Multitemporal analysis of deforestation in Honduras using GIS and remote sensing techniques

It is estimated that during the decade of 1980's the global deforestation rate in tropical countries reached 15.4 million hectares per year. However, according to the United Nations Organization only 14 of 104 tropical countries can provide information about the location of forested areas within their countries and only a few can provide information about the exact location and advances of the deforestation (Syngh 1994). Honduras is a tropical country located in the central part of the Central American isthmus. Although forest resources represent the country's largest natural resource (66% of the total area), it is estimated that about 30,000 hectares of pine forest and 56,000 hectares of broadleaf forest are deforested every year(Stonich 1993). Unfortunately, there are no specific studies using accurate geographic procedures to support this estimation. Due to the urgent need for information about the status of natural resources in Honduras, a geographic study of deforestation was conducted to detect forest cover changes. The objectives of this study were to provide: 1) A map of deforested areas of Honduras in a 28-year period (1965-1992), and 2) An estimation of deforestation rates for pine and broadleaf forests during this period. The resulting map showed that a total of 9,292 Km(2) of pine forest and 13,941 Km(2) of broadleaf forest were deforested during the twenty-eight-year period from 1965-1992 representing 25% and 33% respectively of the original forest (1965). Annual rates of deforestation were 332 Km(2) for pine forest and 498 Km(2) for broadleaf forest. In addition to a reduction in forest areas, the final map showed that the remaining forests became highly fragmented during this period of time.