Forest canopy density analysis of Sokpomba Forest Reserve, Edo State

Abstract

Forest is a dynamic landscape especially in the tropics as a result of high anthropogenic activities. This study therefore, attempts to evaluate the changes in forest canopy density sequel to the interaction between man and forest ecosystem in Sokpomba Forest Reserve from 1990 to 2020. Relevant Remote Sensing and GIS algorithms were used at different levels of this study. Landsat images formed the major input data for the analysis. In addition to the satellite images, ground control points (GCP) picked with the aid of Global Positioning System (GPS) were used to calculate the accuracy assessment of the Forest Canopy Density (FCD) analysis. The high canopy density (HD) decreased from 320.82km² in 1990 to 292.82km² in 2020. Conversely, the low canopy density (LD) increased from 171.12km² in 1990 to 282.82km² in 2020. The transitioning of the different Forest Canopy Densities from one category to another was also captured in this study. For instance between 2005 and 2020, about 37 km^² changed from low density (LD) to no forest (NF). The accuracy assessment shows that the image classification is good in the sense that the Overall Accuracy figures are 69% (1990), 84% (2005) and 85% (2020). This forest modeling technique is very apt when it comes to the monitoring of forest cover dynamics, forest disturbance and ways of mitigating them.

Key words: Geographic Information System, Remote sensing, Forest changes, Landsat, FCD, classification, anthropogenic and  urbanization.