Forest Fragmentation

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.