Deforestation and Agricultural Expansion Processes in Gunung Palung National Park, West Kalimantan, Indonesia

Gunung Palung National Park (GPNP) represents the biodiversity of tropical forests remain  in Kalimantan Island. However, the natural ecosystem has been threatened by human impact.  This study aimed (1) to identify the deforestation process inside the national park by imagery analysis of Landsat TM (1992), Landsat ETM+ (1999), and SPOT5 (2004), and (2) to find the driving forces behind agricultural expansions.  The results showed that forest cover of GPNP decreased by 18.7% (equal with 18,675) at an average rate of 1.6% per year from 1992 to 2004.  Land use changes by illegal logging were accelerated after decentralization (1,064 ha in 1992-1999 to 3,781 ha in 1999-2004).  In the other side, increase of mix garden/bush area inside GPNP was relatively constant (4,555 ha in 1992-1999 to 9,040 ha in 1999-2004).  Results also showed tendency on increasing areas for dry-rice cultivation and rubber plantation (averagely 2.0 ha per household).  The study also revealed that secondary forest has constantly decreased in GPNP annually.  Family size and income were considered as important factors that were driving forces of deforestation.  To this, zoning system of the national park by clear participatory demarcation and application of effective buffer-zone support programs were recommended.Keywords: deforestation, agricultural expansion, national park, imagery analysis, zoning syste

Deforestation and Agricultural Expansion Processes in Gunung Palung National Park, West Kalimantan, Indonesia

Gunung Palung National Park (GPNP) represents the biodiversity of tropical forests remain  in Kalimantan Island. However, the natural ecosystem has been threatened by human impact.  This study aimed (1) to identify the deforestation process inside the national park by imagery analysis of Landsat TM (1992), Landsat ETM+ (1999), and SPOT5 (2004), and (2) to find the driving forces behind agricultural expansions.  The results showed that forest cover of GPNP decreased by 18.7% (equal with 18,675) at an average rate of 1.6% per year from 1992 to 2004.  Land use changes by illegal logging were accelerated after decentralization (1,064 ha in 1992-1999 to 3,781 ha in 1999-2004).  In the other side, increase of mix garden/bush area inside GPNP was relatively constant (4,555 ha in 1992-1999 to 9,040 ha in 1999-2004).  Results also showed tendency on increasing areas for dry-rice cultivation and rubber plantation (averagely 2.0 ha per household).  The study also revealed that secondary forest has constantly decreased in GPNP annually.  Family size and income were considered as important factors that were driving forces of deforestation.  To this, zoning system of the national park by clear participatory demarcation and application of effective buffer-zone support programs were recommended.Keywords: deforestation, agricultural expansion, national park, imagery analysis, zoning syste

Examination of Social Factors Affecting Private Forest Owners’ Future Intentions for Forest Management in Miyazaki Prefecture: A Comparison of Regional Characteristics by Forest Ownership Size

Although Japan’s planted forest resources are mature, efficient timber production and reforest postharvest are hindered by the small-scale forest ownership and private forest owners’ (PFOs’) low willingness to engage in forest management. A New Scheme of Forest Management (NSFM) has been established under which Japan’s municipalities can aggregate forest management rights which PFOs with low future intentions for forest management. Therefore, this study explores the socioeconomic factors that determine PFOs’ future intentions for forest management and examines NSFM challenges. PFOs were surveyed via questionnaires in two regions of Miyazaki Prefecture with different forest ownership sizes. The results showed that forest size and the presence of successors affect PFOs’ future intention for forest management. In addition, PFOs with low future intentions were less aware of their forests, and their forests were the source of reforest abandonment. Although aggregating forest management rights of PFOs with low future intention by the municipalities may contribute to sustainable forest management, the increased workload on municipalities is a challenge. Overall, accessibility to sufficient decision-making information is a prerequisite for evaluating PFOs’ future intention to manage their forests

Combining post-disturbance land cover and tree canopy cover from Landsat time series data for mapping deforestation, forest degradation, and recovery across Cambodia

Mapping of deforestation, forest degradation, and recovery is essential to characterize country-level forest change and formulate mitigation actions. Previous studies have mainly used a simple forest/non-forest classification after forest disturbance to identify deforestation and forest degradation. However, a more flexible approach that is applicable to different forest conditions is desirable. In this study, we examined an approach for mapping deforestation, forest degradation, and recovery using disturbance types and tree canopy cover estimates from annual Landsat time-series data from 1988 to 2020 across Cambodia. We developed models to estimate both disturbance types and tree canopy cover based on a random forest algorithm using predictor variables derived from a trajectory-based temporal segmentation approach. The estimated disturbance types and canopy cover in each year were then used in a rule-based classification of deforestation, forest degradation, and recovery. The producer’s and user’s accuracies ranged from 59.1% to 72.9% and 60.8% to 91.6%, respectively, for the forest change classes of mapping deforestation, forest degradation, and recovery. The approach developed here can be adjusted for different definitions of deforestation, forest degradation, and recovery according to research objectives and thus has the potential to be applied to other study areas