Chapter 17 - Understanding the forest cover dynamics and its health status using GIS-based analytical hierarchy process: a study from Alipurduar district, West Bengal, India

Abstract

Vegetation plays an essential function in the maintenance of biota and the restoration of environmental harmony. Evaluating plant status thus means evaluating biological dynamism, adequate surface nutrients, and the health of vegetation. Almost 24% of India's land is forested, supplying rural people with a variety of resources. Buxa tiger reserve, Jaldapara wildlife sanctuary, Rajabhatkhawa forest, Chilapata forest, and Raidak forest are associated with considerable forest cover in the Eastern dooars region of Alipurduar district. In this district, numerous tribes still depend on forest resources, and analysis of the health of the vegetation in this area is therefore essential. The present research aims to examine forest cover dynamics and its health status using various index-based methods, such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), the Greenness Index (GI), the Normalized Difference Moisture Index (NDMI), Perpendicular Vegetation Index (PVI), Transformed Vegetation Index Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI), Normalized Difference Built-up Index (NDBI) and Normalized Difference Bareness Index (NDBaI) between 2000 and 2020 using Landsat satellite data based on analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and GIS technique. The results of the present study indicated that during the last 20 years in the study area, forest cover was mostly varied due to the alteration of land use and disruptions induced by different anthropogenic stresses. The results acquired from the research focused on the spatio-temporal variation of vegetation over last 20 years, which would further strengthen the local as well as international stakeholders in the study region for the management and conservation of vegetation health.