Quantitative Assessment of Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Margalla Hills National Park (MHNP): Employing Landsat Data and Socio-Economic Survey
Deforestation and forest degradation is a global concern, especially in developing countries. The Margalla Hills of Pakistan—Himalayan foothills—also face the threat of deforestation and forest degradation. These Margalla Hills, considering the need for forest protection activities in Pakistan, were...
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2023-01-01
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| author | Hiba Ahmed Hamayoon Jallat Ejaz Hussain Najam u Saqib Zafeer Saqib Muhammad Fahim Khokhar Waseem Razzaq Khan |
| author_facet | Hiba Ahmed Hamayoon Jallat Ejaz Hussain Najam u Saqib Zafeer Saqib Muhammad Fahim Khokhar Waseem Razzaq Khan |
| author_sort | Hiba Ahmed |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Deforestation and forest degradation is a global concern, especially in developing countries. The Margalla Hills of Pakistan—Himalayan foothills—also face the threat of deforestation and forest degradation. These Margalla Hills, considering the need for forest protection activities in Pakistan, were declared a reserved national forest and named “the Margalla Hills National Park (MHNP)”. This study quantitively evaluates whether deforestation and forest degradation have occurred at MHNP and identifies their possible drivers. Satellite (Landsat) data 1988–2020 was employed for the land use change analysis, whereas a socio-economic survey of the local population and structured interviews with government officials were conducted to identify the drivers of deforestation. Supervised classification was performed for imagery classification and the Vegetation Condition Index (VCI) was also calculated to measure degradation. Supervised classification showed that the forest cover increased from 65% of the total area in 1988 to 69% in 2020. The VCI results show that the moderate level of degradation has increased from 3.5% of MHNP area in 1988 to 8.8% in 2020. The cumulative measure of degradation from 1988 to 2020 is 1.09% of the total forest (using <i>p</i> < 0.05). Major drivers identified are fuel wood and timber collection. The results reveal a decline in both deforestation and forest degradation. There is a need for further quantitative analysis of the drivers, strict implementation of legislative and control measures, and continuous invigilation of the deforestation trends in MHNP. |
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| issn | 1999-4907 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T08:50:09Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
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| record_format | Article |
| series | Forests |
| spelling | doaj.art-b2f45e81dcf949279c65bac04e85d93e2023-11-16T20:32:42ZengMDPI AGForests1999-49072023-01-0114220110.3390/f14020201Quantitative Assessment of Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Margalla Hills National Park (MHNP): Employing Landsat Data and Socio-Economic SurveyHiba Ahmed0Hamayoon Jallat1Ejaz Hussain2Najam u Saqib3Zafeer Saqib4Muhammad Fahim Khokhar5Waseem Razzaq Khan6Institute of Environmental Science and Engineering, National University of Science and Technology, Islamabad 44000, PakistanInstitute of Environmental Science and Engineering, National University of Science and Technology, Islamabad 44000, PakistanDepartment of Social Sciences, Lahore School of Economics, Lahore 53200, PakistanInstitute of Environmental Science and Engineering, National University of Science and Technology, Islamabad 44000, PakistanDepartment of Environmental Science, International Islamic University Islamabad, Islamabad 44000, PakistanInstitute of Environmental Science and Engineering, National University of Science and Technology, Islamabad 44000, PakistanDepartment of Forestry Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia Kampus, Bintulu 97008, MalaysiaDeforestation and forest degradation is a global concern, especially in developing countries. The Margalla Hills of Pakistan—Himalayan foothills—also face the threat of deforestation and forest degradation. These Margalla Hills, considering the need for forest protection activities in Pakistan, were declared a reserved national forest and named “the Margalla Hills National Park (MHNP)”. This study quantitively evaluates whether deforestation and forest degradation have occurred at MHNP and identifies their possible drivers. Satellite (Landsat) data 1988–2020 was employed for the land use change analysis, whereas a socio-economic survey of the local population and structured interviews with government officials were conducted to identify the drivers of deforestation. Supervised classification was performed for imagery classification and the Vegetation Condition Index (VCI) was also calculated to measure degradation. Supervised classification showed that the forest cover increased from 65% of the total area in 1988 to 69% in 2020. The VCI results show that the moderate level of degradation has increased from 3.5% of MHNP area in 1988 to 8.8% in 2020. The cumulative measure of degradation from 1988 to 2020 is 1.09% of the total forest (using <i>p</i> < 0.05). Major drivers identified are fuel wood and timber collection. The results reveal a decline in both deforestation and forest degradation. There is a need for further quantitative analysis of the drivers, strict implementation of legislative and control measures, and continuous invigilation of the deforestation trends in MHNP.https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/14/2/201deforestationenvironmental degradationclimate changeMHNPMargalla hillspublic policy |
| spellingShingle | Hiba Ahmed Hamayoon Jallat Ejaz Hussain Najam u Saqib Zafeer Saqib Muhammad Fahim Khokhar Waseem Razzaq Khan Quantitative Assessment of Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Margalla Hills National Park (MHNP): Employing Landsat Data and Socio-Economic Survey Forests deforestation environmental degradation climate change MHNP Margalla hills public policy |
| title | Quantitative Assessment of Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Margalla Hills National Park (MHNP): Employing Landsat Data and Socio-Economic Survey |
| title_full | Quantitative Assessment of Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Margalla Hills National Park (MHNP): Employing Landsat Data and Socio-Economic Survey |
| title_fullStr | Quantitative Assessment of Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Margalla Hills National Park (MHNP): Employing Landsat Data and Socio-Economic Survey |
| title_full_unstemmed | Quantitative Assessment of Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Margalla Hills National Park (MHNP): Employing Landsat Data and Socio-Economic Survey |
| title_short | Quantitative Assessment of Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Margalla Hills National Park (MHNP): Employing Landsat Data and Socio-Economic Survey |
| title_sort | quantitative assessment of deforestation and forest degradation in margalla hills national park mhnp employing landsat data and socio economic survey |
| topic | deforestation environmental degradation climate change MHNP Margalla hills public policy |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/14/2/201 |
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