Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

CHANGING TREND OF FOREST COVER IN THE PABHA RESERVE FOREST IN THE LAKHIMPUR DISTRICT OF ASSAM, INDIA

Jyoti Saikia and Sailajananda Saikia

Abstract

The change of the forest cover area into other land use and land cover types is known as forest cover depletion. Pabha Reserve Forest of Lakhimpur district has been experienced the same for the last few decades. This study has been conducted on the changing trend of forest cover of the said reserve forest for the years of 1977, 1987, 1997, 2007 and 2017. The Landsat-2 MSS data for 1977, Landsat-5 TM data for 1987, 1997 and 2007 and Landsat-8 OLI data for 2017 have been used to analyze the changing trend and supervised classification and has been used with the help of ERDAS Imagine 2014. Only 8.824 sq km of dense forest area was there in the year of 1977 out of the total geographical area 50 sq km of the Pabha Reserve Forest. That area has become 0 sq km during the year of 1997. The study reveals that the Pabha Reserve Forest has been depleted before the year of 1977. Only anthropogenic activities are responsible for the changing trend of the forest cover.