Authors : Dakagan, J. B.; Wash, S. A.; Magu, L. Y.; Retu, S. A.; Agwu, R.; Zamani, V. A.; Abimaje, O. S.; Katmi, Y.; Ugwu, M. E.

Volume/Issue : Volume 11 - 2026, Issue 5 - May

Google Scholar : https://tinyurl.com/3jvvu9f2

Scribd : https://tinyurl.com/yc83pt79

DOI : https://doi.org/10.38124/ijisrt/26May016

Note : A published paper may take 4-5 working days from the publication date to appear in PlumX Metrics, Semantic Scholar, and ResearchGate.

Abstract : The high demand for certain wood species in China and other regions, including Nigeria, has exerted pressure on protected areas worldwide. Pandam National Park is among the forests affected by this demand, driven by illegal loggers operating locally in collusion with foreign wood merchants. This study assessed the status of vegetation cover in the protected area before the peak of devastation, at the peak, and after it. The objective is to quantify the spatial and temporal changes in forest cover using remote sensing and GIS techniques. The Google Earth Engine (GEE) cloud-based platform was used to analyze Sentinel-2 images from 2019, 2021, and 2023, focusing on land-cover changes during those periods. The results indicated that the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was higher in 2019 (0.7436) than in 2021 (0.73), with a subsequent improvement in 2023 (0.80), based on the maximum and minimum NDVI values. The cumulative forest cover change to the 2019-2021 period indicated that 208.55 sq km of forest was changed to bare surface, more than the same change in 2021-2023, which had 195.62 sq km, a reduction in forest cover destruction of 12.93 sq km. The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) needs to strengthen the enforcement of forest protection laws and invest in regular monitoring using advanced geospatial technologies. Integrating communities in forest surveillance alongside forest guards and adopting sustainable resource-use practices can help prevent further forest degradation. The government should reafforest the park and make it a hub for tourism, rather than just upgrading it to a National Park.

Keywords : Illegal Logging, Forest Cover Change, Protected Areas, Sentinel-2, Google Earth Engine (GEE).

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