ANALYSIS OF THE DYNAMICS OF FOREST AREAS IN THE TERRITORIAL ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS OF THE APUSENI MOUNTAINS, ROMANIA

The economic pressure on the forest fund has led to imbalances, that endanger the sustainable development of local and regional economies. Quantification of these multiplication effects is one of the greatest challenges for public policies in the field of ecosystem protection. In this study we propose the analysis of the dynamics of the forest areas in the territorial administrative units that overlap the Apuseni Mountains, based on a data source processed from satellite images, for the period 2000-2017. The data source is the Global Forest Change database, designed to monitor forest dynamics and in particular forest loss. The raster images processed for the study area were extracted from this database. As a case study, we chose the Apuseni Mountains, which are part of the Western Carpathians, where forest exploitation has been particularly significant in recent years. The forest images were processed and then the forest dynamics was calculated for all administrative units overlapping the analyzed area. The obtained results highlighted the added value of the methodology proposed in the assessment of cut forests in each territorial administrative unit, it also highlights the advantages and limitations given by this spatial data source.