Spatial dynamics and sustainable management of territories around mining sites: analysis of transformations and future perspectives in Kawama village in Haut-Katanga, DR Congo

Abstract

This study aims to analyze land use changes in Kawama, Democratic Republic of the Congo, between 1992 and 2022, assessing the impacts of mining and considering the use of a Multi-Agent System (MAS) to model these dynamics and the challenges they may introduce. The methodology includes selecting Landsat satellite images from 1992 to 2022, processed using ENVI 4.5 and ArcGIS 10.4 software, georeferencing the images to the UTM Zone 35S reference frame, performing supervised classification based on the maximum likelihood algorithm with verification through confusion matrices and Kappa coefficient, and analyzing land cover dynamics by calculating class proportions and examining spatial transformations. Quantified results indicate overall classification accuracy ranging from 89.5% (1992) to 84.5% (2022), Kappa coefficient from 87.4% (1992) to 83.8% (2022), an increase in built-up areas from 2% (1992) to 30% (2022), rapid growth of bare soil by 40% (1992-2022), and a 50% decrease in vegetation cover (1992-2022). Key conclusions highlight rapid urbanization and vegetation degradation driven by economic and political changes, particularly the liberalization of the mining sector, emphasizing the need for sustainable land use management to preserve the local environment. The use of MAS is proposed to model and manage the complex interactions between mining activities, urbanization, and environmental impacts, incorporating various stakeholders and their interactions.