Using remote sensing data to monitor land cover changes near Afghan refugee camps in northern Pakistan

Lodhi, Mahtab A.; Echavarria, Fernando R.; Keithley, Chris

doi:10.1080/10106049809354626

Cited by 37 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…The second relationship involves resource or land use changes driven by increased or inefficient natural resource use during conflict, such as increased timber and fuelwood consumption in close proximity to refugee camps (Formoli, 1995;Lodhi et al, 1998;Pech, 1995). Nackoney and others (2014) provided evidence of human populations moving deeper into interior forests in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to escape conflict, and explored the validity of reports of increased human reliance on bushmeat leading to wildlife population declines.…”

Section: A Framework For Understanding the Impacts Of Conflictmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The growing body of literature that addresses various direct and indirect impacts of armed conflict on the environment has put forth a range of hypotheses (Black, 1994;Cairns, 2003;Dudley et al, 2002;Jarrett, 2003;Loucks et al, 2009;Machlis and Hanson, 2008;McNeely, 2003;Omar et al, 2009). Studies have shown that conflict and warfare can either drive deforestation or favor forest recovery (Alvarez, 2003;Biswas and Tortajadaquiroz, 1996;Dávalos, 2001;Dudley et al, 2002;Glew and Hudson, 2007;Hecht and Saatchi, 2007;Kim, 1997;Kreike, 2003;Lodhi et al, 1998;McNeely, 2003;Westing, 1996). Deforestation and reforestation could theoretically occur simultaneously in the same region as a function of the geographic concentration of activities related to different aspects of conflict.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Political shifts and changing forests: Effects of armed conflict on forest conservation in Rwanda

Ordway

2015

Global Ecology and Conservation

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h i g h l i g h t s• Aspects of conflict can have very different impacts on forest cover. • Theoretical framework distinguishes armed conflict activity impacts from conflict settlements. • Forest transitions in NW Rwanda indicated more spatially concentrated loss during conflict. • 96% of forest loss during conflict across the landscape occurred in protected areas.• Results underscore heavy dependence on forest resources during conflicts. a b s t r a c tMost armed conflicts in recent history occurred in biodiversity hotspots. Yet, studies examining impacts of warfare on forests yield contradictory results. This study provides a theoretical framework articulating different hypothetical relationships between conflict and forest transitions. Landsat TM and ETM+ data were analyzed to examine forest transitions in Rwanda during conflict and post conflict periods. Net trends showed little difference between periods, with a rate of 1.6% annual gain during conflict years, and 2.5% following the conflict. Closer inspection revealed spatially concentrated forest loss during conflict years; 96% occurred in protected areas with the most loss in Gishwati Forest Reserve at a rate of −6.1%. Trends were explored with spatially explicit conflict data that distinguished armed conflict activity from conflict induced settlements. Impacts of conflict on forests in Rwanda appear to be influenced by natural resource use near settlements. Massive migrations of people into settlements during the conflict, who had previously been scattered across the landscape, resulted in a redistribution of pressures. Reduced pressure elsewhere supports this inference. Results underscore the vulnerability of protected areas and the spatial dynamics of forest resource dependence during conflicts. This work demonstrates the value of distinguishing conflict activities to assess their varied environmental effects.

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Section: A Framework For Understanding the Impacts Of Conflictmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Political shifts and changing forests: Effects of armed conflict on forest conservation in Rwanda

