Research Article | Published: 25 December 2018

Forest Health Degradation in Barak Valley: A NDVI-Based Study

Demsai  Reang, Aparajita  De, Ashesh  Kumar  Das and Parshant  Dhanda

Indian Journal of Forestry | Volume: 41 | Issue: 4 | Page No. 319-328 | 2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54207/bsmps1000-2018-Y7W1VE | Cite this article

Abstract

Forests have two primary objectives, viz. biodiversity conservation and maintenance of ecosystem services. The forests of Barak valley have not been mapped till now. The study aims to map and assess the status of the forest using Landsat 8 data and NDVI technique. In this study, the NDVI values varied from -0.13 to 0.49. Five land classes were delineated with an overall accuracy of 90%. These are forests with high vegetation cover, medium vegetation cover, low vegetation cover, others (forest villages, agricultural land, bare land etc.) and water bodies. The area statistics of the different land classes varied significantly. Forests with low vegetation cover (4668.79 ± 2391.6 ha) occupied the maximum area followed by forests with medium vegetation cover (4380.07 ± 1525.6 ha) and forests with high vegetation cover (3794.64 ± 1112.5 ha). Forests in need of immediate attention in this region have been identified. Proper management of these areas needs to be taken up immediately to prevent their further degradation.

Keywords

Barak valley, Assam, Indo-Burma Hotspot, Forest health, Forest mapping, Protected Areas (PA), Landsat 8 imagery, NDVI

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How to cite

Reang, D., De, A., Das, A.K. and Dhanda, P., 2018. Forest Health Degradation in Barak Valley: A NDVI-Based Study. Indian Journal of Forestry, 41(4), pp.319-328. https://doi.org/10.54207/bsmps1000-2018-Y7W1VE

Publication History

Manuscript Published on 25 December 2018

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