Analysis of forest cover change at Khadimnagar National Park, Sylhet, Bangladesh, using Landsat TM and GIS data

We mapped the forest cover of Khadimnagar National Park (KNP) of Sylhet Forest Division and estimated forest change over a period of 22 years (1988–2010) using Landsat TM images and other GIS data. Supervised classification and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) image classification approaches were applied to the images to produce three cover classes, viz. dense forest, medium dense forest, and bare land. The change map was produced by differencing classified imageries of 1988 and 2010 as before image and after image, respectively, in ERDAS IMAGINE. Error matrix and kappa statistics were used to assess the accuracy of the produced maps. Overall map accuracies resulting from supervised classification of 1988 and 2010 imageries were 84.6% (Kappa 0.75) and 87.5% (Kappa 0.80), respectively. Forest cover statistics resulting from supervised classification showed that dense forest and bare land declined from 526 ha (67%) to 417 ha (59%) and 105 ha (13%) to 8 ha (1%), respectively, whereas medium dense forest increased from 155 ha (20%) to 317 ha (40%). Forest cover change statistics derived from NDVI classification showed that dense forest declined from 525 ha (67%) to 421 ha (54%) while medium dense forest increased from 253 ha (32%) to 356 ha (45%). Both supervised and NDVI classification approaches showed similar trends of forest change, i.e. decrease of dense forest and increase of medium dense forest, which indicates dense forest has been converted to medium dense forest. Area of bare land was unchanged. Illicit felling, encroachment, and settlement near forests caused the dense forest decline while short and long rotation plantations raised in various years caused the increase in area of medium dense forest. Protective measures should be undertaken to check further degradation of forest at KNP.