Trajectories of forest cover change in Chakrashila Wildlife Sanctuary (India) between 2000 and 2020 using Landsat imagery

Forest cover changes in the Chakrashila Wildlife Sanctuary, in the north eastern Indian state of Assam between 2000 and 2020 were assessed using Landsat 5 TM (2000 and 2010) and Landsat 8 OLI (2020) satellite data. The objective of the study was to examine the temporal variations, if any, of forest cover in the Sanctuary. The satellite images of 2000, 2010 and 2020 were classified using supervised classification into three different categories viz: dense forest, open forest, and barren land. Based on a maximum likelihood classifier and using standard accuracy assessments, the results indicated that the area covered by barren land and open forest increased between 2000 and 2010 but decreased between 2010 and 2020. Similarly, dense forest had decreased by 22.32% between 2000 and 2010 but increased by 15.19% between 2010 and 2020. These changes occurred reflecting the positive results emanating from conservation policies and afforestation efforts by the primary stakeholder, the state forest department, in recent years. Such efforts were linked to the enhanced institutional status of the protected area, which had been upgraded from a Reserved Forest in 1966 to that of a Wildlife Sanctuary in 1994.