Forest Fragmentation of Arunachal Pradesh, India from 2000-2020

It has been observed
that in the last two decades from 2000 to 2020 an area of 1571.22 km2
(1.88%) has been lost due to deforestation. Although there was increase in the
dense forest with an area of 6858.43 km2 (8.19%), the moderately
dense forest was worst affected and degraded with a loss of 9347.50 km2
(11.16%) and the open forest was increased by 917.85 km2 (1.10%).
The major changes took place in the conversion of moderate forests into
agricultural lands and settlements. Most of the metrics used in forest
fragmentation analysis identified certain differences whereas number of patches
(NP) and mean patch size (MPS) indicated that forests have been decreased to a
major extent during the years 2000-2020, fragmented and patches are far located
from each other. Different landscape metrics identified by these approaches
suggest that deforestation was being closely associated with forest
fragmentation and socio-economic activities like agricultural lands and
settlements. The results can be utilized as an important monitoring tool to
identify the fragmented landscape pattern, analyse conservation success and
enhance management decisions.