Historical Vegetation Map of the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi

1958 vegetation classification data for the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi, published in the Bulletin de la Societe Royale Botanique de Belgique. The dataset is derived from the botanical survey work of R. Devred. It provides a historical snapshot of the region's plant communities prior to major modern land-use changes.

Use Cases

• Classify historical vegetation types using the map's legend and spatial polygons.
• Analyze the distribution of specific plant communities across the Belgian Congo territory.
• Compare 1958 vegetation boundaries with modern satellite-derived land cover data for change detection.

Strengths

• Provides a detailed historical baseline from 1958, a key period before widespread modern deforestation.
• Covers a large geographical area encompassing the modern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi.

Limitations

• Data is over 65 years old and may not reflect current conditions.
• The original map is a scanned, non-georeferenced publication, requiring significant manual processing for digital analysis.
• Specific data formats, column structures, and spatial resolution are unknown.

Provenance

Source

Bulletin de la Societe Royale Botanique de Belgique, (65), 409-468.

Collection Method

Field-based botanical survey and manual cartography.

Time Range

Circa 1958.

Freshness

Static historical record; last updated 1958-12-31.

Geography

Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi (modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi).