Assessing the impact of land use and land cover changes on the remnant patches of Kondapalli reserve forest of the Eastern Ghats, Andhra Pradesh, India

Abstract

The Kondapalli reserve forest (KRF) of the Eastern Ghats, India is subjected to severe anthropogenic interference, despite its status as reserve forest. The present research focuses on assessing the land use and land cover changes in and around KRF using temporal satellite data. It is evident from the current study that there has been a considerable decrease in the forest cover from 1990 to 2015; as seen from 2017 data, huge urban expansions and development activities were observed around KRF. This increase is linked to the growth in population, thereby consuming land available for their basic needs. To assess the rate of urban expansion around the forest, Land consumption rate and Land absorption coefficient were computed. The result of this analysis showed a rapid growth in built-up land between 1990 and 2017 while the periods between 1990 and 2015 witnessed a reduction in the forest class. Further, the study projected adverse impact of the growth of the new capital city-Amaravati on the KRF and proposed requiring suitable conservation measures with respect to its current deforestation and degradation trends.