Mapping Deforestation and Forest Degradation Patterns in Western Himalaya, Pakistan

Abstract

Abstract:The Himalayan mountain forest ecosystem has been degrading since the British ruled the area in the 1850s. Local understanding of the patterns and processes of degradation is desperately required to devise management strategies to halt this degradation and provide long-term sustainability. This work comprises a satellite image based study in combination with national expert validation to generate sub-district level statistics for forest cover over the Western Himalaya, Pakistan, which accounts for approximately 67% of the total forest cover of the country. The time series of forest cover maps (1990, 2000, 2010) reveal extensive deforestation in the area. Indeed, approximately 170,684 ha of forest has been lost, which amounts to 0.38% per year clear cut or severely degraded during the last 20 years. A significant increase in the rate of deforestation is observed in the second half of the study period, where much of the loss occurs at the western borders along with Afghanistan. The current study is the first systematic and comprehensive effort to map changes to forest cover in Northern Pakistan. Deforestation hotspots identified at the sub-district level provide important insight into deforestation patterns, which may facilitate the development of appropriate forest conservation and management strategies in the country.

Effect of Training Class Label Noise on Classification Performances for Land Cover Mapping with Satellite Image Time Series

“…Land cover data provide support for many applications involving the management of natural resources and human activities. The related land cover maps are a key component that may be used for agricultural monitoring [1], ecology management [2], or urban management [3]. Satellite images have been an efficient tool for land cover mapping, providing information at local, national and international scales.…”

Spatiotemporal Change Detection in Forest Cover Dynamics Along Landslide Susceptible Region of Karakoram Highway, Pakistan

“…The floods are a more frequent and severe incident in the past 2.5 decades as compared to last 65 years because of high rate of surface runoff and soil erosion in the region (Tejwani, 1987). As per Pakistan Water Strategy, Pakistan is required to increase the water storage of 18 million acre-feet (MAF) by 2050, out of which 30% is to be replace the storage loss due to silting (Qamer et al, 2016). …”

“…The interactions are governed and understood by comparing multi-temporal remotely sensed data and historic knowledge or the ground truth data and consequently determining the land cover change quantitatively and cartographically (Seif and Mokarram 2012;Zoran, 2006). Numerous researches have been undertaken globally to detect changes in forestation (Duveiller, 2007;Dwomoh, 2009;Souza et al, 2013, Gilani et al, 2015Sajjad et al, 2015;Qamer et al, 2016;Khalid et al, 2016;Kundu, 2017). The main cause of forest depletion is extensive urbanization and agricultural incentives (Souza et al, 2013;Gilani et al, 2015;Sajjad et al, 2015).…”

“…The main cause of forest depletion is extensive urbanization and agricultural incentives (Souza et al, 2013;Gilani et al, 2015;Sajjad et al, 2015). In developing countries, however, forests are also being degraded due to illegal logging and timber mafia (Khalid et al, 2016;Qamer et al, 2016).…”

“…The geospatial techniques incorporate the remote sensing data as cost effective, time saving and accurate input with the GIS environment for effective data analysis and updating (Kachawala, 1985;Chilar, 2009;Gilani et al, 2015). Various GIS techniques comprising of Object based image classification, pixel based imaged classification (supervised, unsupervised and hybrid) and various geostatistical models have been performed to study the change detection of land cover dynamics around the globe (Gilani et al, 2015;Qamer et al, 2016).…”