Lualaba Province, located in the southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), consists of five territories with varied dominant land uses: agriculture (Dilolo, Kapanga, and Musumba in the west) and mining (Mutshatsha and Lubudi in the east). The province also includes protected areas with significant governance challenges. The tropical dry forests that cover the unique Miombo woodland of Lualaba are threatened by deforestation, which poses risks to biodiversity and local livelihoods that depend on these forests for agriculture and forestry. To quantify the spatio-temporal dynamics of Lualaba’s landscape, we utilized Landsat images from 1990 to 2024, supported by a Random Forest Classifier. Landscape metrics were calculated at multiple hierarchical levels: province, territory, and protected areas. A key contribution of this work is its identification of pronounced deforestation trends in the unique Miombo woodlands, where the overall woodland cover has declined dramatically from 62.9% to less than 25%. This is coupled with a marked increase in landscape fragmentation, isolation of remaining woodland patches, and a shift toward more heterogeneous land use patterns, as evidenced by the Shannon diversity index. Unlike previous research, our study distinguishes between the dynamics in agricultural territories—which are particularly vulnerable to deforestation—and those in mining areas, where Miombo forest cover remains more intact but is still under threat. This nuanced distinction between land use types offers critical insights into the differential impacts of economic activities on the landscape. Our study also uncovers significant deforestation within protected areas, underscoring the failure of current governance structures to safeguard these critical ecosystems. This comprehensive analysis offers a novel contribution to the literature by linking the spatial patterns of deforestation to both agricultural and mining pressures while simultaneously highlighting the governance challenges that exacerbate landscape transformation. Lualaba’s Miombo woodlands are at a critical juncture, and without urgent, coordinated intervention from local and international stakeholders, the ecological and socio-economic foundations of the region will be irreversibly compromised. Urgent action is needed to implement land conservation policies, promote sustainable agricultural practices, strengthen Miombo woodland regulation enforcement, and actively support protected areas.

Lualaba Province, located in the southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, consists of five territories with varied dominant land uses: agriculture (Dilolo, Kapanga, and Musumba in the west) and mining (Mutshatsha and Lubudi in the east). The province also includes protected areas with significant governance challenges. The unique miombo woodlands of Lualaba are threatened by deforestation, posing risks to biodiversity and local livelihoods that depend on these woodlands for agriculture and forestry. To quantify the spatio-temporal dynamics of Lualaba's landscape, we utilized Landsat images from 1990 to 2024, supported by a Random Forest Classifier. Landscape metrics were calculated at multiple hierarchical levels: province, territory, and protected areas. Our provincial-level analysis revealed a pronounced deforestation trend, with miombo woodland cover declining from 62,90 % to less than 25 % over the 34-year period. This trend was characterized by the fragmentation and dissection of woodland patches and a decline in remaining woodland fragments, due to their ongoing replacement by savannas, agriculture, and urbanization. The average distance between miombo woodland patches increased significantly, indicating heightened fragmentation and spatial isolation. Agricultural areas such as Sandoa and Kapanga were particularly vulnerable to deforestation. On the other hand, the miombo forest cover in the mining areas is still representative, with over 30% of the landscape covered. Notably, the reduction in woodland cover within protected areas was substantial, with significant losses observed across both agricultural and mining territories. The loss of miombo woodland cover in Lualaba and its territories was accompanied by an increase in landscape patch diversity, as indicated by the Shannon diversity index, suggesting a shift to more heterogeneous landscapes. These findings underscore a complex deforestation pattern, highlighting the intense local impact on miombo woodland cover loss. Urgent action is needed to implement land conservation policies, promote sustainable agricultural practices, strengthen miombo woodland regulation enforcement, and actively support protected areas. Involvement from both local and international stakeholders is imperative to preserve the ecological richness and functionality of Lualaba Province's miombo woodland ecosystems.