Scientific publications

Aboveground biomass in seven tropical forest patches of Western-Africa: Comparison of manual inventory and terrestrial laser scanning.
2026
Hepner, S., Agonvonon, G. A., Kükenbrink, D., Iheaturu, C., Azihou, F., Sinsin, B., & Ifejika Speranza, C.
Annals of Forest Science, 83(1), 20. DOI

Tree species diversity and conservation across disturbance and bioregion types in forest patches outside protected areas in tropical Africa.
2026
Agonvonon, G. A., Hepner, S. M., Iheaturu, C. J., Azihou, A. F., Sonwa, D. J., Bisong, F. E., Anwana, E. D., Koudouvo, K., Sinsin, B. A., Fischer, M., & Ifejika Speranza, C.
Forest Ecology and Management, 601, 123314. DOI

Tropical ecosystem multifunctionality assessment and insights for sustainable land management: A systematic literature review using the Drivers-Pressures-State-Impacts-Responses framework.
2025
Tabi Eckebil, P. P., Mintah, F., Bürgi, M., Akinyemi, F. O., Sonwa, D. J., & Ifejika Speranza, C.
Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, 8, 1623266. DOI

Combining remote sensing with local knowledge is vital for understanding forest change in West Africa.
2025
Iheaturu, C. J., Akinyemi, F. O., Wingate, V. R., Tabi Eckebil, P. P., & Ifejika Speranza, C.
Scientific Reports, 15(1), 38094. DOI

Perceived and measured forest degradation across Western Africa: Insights for sustainable forest management.
2025
Hepner, S., Eckebil, P.P.T., Mintah, F., Azihou, A.F., Sinsin, B., Fischer, M., Ifejika Speranza, C.
Trees, Forests and People 22, 101061. DOI

An integrated object-based sampling approach for validating non-contiguous forest cover maps in fragmented tropical landscapes.
2025
Iheaturu, C., Wingate, V., Akinyemi, F., Ifejika Speranza, C.
International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation 139. DOI

Degradation and Fragmentation Effects on Structural Complexity in West-African Forest Patches.
2025
Hepner S., Agonvonon G., Ehbrecht M., Iheaturu C., Azihou F. A., Ifejika Speranza C.
Biotropica. Volume: BITR-24-022. DOI

Small forest patches in West Africa: mapping how they are changing to better inform their conservation.
2024
Wingate V., Curatola Fernández G., Ifejika Speranza, C.
Environmental Conservation. 2024;51(4):254-262. DOI

Integrating UAV LiDAR and multispectral data to assess forest status and map disturbance severity in a West African forest patch.
2024
Iheaturu C., Hepner S., Batchelor J. L., Agonvonon G. A., Akinyemi F. O., Winegate V. R., Ifejika Speranza C.
Ecological Informatics. Manuscript Number: ECOINF-D-24-01225. DOI

Why do forests persist and re-emerge amidst tropical deforestation pressures? Archetypes of governance and impact pathways. 
2024
Mintah, F., Pamela, T. E. P., Oberlack, C., & Ifejika Speranza, C.
Forest Policy and Economics, 169, 103352. DOI

Archetypes of remnant West African forest patches allow identifying common underlying social-ecological characteristics and change pressures.
2023
Wingate, V. R., Akinyemi, F. O., & Ifejika Speranza, C.
Applied Geography 158, 103024. DOI

Enhancing the Uptake of Earth Observation Products and Services in Africa Through a Multi-level Transdisciplinary Approach.
2022
Ifejika Speranza C., Akinyemi F. O., Baratoux D., Benveniste J., Ceperley N., Driouech F., Helmschrot J.
Surv Geophys. 23:1-35. DOI

Remote Sensing-Based Inventory of West Africa Tropical Forest Patches: A Basis for Enhancing Their Conservation and Sustainable Use. 
2022
Wingate V. R., Akinyemi F. O, Iheaturu C. J., Ifejika Speranza C.
Remote Sens. 14, 6251. DOI

Dissertations

Unpacking Degradation in Forest Patches across West Africa: Integrating Multi-Scalar Remote Sensing and Diverse Knowledge Systems
2026
Dr. Chima Iheaturu
Institute of Geography, University Bern.

Methodological integration for enhanced analysis of the structure of forest patches in Western Africa
2025
Dr. Hepner Samuel
Institute of Geography, University Bern. LINK

Related publications from our team

Increasing signs of forest fragmentation in the Cross River National Park in Nigeria: Underlying drivers and need for sustainable responses.
2022
Fitz J., Ademola A. A., Ifejika Speranza C.
Ecological indicators, 139, p. 108943. DOI

Contributions to conferences and workshops

Organized Conference Sessions

Ifejika Speranza, C., Akinyemi, F. O., Mintah, F., Sonwa, D., Sinsin, B. (Hybrid) Sustaining forests in mosaic landscapes. The International Association for Landscape Ecology (IALE) 2023 World Congress, 12.07.2023, Nairobi Kenya.

Ifejika Speranza, C., Bisong, F., (Hybrid) Reconstituting institutions and norms for forest commons in contexts of multiple transitions. Conference Session, The XIX Biennial International Association for the Study of the Commons (IASC), 21.06.2023, Nairobi, Kenya.

Presentations in Conferences and Workshops

Tabi Eckebil P. P. (2026) Integrating Shared Socio-economic Pathway Scenarios with Nature Futures Framework to Envision Local Forest Futures in West Africa. Talk at the World Biodiversity Conference Forum, Davos, Switzerland (14 – 19.06.2026).

