TRACKING LANDSCAPE CHANGES AND LANDSLIDE CONSEQUENCES IN THE MARRAH MOUNTAINS AREA OF DARFUR, SUDAN

Christian Collins, Priscilla Alves Pereira, Martina Elena Nitti, OSINT-RDT Team

Gabriel Helupka, Senior Editor

September 17, 2025

Marrah Mountains, Sudan^[1]

Key judgments  

Landslides and natural disasters in the Marrah Mountains will very likely recur in the near and distant future due to the ongoing rainfall season and climate change, likely triggering destruction or sudden inaccessibility of villages and hindering humanitarian action. The region experiences heavy rainfall between July and October, which, combined with people increasingly relocating to the mountain area to escape the conflict between Sudan’s army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Darfur, will very likely lead to more natural disaster victims and inadequate emergency response. This influx, along with poor management, may also contribute to environmental degradation, like habitat destruction, and undermine the local settlement stability. This study analyzes observable landscape changes in the Marrah Mountains region over the past nine years using geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) tools like Google Earth and Esri’s World Imagery Wayback’s comprehensive satellite imagery system. GEOINT tools combined with available open-source reporting foster the geopolitical analysis and implications for the natural disaster consequences in Darfur.

Tracking landscape changes and landslide consequences in the Marrah Mountains area of Darfur, Sudan.

• Region and focus of the study: This report focuses on the changes in the Marrah Mountains’ landscape due to the consequences of natural disasters and the increase in human settlements in this remote area. Darfur's geological terrain is predominantly rolling plain with stony or sandy soil and volcanic highlands in the Marrah Mountains that, compared to the rest of Darfur, experience higher rainfall.^[2] Due to this condition, the chances of floods and landslides are more concerning.^[3] This area of Darfur also shows an increase in population density due to a violent war started in the early 2000s in urban areas, which displaced its local population to remote areas.^[4] This factor also contributes to the impoverishment of an already fragile soil.

• Investigative focus: Mountainous areas like the Marrah Mountains in Darfur host settlements of people fleeing ongoing violence. The area became unsuitable for settlement due to seasonal heavy rains, deforestation, and soil damage from land conflicts, and the resulting landslides and disaster risks. These emergencies impact local survival by destroying houses, agriculture, and livestock, while hampering local and international organizations' humanitarian support from Shabaka and the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

• Affected points:

                Image of Villages in the Marrah Mountains, September 23, 2016^[5] 

              Image of Villages in the Marrah Mountains, September 19, 2020^[6]

            Image of Villages in the Marrah Mountains, September 6, 2023^[7]

• Pattern between affected points: 

  • Terrain changes: The image from September 2016 shows large portions of the hillsides and valley margins with relatively intact vegetation or fallow terraced land, likely signaling less impact in case of landslides or similar weather-caused events. The image from September 6, 2023, shows denser green cover across hillsides and open areas, as well as better vegetation continuity in mid-slope areas, likely symbolizing higher seasonal rainfall around September 2023 and increased risks of landslides.

  • Physical changes: The image from September 2016 shows more scattered housing, with wider gaps compared to more recent imaging, especially on slopes, likely indicating sparse settlements and small or contained human presence. Images from September 2020 and 2023 show additional construction clusters, particularly on the eastern and northeastern hillsides, likely indicating an increase in population density. This increase likely resulted in the subsequent natural gap closures in the landscape and hindrance to natural water flow during flooding events.

  • Operational changes: The increase in settlements and houses indicates a demand increase, likely due to the growing number of individuals fleeing less rural environments as violent clashes and conflicts persist. Low-density rural villages with obvious agricultural terraces are shown in the 2016 picture, but recent imagery reveals home growth and a corresponding decrease in open space, which likely reflects a change in land use priority. The obstruction of natural water flow from housing congestion makes towns more vulnerable to flooding and landslides. Changes in land use remove natural slope stability mechanisms, increasing the risk of natural disasters.

