Drivers of Forest Loss in a Megadiverse Hotspot on the Pacific Coast of Colombia
Tropical forests are disappearing at unprecedented rates, but the drivers behind this transformation are not always clear. This limits the decision-making processes and the effectiveness of forest management policies. In this paper, we address the extent and drivers of deforestation of the Choco bio...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-04-01
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| Series: | Remote Sensing |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/12/8/1235 |
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| author | Jesús A. Anaya Víctor H. Gutiérrez-Vélez Ana M. Pacheco-Pascagaza Sebastián Palomino-Ángel Natasha Han Heiko Balzter |
| author_facet | Jesús A. Anaya Víctor H. Gutiérrez-Vélez Ana M. Pacheco-Pascagaza Sebastián Palomino-Ángel Natasha Han Heiko Balzter |
| author_sort | Jesús A. Anaya |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Tropical forests are disappearing at unprecedented rates, but the drivers behind this transformation are not always clear. This limits the decision-making processes and the effectiveness of forest management policies. In this paper, we address the extent and drivers of deforestation of the Choco biodiversity hotspot, which has not received much scientific attention despite its high levels of plant diversity and endemism. The climate is characterized by persistent cloud cover which is a challenge for land cover mapping from optical satellite imagery. By using Google Earth Engine to select pixels with minimal cloud content and applying a random forest classifier to Landsat and Sentinel data, we produced a wall-to-wall land cover map, enabling a diagnosis of the status and drivers of forest loss in the region. Analyses of these new maps together with information from illicit crops and alluvial mining uncovered the pressure over intact forests. According to Global Forest Change (GFC) data, 2324 km<sup>2</sup> were deforested in this area from 2001 to 2018, reaching a maximum in 2016 and 2017. We found that 68% of the area is covered by broadleaf forests (67,473 km<sup>2</sup>) and 15% by shrublands (14,483 km<sup>2</sup>), the latter with enormous potential to promote restoration projects. This paper provides a new insight into the conservation of this exceptional forest with a discussion of the drivers of forest loss, where illicit crops and alluvial mining were found to be responsible for 60% of forest loss. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T20:30:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e9197c400b1a4b059d34599e5b502241 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-4292 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T20:30:30Z |
| publishDate | 2020-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj.art-e9197c400b1a4b059d34599e5b5022412023-11-19T21:26:36ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922020-04-01128123510.3390/rs12081235Drivers of Forest Loss in a Megadiverse Hotspot on the Pacific Coast of ColombiaJesús A. Anaya0Víctor H. Gutiérrez-Vélez1Ana M. Pacheco-Pascagaza2Sebastián Palomino-Ángel3Natasha Han4Heiko Balzter5Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad de Medellín, Medellín 050026, ColombiaDepartment of Geography and Urban Studies, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USACentre for Landscape and Climate Research (CLCR), School of Geography, Geology and the Environment, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UKFacultad de Ingeniería, Universidad de Medellín, Medellín 050026, ColombiaFaculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, CanadaCentre for Landscape and Climate Research (CLCR), School of Geography, Geology and the Environment, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UKTropical forests are disappearing at unprecedented rates, but the drivers behind this transformation are not always clear. This limits the decision-making processes and the effectiveness of forest management policies. In this paper, we address the extent and drivers of deforestation of the Choco biodiversity hotspot, which has not received much scientific attention despite its high levels of plant diversity and endemism. The climate is characterized by persistent cloud cover which is a challenge for land cover mapping from optical satellite imagery. By using Google Earth Engine to select pixels with minimal cloud content and applying a random forest classifier to Landsat and Sentinel data, we produced a wall-to-wall land cover map, enabling a diagnosis of the status and drivers of forest loss in the region. Analyses of these new maps together with information from illicit crops and alluvial mining uncovered the pressure over intact forests. According to Global Forest Change (GFC) data, 2324 km<sup>2</sup> were deforested in this area from 2001 to 2018, reaching a maximum in 2016 and 2017. We found that 68% of the area is covered by broadleaf forests (67,473 km<sup>2</sup>) and 15% by shrublands (14,483 km<sup>2</sup>), the latter with enormous potential to promote restoration projects. This paper provides a new insight into the conservation of this exceptional forest with a discussion of the drivers of forest loss, where illicit crops and alluvial mining were found to be responsible for 60% of forest loss.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/12/8/1235tropical humid forestsLandsatsentineldeforestationGoogle Earth Enginebiodiversity hotspot |
| spellingShingle | Jesús A. Anaya Víctor H. Gutiérrez-Vélez Ana M. Pacheco-Pascagaza Sebastián Palomino-Ángel Natasha Han Heiko Balzter Drivers of Forest Loss in a Megadiverse Hotspot on the Pacific Coast of Colombia Remote Sensing tropical humid forests Landsat sentinel deforestation Google Earth Engine biodiversity hotspot |
| title | Drivers of Forest Loss in a Megadiverse Hotspot on the Pacific Coast of Colombia |
| title_full | Drivers of Forest Loss in a Megadiverse Hotspot on the Pacific Coast of Colombia |
| title_fullStr | Drivers of Forest Loss in a Megadiverse Hotspot on the Pacific Coast of Colombia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Drivers of Forest Loss in a Megadiverse Hotspot on the Pacific Coast of Colombia |
| title_short | Drivers of Forest Loss in a Megadiverse Hotspot on the Pacific Coast of Colombia |
| title_sort | drivers of forest loss in a megadiverse hotspot on the pacific coast of colombia |
| topic | tropical humid forests Landsat sentinel deforestation Google Earth Engine biodiversity hotspot |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/12/8/1235 |
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