Monitoring forest land use change and transformation in the Kore Rood basin of Guilan by processing Landsat satellite images

Janalipour, Maryam; Hassanzad Navroodi, Iraj; Abbaszadeh Tehrani, Nadia; Haghighi, Maryam

doi:10.22034/jsst.2025.1572

Monitoring forest land use change and transformation in the Kore Rood basin of Guilan by processing Landsat satellite images

Document Type : Original Research Paper

Authors

Maryam Janalipour ¹

Iraj Hassanzad Navroodi ¹

Nadia Abbaszadeh Tehrani ²

Maryam Haghighi ³

¹ Department of Forest Sciences and Engineering, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran.

² Khayyam Research Institute, Ministry of Science, Research and Technology.

³ Academic Center for Education Culture & Research (ACECR), Environmental Research Institute, Rasht, Iran.

10.22034/jsst.2025.1572

Abstract

Forests are vital ecosystems, but many have been greatly altered by human and natural factors, highlighting the need for ongoing monitoring and conservation. This study employs multitemporal satellite image analysis to quantify and characterize forest cover dynamics within the Kore Rood basin, Guilan Province, Iran. It is noteworthy that research on this critical region remains exceedingly scarce, thereby constituting a significant aspect of the novelty in the present study. Leveraging Landsat data from 2001, 2011, and 2023, we systematically assessed land-use and land-cover (LULC) transitions. Results indicate a progressive decline in forest area over the study period, with the maximum extent observed in 2001, followed by significant reductions by 2011 and 2023. Quantitatively, between 2001 and 2023, forest conversion occurred 1.1% to built-up areas, 2.0% to agricultural farms and 10.7% to tea Plantations.These findings demonstrate the substantial pressure exerted by agriculturalland conversion, particularly tea cultivation, on the region's forest resources. Consequently, we strongly advocate for implementing advanced geospatial monitoring systems utilizing high-spatiotemporal-resolution satellite imagery to enable continuous surveillance and inform evidence-based conservation strategies and sustainable land-use management policies for Iran's forest ecosystems.

Keywords

Remote Sensing

Land Use/Land Cover Change (LULCC)

Deforestation

Agricultural Expansion

Landsat

Multi-temporal Analysis

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Subjects