COMPARATIVE DYNAMICS OF LAND USE/LAND COVER UNDER AN ANTHROPOGENIC PRESSURE GRADIENT IN MARITIME GUINEA: A FOUR-SITE CASE STUDY (1986-2024)

Abstract   Introduction: Maritime Guinea is undergoing rapid land-cover transformation driven by urbanization, agricultural expansion, mining activity, and land degradation. Site-specific diachronic assessments are needed to characterize how these pressures diverge across contrasting land-use contexts. Objective: To analyze and compare land use/land cover (LULC) dynamics between 1986 and 2024 across four sites subject to contrasting anthropogenic pressure regimes: Damakhania (mixed reference pressure), Koba (coastal mangrove area), Missira (agricultural pressure), and Sangarédi (bauxite mining pressure). Methods: Diachronic analysis was performed using Landsat imagery (TM, ETM+, OLI) subjected to supervised classification (maximum likelihood). Classification accuracy was assessed via confusion matrices and the Kappa coefficient.  Results: Forest and savanna formations declined across all four sites, with relative losses ranging from -22.7% (Missira) to -51.8% (Sangarédi). This decline was accompanied by site-specific expansion of anthropogenic land-cover classes: urbanization in Damakhania (+17.8 percentage points), agriculture in Missira (+7.3 points), mining in Sangarédi (+5.8 points), and mangrove cover in Koba (+2.8 points). Koba showed a distinct coastal dynamic, with forest decline (-14.7 points) coexisting with mangrove expansion (+2.8 points). Conclusion: These findings reveal a regional gradient of anthropogenic pressure, from a reference situation (Damakhania) to severe environmental crisis (Sangarédi), with intermediate profiles of moderate agricultural pressure (Missira) and coastal degradation (Koba). This quantitative evidence base can inform sustainable land management policy in Maritime Guinea and underscores the need for integrated planning that accounts for the diversity of anthropogenic pressures across sites. Keywords: land use/land cover, remote sensing, spatio-temporal dynamics, anthropogenic pressure, Maritime Guinea, pressure gradient.