of Gabon and about a third of the country for 2010. Initial results confirm the generally low level of deforestation expected in the Congo basin region and in Gabon in particular. However, these results cannot be used without a thorough and statistically sound assessment of thematic accuracy. Thus, a suitable sampling approach was developed to assess the accuracy and results show that these products exceed the requirements set by AGEOS with an overall accuracy above 95%.