PJB-2021-532
A study on mangroves deforestation based on RS and GIS along Sonmiani coast (Miani Hor), Balochistan, Pakistan
Shaikh Sanaullah
Abstract
The mangroves play important role in reducing the coastal erosion during flash floods and stream flows. They are the best source of stabilizing the water quality. Currently, the mangroves are facing stress due to different natural and human made threats leading to decline in forest cover since the last fifteen years. This research compromises a proficient environmental, physiological and knowledge of mangroves of Miani Hor which helps in our understanding of the mystery of mangrove forests of Miani Hor. RS and GIS provide valuable information for mangroves management and land use change. Landsat ETM and up-to-date Google earth images can provide us exact information about the flora of mangroves as well as prove the replacement of mangroves with other land covers. We utilize Landsat data for the land use and land cover changes with focus on mangrove’s ecology, for the period of 2001 to 2016 along the coast of Pakistan. We particularly focused on Miani Hor Mangroves in Balochistan coast. We relied on the land use “transfer matrix approach†to measure land use and land cover changes in the study area. Findings disclosed that for the Miani Hor, the large percentage of mangroves disappeared, whereas the percentage of mangroves decreased from 5.63% in 2001 to 4.11% in 2016, with a total loss of 1.52%. This research studies provide a significant awareness of strategical management of local mangroves in future.
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