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Assessment of Forest Cover Changes in Vavuniya District, Sri Lanka: Implications for the Establishment of Subnational Forest Reference Emission Level

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  • Sharaniya Vijitharan

    (Natural Resources Management, School of Environment, Resources, and Management, Asian Institute of Technology, Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand
    Department of Bio-Science, Faculty of Applied Science, University of Vavuniya, Vavuniya 43000, Sri Lanka)

  • Nophea Sasaki

    (Natural Resources Management, School of Environment, Resources, and Management, Asian Institute of Technology, Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand)

  • Manjunatha Venkatappa

    (Natural Resources Management, School of Environment, Resources, and Management, Asian Institute of Technology, Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand
    LEET Intelligence Co., Ltd., Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand)

  • Nitin Kumar Tripathi

    (School of Engineering and Technology, Asian Institute of Technology, Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand)

  • Issei Abe

    (Faculty of Career Development, Kyoto Koka Women’s University, 38 Kadono-cho, Nishikyogoku, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto 615-0882, Japan)

  • Takuji W. Tsusaka

    (Natural Resources Management, School of Environment, Resources, and Management, Asian Institute of Technology, Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand)

Abstract

Assessment of forest cover changes is required to establish the forest reference emission level (FREL) at any scale. Due to civil conflict, such assessments have not yet been undertaken in Sri Lanka, especially in the conflict zone. Here, we assessed the forest cover changes in Vavuniya District, Sri Lanka, from 2001 to 2020, using a combination of the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform and the phenology-based threshold classification (PBTC) method. Landsat 5 TM data for 2001, 2006, and 2010, and Landsat 8 OLI data for 2016 and 2020 were used to classify forest cover by categories, and their related changes could be assessed by four categories, namely dry monsoon forest, open forest, other lands, and water bodies. With an overall average accuracy of 87% and an average kappa coefficient of 0.83, forest cover was estimated at 57.6% of the total land area in 2020. There was an increase of 0.46% per annum for the entire district between 2001 and 2010, but a drastic loss of 0.60% per year was observed between 2010 and 2020. Specifically, the dry monsoon forest lost 0.30%, but open forest gained 3.62% annually over the same period. Loss and gain of forest cover resulted in carbon emissions and removals of 165,306.6 MgCO 2 and 24,064.5 MgCO 2 annually, respectively, over the same period. Our findings could be used to set the baseline trend of deforestation, based on which, a subnational forest reference emission level can be established as an emission benchmark, against which comparisons of carbon emissions following the implementation of REDD+ activities can be made, and result-based payment can be claimed under the Paris Agreement.

Suggested Citation

  • Sharaniya Vijitharan & Nophea Sasaki & Manjunatha Venkatappa & Nitin Kumar Tripathi & Issei Abe & Takuji W. Tsusaka, 2022. "Assessment of Forest Cover Changes in Vavuniya District, Sri Lanka: Implications for the Establishment of Subnational Forest Reference Emission Level," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-25, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:11:y:2022:i:7:p:1061-:d:861281
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Alistair W. R. Seddon & Marc Macias-Fauria & Peter R. Long & David Benz & Kathy J. Willis, 2016. "Sensitivity of global terrestrial ecosystems to climate variability," Nature, Nature, vol. 531(7593), pages 229-232, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Feng Xu & Guangqing Chi & Yongheng Rao & Jianjun Zhang, 2022. "Editorial for Special Issue “Land Use Change and Anthropogenic Disturbances: Relationships, Interactions, and Management”," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-6, September.

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