Earth Observations based Conservation Prioritization in Western Ghats, India

Abstract

Earth Observation with large suite of sensors and with capabilities to address natural resources at multiple scales has proven to be a critical resource in setting conservation priorities of a region. The role of earth observation data was recognized towards achieving international biodiversity targets by 2020. Ecosystem irreplaceability and ecosystem vulnerability are two concepts key to understanding and preparing conservation priority maps. This study presents spatial conservation prioritization analysis for forests of ‘Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot’. Earth observation data products have been used for prioritization of areas of irreplaceability and vulnerability that are significant for conservation planning. The spatial surrogates of biodiversity in terms of very dense forest, biological richness, intactness and rarity of habitat are analyzed for evaluation of ecosystem irreplaceability. Fragmentation, forest fires, plant invasion and disturbance index are surrogates included for spatial analysis of ecosystem vulnerability. Vegetation type wise analysis indicates dry deciduous forests are under high vulnerability, followed by moist deciduous forests. The high concentration of irreplaceability is observed in Shola followed by wet evergreen forests and semi-evergreen forests. Spatial prioritization approach has identified about 18% of the forest area as irreplaceable which represents overlapped area of very dense forest, shola, intact forest and high biological richness. We observed that the overlap of forest areas of irreplaceability with vulnerability in southern Western Ghats, which needs high priority of conservation. This study is the first of its kind wherein multi-source earth observation data has been analysed to examine the quantitative criteria at regional level in Western Ghats.