Abstract
Bangladesh is a poor, partially forested nation located in South Asia. The forests cover an estimated 17.1% of the land surface area of the nation. Rapid human population expansion has increased wood consumption and resource overexploitation, leading to the degradation of forest reserves. We mapped and analyzed forest cover change for the period 1972-2014 using Landsat satellite images of the Madhupur Sal forest captured in 1972, 1991, 2010, and 2014. This forest is a tropical deciduous stand within the Bangladeshi Tangail Forest Division. Forest cover changes were identified and approximately delineated on remotely sensed images. We applied a supervised classification approach to the satellite images using ERDAS IMAGINE ver.10 software. The mapping and analyses of five land-use classes were performed with ArcGIS ver.10 software. Thus, we analyzed the trends in forest cover changes over 42 years. The area under natural forest cover was progressively reduced by 7079.4 ha through anthropogenic activities during the period 1972-2010. However, the natural forest area increased by 202.4 ha between 2010 and 2014 due to the implementation of a revegetation program involving local community groups that was initiated by the national forest department. Our maps are very relevant to forest conservation initiatives and will enable a long-term, integrated approach to forest revegetation operated by the forest department in association with local communities.