Secondary Source Analysis

Population density in the Marrah Mountains has steadily increased since the development of more violent clashes between rebels and the government in the rest of Darfur. Historically, the region has suffered from numerous conflicts since 2003, when rebels from the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) protested against the Sudanese government's indifference to the non-Arab population of the western region, which resulted in the government and Arab militias (Janjaweed), supported by the government, fighting these rebels.^[8] 

By 2007, the conflict had already resulted in thousands of deaths and millions more displaced and forced to migrate to safer locations. To this day, the conflict continues with the rebels wanting to separate from Sudan and create their own country, and its population moving to more secluded regions, like the Marrah Mountains.^[9] Analysing the historical context, it is very likely that the resettling of its community will continue, not only based on the violent ethnic conflicts but also due to landslide and flood risks.^[10] In 2023, new clashes broke out in the Darfur region between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), where the RSF killed hundreds on ethnic grounds.^[11] The UN views conditions in Darfur with concern, as widespread famine intensifies and fires spread through refugee camps in conflict zones.^[12] Further migrations out of the country and into regions less accessible to the rebels are very likely, which could increase terrain instability and pose greater risks to human settlements.

Satellite imagery from World Imagery Wayback shows the visible difference in the terrain between 2014 and 2022 in affected areas,^[13] with a roughly even chance that it was caused by land and ethno-religious tensions between livestock farmers (Arab ethnicity) and agriculturalists (African ethnicity),^[14] and/or displacement of communities from conflict areas. Recent landslides, like the one in Tarseen on September 4, 2025, swept the entire village and killed more than one thousand people. Aid workers from Save the Children attempted to deliver medical supplies, food, and water from Golo, but the Marrah Mountains' rugged terrain and remote nature hindered assistance efforts.^[15] The United Nations Satellite Centre provided images of the area before and after the landslide, showing at least ten destroyed houses and significant damage to agriculture, very likely impacted by mud and debris on cultivated soil.^[16]

Conclusion

It is very likely that the landslides in the Marrah Mountains reshaped the terrain, destroyed key infrastructure such as roads and bridges, disrupting humanitarian operations in Central Darfur. This study shows the consequences of these natural disasters in the area, including limited footpaths and unusable agricultural fields. This crisis is more relevant due to increased human settlements in this remote area because of violent clashes happening in more developed areas around Darfur. Although Google Earth and Esri's World Imagery Wayback made it possible to track damage and changes in the terrain, the analysis revealed that both tools were still constrained by imagery quality and the availability of near-real-time updates. Higher-resolution satellite imagery will likely allow for earlier identification of areas prone to landslides and better planning for humanitarian response.

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[1] Marrah Mountains via Google Earth, created by CTG member

[2] Darfur, Britannica, September 2025, https://www.britannica.com/place/Darfur 

[3] Sudan’s latest tragedy counts a village wiped out by a landslide, AP, September 2025, https://apnews.com/article/sudan-war-darfur-landslide-1c8bb8e9e3c3d3fea91b5b83c1201221 

[4] Conflict in Darfur, Britannica, September 2025, https://www.britannica.com/place/Sudan/Conflict-in-Darfur 

[5] Marrah Mountains by Google Earth

[6] Ibid

[7] Ibid

[8] Conflict in Darfur, Britannica, September 2025, https://www.britannica.com/place/Sudan/Conflict-in-Darfur 

[9] Ibid

[10] The First Climate Change Conflict, World Food Program USA,  December 2020, https://www.wfpusa.org/news/the-first-climate-change-conflict/ 

[11] Explainer: How Darfur became a ‘humanitarian calamity and catastrophic human rights crisis’, UN News, December 2023, https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/12/1144787 

[12] Ibid

[13] Marrah Mountains, Esri | World Imagery Wayback, September 2025, https://livingatlas.arcgis.com/wayback/#mapCenter=24.61089%2C12.57223%2C9&mode=explore&active=7110 

[14] Sudan rebels launch rescue effort, insist over 1,000 died in landslide, Sudan Tribune, September 2025, https://sudantribune.com/article304639/

[15] Sudan: Aid workers on donkeys deliver first emergency supplies to village cut off by landslide, ReliefWeb, September 2025, https://reliefweb.int/report/sudan/sudan-aid-workers-donkeys-deliver-first-emergency-supplies-village-cut-landslide 

[16] Sudan: Landslide in Sharg Aj Jabal, South Darfur State - Flash Update No. 3 (As of 8 September 2025), ReliefWeb, September 2025, https://reliefweb.int/report/sudan/sudan-landslide-sharg-aj-jabal-south-darfur-state-flash-update-no-3-8-september-2025