ABSTRACT

The study on “Assessment of Forest Cover Changes, Forest Fire and Fire Risk Zonation Mapping in Haliyal Forest Division of Uttara Kannada District” was conducted to analyze forest cover changes over a decade (2013-2022) and assess fire risk within the Haliyal Forest Division. Using Google Earth Engine and QGIS, land cover changes were analyzed through NDVI and FCC methods. NDVI values ranged from -0.26 to 0.77 in 2013 and from -0.40 to 0.82 in 2022. The analysis revealed that in 2013, forests covered 61.52 per cent of the area, while agriculture accounted for 22.55 per cent. By 2022, forest cover reduced slightly to 61.41 per cent and agricultural land increased to 22.77 per cent. Over ten years, forest areas decreased by 163 hectares, water bodies by 12 hectares, fallow land by 548 hectares and barren land by 260 hectares. Built-up areas increased by 667 hectares and agricultural land expanded by 316 hectares.
The study found a classification accuracy of 96.5 per cent and a kappa coefficient of 0.95 for 2013, while 2022 showed a classification accuracy of 92.1 per cent with a kappa coefficient of 0.89. The reduction in forest cover is attributed to increased human activities, primarily agricultural expansion and urbanization. For 2023, the NBR analysis indicated that only 0.37 per cent of the division was affected by fire, with an accuracy rate of 87.5 per cent and a kappa coefficient of 0.82. Fire risk zonation mapping identified 27.44 per cent of the division as very high-risk, 17.71 per cent as high-risk, 27.73 per cent as medium-risk and 27.44 per cent as low-risk. These findings will aid in forest management and fire mitigation strategies.