Appraisal of deforestation in Murree using Remote Sensing and GIS techniques.

Abstract

This research was executed to delineate deforestation in Murree between 2000-2015. The main purpose of the research was to investigate the forest degradation rates using geographical information system (GIS) and remote sensing (RS) techniques. It also aimed to identify the impact assessment of deforestation on the socioeconomic life of the locals. We identified the percentage of forest degradation rates across the study area as the Landsat 8 image for the year 2000 was classified into vegetation, top soil and built up area. The area covered by vegetation was 79.97 km2

(55%), top soil was 38.25

km2 (26%) and the built up area 27.5 km2

(19%). The Landsat 8 image for the year 2015 was classified and the classification

results showed that the area covered by vegetation was 59.3 km2

, topsoil was 42.89 km2 and the built up area 41.25 km2 . So it

is clear that deforestation occurred in Murree region and the areas with high forest degradation rates were mapped.