WCMC Closed Moist Tropical Forest of Uganda: 13 Forest Type Classes

13 forest type classes, including mangroves, montane rain forest, and degraded categories, for Uganda's closed moist tropical forests. The World Conservation and Monitoring Centre (WCMC) compiled this database from national maps in February 1992. The data is in Arc/Info Export format, with polygon attributes for area, perimeter, and classification codes.

Use Cases

• Classifying forest cover types based on the 13-category legend (e.g., VEGN codes 121 for Montane Rain Forest).
• Mapping the extent of specific forest ecosystems like mangroves or inland swamp forests based on polygon data.
• Analyzing forest degradation patterns using the 'degraded' classification categories mentioned in the description.
• Integrating historical forest baselines for change detection, given the 1992 publication date.

Strengths

• Provides a standardized 13-class forest type classification system for Uganda.
• Compiled from multiple authoritative national sources, including White's The Vegetation of Africa and the Atlas of Uganda.
• Includes polygon-level attributes for area and perimeter, enabling spatial analysis.

Limitations

• Publication date is February 1992; data freshness is unverified and may not reflect current conditions.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and dataset scale are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

World Conservation and Monitoring Centre (WCMC), compiled from national maps and sources like White's The Vegetation of Africa.

Collection Method

Compilation of national maps with legend units grouped into comparable classes.

Time Range

Publication date is February 1992; source maps date from 1967 and 1969.

Freshness

Publication date is February 1992; last update date is unknown.

Geography

Uganda