Ordway

2015

Global Ecology and Conservation

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“…He noted that deforestation was high mainly during two time periods; the first occurred from 1847 to 1867 (i.e., the first two decades of British rule) and the second occurred during the Second World War in the 1940s. In the Siran Valley, reference [67] identifies 45% forest loss between 1979 and 1988 when a large population of Afghan refugees resettled in this area. Additionally, reference [68] observed approximately 50% forest cutting in the Basho Valley from 1968 to 2002, which was attributed to illegal commercial harvesting aggravated by political and administrative constraints.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping Deforestation and Forest Degradation Patterns in Western Himalaya, Pakistan

et al. 2016

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Abstract:The Himalayan mountain forest ecosystem has been degrading since the British ruled the area in the 1850s. Local understanding of the patterns and processes of degradation is desperately required to devise management strategies to halt this degradation and provide long-term sustainability. This work comprises a satellite image based study in combination with national expert validation to generate sub-district level statistics for forest cover over the Western Himalaya, Pakistan, which accounts for approximately 67% of the total forest cover of the country. The time series of forest cover maps (1990, 2000, 2010) reveal extensive deforestation in the area. Indeed, approximately 170,684 ha of forest has been lost, which amounts to 0.38% per year clear cut or severely degraded during the last 20 years. A significant increase in the rate of deforestation is observed in the second half of the study period, where much of the loss occurs at the western borders along with Afghanistan. The current study is the first systematic and comprehensive effort to map changes to forest cover in Northern Pakistan. Deforestation hotspots identified at the sub-district level provide important insight into deforestation patterns, which may facilitate the development of appropriate forest conservation and management strategies in the country.

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“…Explanatory variables (drivers) were chosen based on a literature review (Schickhoff 1995;Lodhi et al 1998;Knudsen and Madsen 1999;Nüsser 2000;Geist and Lambin 2002;Ali et al 2005;Qasim et al 2011;Hosonuma et al 2012) as well as data availability and quality; initially thirteen static explanatory landscape variables were considered (Table 2, Figure 2). To understand the forest structure complexity, we also used distance to perforation and distance to edge of forest within the biophysical category.…”

Section: Selection Of Landscape Variablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, most of the deforestation studies that mention environmental factors focus primarily on soil-related features (Fearnside 1993;Geist and Lambin 2001). Studies in Pakistan have identified different drivers, agricultural expansion and population growth are mentioned most frequently (Schickhoff 1995;Lodhi et al 1998;Nüsser 2000;Qasim et al 2011), other drivers include timber extraction, poverty, administrative reforms, and poor management (Knudsen and Madsen 1999;Ali et al 2005;Qamer et al 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Deforestation trends and spatial modelling of its drivers in the dry temperate forests of northern Pakistan — A case study of Chitral

et al. 2014

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Deforestation is a major environmental challenge in the mountain areas of Pakistan. The study assessed trends in the forest cover in Chitral tehsil over the last two decades using supervised land cover classification of Landsat TM satellite images from 1992, 2000, and 2009, with a maximum likelihood algorithm. In 2009, the forest cover was 10.3% of the land area of Chitral (60,000 ha). The deforestation rate increased from 0.14% per annum in 1992-2000 to 0.54% per annum in 2000-2009, with 3,759 ha forest lost over the 17 years. The spatial drivers of deforestation were investigated using a cellular automaton modelling technique to project future forest conditions. Accessibility (elevation, slope), population density, distance to settlements, and distance to administrative boundary were strongly associated with neighbourhood deforestation. A model projection showed a further loss of 23% of existing forest in Chitral tehsil by 2030, and degradation of 8%, if deforestation continues at the present rate. Arandu Union Council, with 2212 households, will lose 85% of its forest. Local communities have limited income resources and high poverty and are heavily dependent on non-timber forest products for their livelihoods. Continued deforestation will further worsen their livelihood conditions, thus improved conservation efforts are essential.

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Using remote sensing data to monitor land cover changes near Afghan refugee camps in northern Pakistan

Cited by 37 publications

References 6 publications

Political shifts and changing forests: Effects of armed conflict on forest conservation in Rwanda

Political shifts and changing forests: Effects of armed conflict on forest conservation in Rwanda

Mapping Deforestation and Forest Degradation Patterns in Western Himalaya, Pakistan

Deforestation trends and spatial modelling of its drivers in the dry temperate forests of northern Pakistan — A case study of Chitral

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