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Why are drylands changing in the Chobe district of Northern Botswana? A new study tracks differences in the savanna there across 30 years and provides information that will allow governments and nonprofit organizations to improve dryland management strategies in the region. The research, funded by the National Science Foundation and Forest Conservation Botswana, examined satellite data from the past 30 years to track land cover changes in the Chobe district, a 21,000-square-kilometer area that encompasses urban, rural, communally-managed and protected lands.
Over a 13-year period, there were nearly 10,000 fires in the Chobe district. More than 85 percent occurred during a time when there were no storms or lightning; most of the fires started with human activities. Dryland ecosystems are vulnerable to human impacts, such as moving cattle from place to place. The findings of this research have the potential to benefit dryland systems globally.Image credit: Kathleen Alexander
