Abstract
Space technology offers effective tools to monitor the status of World Natural Heritage sites. East Rennell Island, which covers approximately 37,000 hectares (ha) and a marine area extending three nautical miles into the sea, was added to the list of endangered World Natural Heritage sites in 2013. Deforestation and natural disasters have increasingly threatened sustainable development on the island. Based on analyses of multi-source time series of remote sensing data (e.g., MODIS and Worldview), the forest cover change on Rennell Island from 2000 to 2020 and its future trends were mapped and analysed using Sen + Mann–Kendall and Hurst index models. A land cover classification system derived from high-resolution Worldview images was developed as a baseline for monitoring and analysing future forest cover changes on the island. Our results showed that (1) the areas of vegetation degradation and improvement were basically equal from 2000 to 2020. (2) The forest cover change trend had weak continuity, and significant improvements could be achieved in areas with damaged vegetation given sufficient protection measures and financial input. (3) This heritage site has a strong vegetation regeneration ability, and human activities such as mining, logging, and road construction, which could greatly disturb the unique ecosystem, should be restricted.
Highlights
The 3S space technologies are characterised by real-time and high-precision positioning, multi-temporal data acquisition with different resolutions, and intelligent and efficient data management strategies; these data have the potential for use in World Heritage Sites [1,2,3]
This paper presents a study on forest vegetation cover changes from 2000 to 2020 in one of the world’s endangered heritage sites—East Rennell Island in the Solomon Islands—and establishes a land classification system to monitor and predict future changes
The change trend indicated that the vegetation on East Rennell Island was slightly improved
Summary
The 3S space technologies are characterised by real-time and high-precision positioning, multi-temporal data acquisition with different resolutions, and intelligent and efficient data management strategies; these data have the potential for use in World Heritage Sites [1,2,3]. The UNESCO World Heritage Center supervises and helps the government of the Solomon Islands improve the protection and management. This paper presents a study on forest vegetation cover changes from 2000 to 2020 in one of the world’s endangered heritage sites—East Rennell Island in the Solomon Islands—and establishes a land classification system to monitor and predict future changes. Changes in forest cover are expected to provide scientific support for the restoration and protection of the world’s endangered heritage sites. The Solomon Islands belong to Melanesia, which is located in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Papua New Guinea. It is classified as a least developed country (LDC) and a small island developing state (SIDS)
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