Forest Cover Change Pattern after the Intervention of Community Forestry Management System in the Mid-Hill of Nepal: A Case Study
An account of widespread degradation and deforestation in Nepal has been noticed in various literature sources. Although the contribution of community forests (CF) on the improvement of forest cover and condition in the Mid-hill of Nepal is positive, detailed study to understand the current situatio...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-08-01
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| Series: | Remote Sensing |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/12/17/2756 |
| _version_ | 1797555622771687424 |
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| author | Shankar Tripathi Rajan Subedi Hari Adhikari |
| author_facet | Shankar Tripathi Rajan Subedi Hari Adhikari |
| author_sort | Shankar Tripathi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | An account of widespread degradation and deforestation in Nepal has been noticed in various literature sources. Although the contribution of community forests (CF) on the improvement of forest cover and condition in the Mid-hill of Nepal is positive, detailed study to understand the current situation seems important. The study area (Tanahun District) lies in the Gandaki Province of western Nepal. The objective of this study was to estimate the forest cover change over the specified period and to identify factors influencing the change. We used Landsat images from the years 1976, 1991, and 2015 to classify land use and land cover. We considered community perception in addition to the forest cover map to understand the different causes of forest cover change. Forest cover decreased from 1976 to 1991 annually at a rate of 0.96%. After 1991, the forest increased annually at a rate of 0.63%. The overall forest cover in the district regained its original status. Factors related to increasing forest cover were emigration, occupation shift, agroforestry practices, as well as particularly by plantation on barren lands, awareness among forest users, and conservation activities conducted by local inhabitants after the government forest was handed over to community members as a community forest management system. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T16:50:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c94bb93fecde4af4a10abb018cc212d2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-4292 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T16:50:07Z |
| publishDate | 2020-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj.art-c94bb93fecde4af4a10abb018cc212d22023-11-20T11:20:47ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922020-08-011217275610.3390/rs12172756Forest Cover Change Pattern after the Intervention of Community Forestry Management System in the Mid-Hill of Nepal: A Case StudyShankar Tripathi0Rajan Subedi1Hari Adhikari2Faculty of Forestry, Agriculture and Forestry University, Hetauda, P.O. Box 13712, NepalInstitute of Forestry, Tribhuvan University, Pokhara, P.O. Box 43, NepalEarth Change Observation Laboratory, Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 68, FI-00014 Helsinki, FinlandAn account of widespread degradation and deforestation in Nepal has been noticed in various literature sources. Although the contribution of community forests (CF) on the improvement of forest cover and condition in the Mid-hill of Nepal is positive, detailed study to understand the current situation seems important. The study area (Tanahun District) lies in the Gandaki Province of western Nepal. The objective of this study was to estimate the forest cover change over the specified period and to identify factors influencing the change. We used Landsat images from the years 1976, 1991, and 2015 to classify land use and land cover. We considered community perception in addition to the forest cover map to understand the different causes of forest cover change. Forest cover decreased from 1976 to 1991 annually at a rate of 0.96%. After 1991, the forest increased annually at a rate of 0.63%. The overall forest cover in the district regained its original status. Factors related to increasing forest cover were emigration, occupation shift, agroforestry practices, as well as particularly by plantation on barren lands, awareness among forest users, and conservation activities conducted by local inhabitants after the government forest was handed over to community members as a community forest management system.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/12/17/2756land use land cover (LULC)community forestchange detectioncommunity perception |
| spellingShingle | Shankar Tripathi Rajan Subedi Hari Adhikari Forest Cover Change Pattern after the Intervention of Community Forestry Management System in the Mid-Hill of Nepal: A Case Study Remote Sensing land use land cover (LULC) community forest change detection community perception |
| title | Forest Cover Change Pattern after the Intervention of Community Forestry Management System in the Mid-Hill of Nepal: A Case Study |
| title_full | Forest Cover Change Pattern after the Intervention of Community Forestry Management System in the Mid-Hill of Nepal: A Case Study |
| title_fullStr | Forest Cover Change Pattern after the Intervention of Community Forestry Management System in the Mid-Hill of Nepal: A Case Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Forest Cover Change Pattern after the Intervention of Community Forestry Management System in the Mid-Hill of Nepal: A Case Study |
| title_short | Forest Cover Change Pattern after the Intervention of Community Forestry Management System in the Mid-Hill of Nepal: A Case Study |
| title_sort | forest cover change pattern after the intervention of community forestry management system in the mid hill of nepal a case study |
| topic | land use land cover (LULC) community forest change detection community perception |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/12/17/2756 |
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