Land Cover Change Analysis of Maasin Watershed Forest Reserve, Iloilo, Philippines

Abstract

The paper analyzed the land cover condition of Maasin
Watershed Forest Reserve (MWFR) through remote sensing and
time change analysis. Remote sensing, the measurement of
object properties on Earth’s surface using data acquired from
aircraft and satellites, has revolutionized understanding of
dynamic environment. Researchers use remote sensing satellites
to provide repetitive coverage of the earth for studying
landscape dynamics, phenological variations of vegetation and
change detection analysis. By using land satellite imageries
generated from remote sensing, the extent of change in land
cover of Maasin Watershed Forest Reserve from 1993, 2001,
and 2009 was analyzed.

Land cover in MWFR was classified into forest, brush, grass,
and bare areas. Results of the analysis revealed that land cover
of the said watershed has not been very stable from 1993 to
2009. Time change detection analysis through cross tabulation
showed evident changes from one class to another over the
years. The results of the study showed slight improvement in the
state of the forest of MWFR as evidenced by a net gain of
10.19% in the forest cover for 16 years. Net increase in the total
forest area was gained from the conversion of brush and
grassland areas. The study also concluded that with limited
primary and corroborating secondary data, remote sensing
technology and time change analysis proved to be effective in
presenting valuable information about the land cover conditions
over time.