Spatio-temporal analysis of remotely sensed forest loss data in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines

The Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) in the Philippines is among the
last forest frontiers in the country and is also home to 13 major
watersheds in Northern Luzon that supply irrigation and hydroelectricity
to other regions. However, it is faced with the deterioration of the
quality of its watersheds due to forest loss driven mainly by agricultural
expansion and illegal logging. Thus, this study was conducted to analyze
the spatial and temporal patterns of forest loss that could serve as a
basis for policy decisions. Also, this paper determined the strength of
relationships using Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r) between forest
loss and seven independent variables, which includes forest cover,
agricultural areas, built-up, road network, and socio-economic data. This
study utilized the Hansen Global Forest Change (HGFC), a Landsat-derived
dataset from 2001 to 2019. Results revealed that 70,925 hectares (ha) of
forest loss were detected with an annual deforestation rate of
3,744 ha/year across the region. Based on the validation, the
accuracy of the HGFC data is 72%, but great caution should be observed
when using the data with less than 0.2 ha due to very low
accuracy. On a region-wide analysis, only the forest cover had a strong
association with the forest loss with a
computed r-value of 0.78. Conversely, on a provincial
level, the explanatory variables had a strong to moderately strong
correlation with deforestation. Hence, immediate, science-based, and
sustained regional and multi-stakeholder efforts are necessary to conserve
and protect the remaining forest cover in the region.