Tabi Eckebil P. P. et al. (2024) Small forests futures in West Africa: a multiple scale and cross-sectoral analysis for sustainable land management. Talk at the Programme on Ecosystem Change and Society (PECS-III), Montréal, Canada (12 – 15.08.2024). 

Iheaturu, C.J., Wingate, V., Akinyemi, F.O., Ifejika Speranza, C., Monitoring Tropical Forests in West Africa with Deep
Learning and Satellite Data Fusion. Poster presentation, American Geophysical Union Meeting (11 – 15 Dec. 2023), San Francisco, USA.

Hepner, S., Tabi Eckebil, P.P., Agonvonon, G.A., Mintah, F., Iheaturu, C., Ifejika Speranza, C., Video documentation and insights from field research in forest-agricultural landscapes of West Africa. Oral presentation, Swiss Geoscience Meeting. (17-19 Nov. 2023), Mendrisio, Switzerland.

Wingate, V.R., Curatola Fernandez, G., Ifejika Speranza, C., Small forest patches in West Africa: mapping how they are changing to better inform their conservation. Swiss Geoscience meeting (17 Nov. 2023), Mendriso, Switzerland.

Iheaturu, C.J., Wingate, V.R., Akinyemi, F.O., Ifejika Speranza, C., Integrating UAV Lidar and Multispectral Data to Assess West African Tropical Forest Condition and Structure. Poster presentation, The ISPRS Geospatial Week (2-7
Sept. 2023), Cairo, Egypt.

Mintah, F., Tabi Eckebil, P.P, Oberlack, C., Ifejika Speranza, C., Analysis of Forest Governance Arrangements and their Impacts on the Persistence and Re-emergence of forest in the Tropics. Oral presentation, IALE 2023 WORLD CONGRESS (10-15 July 2023), Nairobi, Kenya.

Tabi Eckebil, P.P., Bürgi M., Akinyemi, O.F., Sonwa, D., Ifejika Speranza, C., Ecosystem services assessment of forest
patches in mosaic agricultural landscapes in Cameroon and Benin. Oral presentation, IALE 2023 WORLD CONGRESS
(10–15 July 2023), Nairobi, Kenya.

Mintah, F., Tabi Eckebil, P. P., Oberlack, C., Ifejika Speranza, C., Institutions and impacts of forest governance on the persistence and re-emergence of forests in the tropics: An archetype approach. Oral presentation, XIX Biennial International Association of the Study of Commons (IASC) Conference (19-24 June 2023), Nairobi, Kenya.

Agonvonon, G.A., Azihou, F., Ifejika Speranza, C., Tree communities’ conservation in forest patches of Benin,
West Africa. Biodiversity convention: From science to implementation (26-29 June 2023), Ascona, Switzerland.

Agonvonon, G.A., & Ifejika Speranza, C., Challenges and opportunities for early career ecologists in Africa. Oral
presentation, International Association for Ecology (28 Aug. to 02 Sep. 2022), Geneva, Switzerland.

Hepner, S., & Ifejika Speranza, C., Social-ecological factors influencing the aboveground biomass of tropical forest
patches. Oral presentation, International Association for Ecology (28 Aug. to 02 Sep. 2022), Geneva, Switzerland.

Mintah, F., Oberlack, C., Ifejika Speranza, C., Governance of forest use and its impacts on the forest land use change
in sub-Saharan Africa. Oral presentation, The Netherlands Land Academy International Conference on Land
Governance (29 June –01 July 2022), Utrecht, Netherlands.

Mintah F. (2022) Governing land for the future – what (r)evolutions do we need? Talk at the LANDac (Netherlands Land Academy) International Conference on Land Governance, Utrecht, Netherlands.

Tabi Eckebil P. P. (2022) Ecosystem multifunctionality of forest patches in the tropics: A systematic literature review. Talk at the European Geoscience meeting EGU, Vienna, Austria.

Wingate, F. R., Akinyemi, F.O., Iheaturu, C.J., Ifejika Speranza, C., A remote sensing-based inventory of West-Africa
tropical forest patches, European Geoscience meeting EGU (09 April 2022), online.

Guest Lectures and Invited Presentations

Ifejika Speranza C., Changing institutions and changing forests in West Africa? A historical examination. Guest lecture, University of Neuchatel (14 December 2023), Switzerland

Wingate V.R., Small forest patches in West Africa: mapping how they are changing to better inform their conservation. Guest lecture, University of Basel (4 December 2023), Switzerland.

Ifejika Speranza, C., Transdisciplinary approaches of “making hope possible” in social- ecological transformation – Two Illustrative Examples. Lassalle-Institut, Edlibach, Zug (28 August 2023), Switzerland.

Ifejika Speranza, C., Sustaining forest patches in agricultural landscapes of West Africa – A research agenda. Guest
lecture, University of Göttingen (6 June 2023), Germany.

Summer Schools

IGS North-South Summerschool, 2023, Nanyuki, Kenya on “Common pool resources in a globalised world” (F. Mintah, P. Tabi Eckebil)

Interdisciplinary summer school, 2023 Ljubljana, Slowenia on “forest ecology and technology to measure forest
characteristics” (S. Hepner)

IGS Summerschool 2022 in Tramelan, Bern on “politics and natural resources from a conflict perspective” (G. Agonvonon, S. Hepner)