Mining impacts on forest cover change in a tropical forest using remote sensing and spatial information from 2001-2019: A case study of Odisha (India)

Manoranjan Mishra; Celso Augusto Guimarães Santos; Thiago Victor Medeiros do Nascimento; Manoj Kumar Dash; Richarde Marques da Silva; Dipika Kar; Tamoghna Acharyya

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.114067

Mining impacts on forest cover change in a tropical forest using remote sensing and spatial information from 2001-2019: A case study of Odisha (India)

J Environ Manage. 2022 Jan 15;302(Pt B):114067. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.114067. Epub 2021 Nov 12.

Authors

Manoranjan Mishra¹, Celso Augusto Guimarães Santos², Thiago Victor Medeiros do Nascimento³, Manoj Kumar Dash⁴, Richarde Marques da Silva⁵, Dipika Kar¹, Tamoghna Acharyya⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Natural Resources Management and Geo-informatics, Berhampur University, Berhampur, Odisha, 760007, India.
² Federal University of Paraíba, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 58051-900, João Pessoa, PB, Brazil. Electronic address: celso@ct.ufpb.br.
³ Federal University of Paraíba, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 58051-900, João Pessoa, PB, Brazil.
⁴ Indian Institute of Information Technology & Management Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, 474010, India.
⁵ Federal University of Paraíba, Department of Geosciences, 58051-900, João Pessoa, PB, Brazil.
⁶ School of Sustainability, XIM University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India.

PMID: 34781051
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.114067

Abstract

Worldwide mining activities are one of the major anthropogenic activities that have caused high forest cover loss (FCL). In this study, we have quantified FCL in Odisha State due to mining activities analyzing Hansen Global Forest Change (HGFC) time series data for the period of 2001-2019 in Google Earth Engine platform. Our analysis suggests that Nabarangpur, Puri, Kendrapara, and Kalahandi districts lost more than 20% of their forest cover during this period. Rayagada and Koraput were the top two districts that recorded the highest FCL with mean change rates of 13.81 km²/year and 7.17 km²/year, respectively. The results point out that mining operations have grown in recent years in Odisha State, and the increase in these activities has contributed to the increase in FCL. This study offers a cost-effective methodology to monitor FCL in mining areas which will eventually contribute to the protection of forest biodiversity and forest dwelling tribal population.

Keywords: Deforestation; GIS; Google earth engine; Landsat; Mining activities; Remote sensing.

MeSH terms

Anthropogenic Effects
Conservation of Natural Resources*
Environmental Monitoring
Forests
India
Remote Sensing Technology*