Silvicultural decisions to formulate forest restoration strategies using geospatial approaches

Abstract

Restoring deforested and degraded forests is mandatory to guarantee the future of tropical forests. In this study, we formulated silvicultural strategies for restoring tropical forest ecosystems using geospatial approaches to detect deforested and degraded forests based on landscape circumstances. Depending on the overlaid map of the current land cover and its land status, we categorized our forest restoration activity map into three main groups: reforestation, forest rehabilitation, and none. Based on the forest vulnerability, as evidenced by slope and erosion risk, we also allocated the ranks of restoration location into three priorities: first, second, and third. We believe that geospatial modeling maps can assist decision-makers in selecting locations and the most important goals for reforestation in order to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in land-based sectors. In order to exactly convey the geospatial data of forest at more detailed landscape scales, such as sub-district and village levels, as well as forest management units, these study need to be enhanced using high-resolution satellite or aerial imageries.