ASSESSING FOREST COVER CHANGE DETECTION AND CARBON STOCK IN EAST JAVA USING GIS

This study uses GIS to assess the extent of deforestation, forest degradation, and carbon stock in East Java, Indonesia.The dataset for this study required preprocessing and proper GIS analysis tools to track and quantify land cover changes, specifically deforestation and forest degradation from 1990 to 2022.The results show that East Java has experienced significant deforestation and forest degradation, with a total deforested area of approximately 180,000 hectares and a degraded forest area of around 270,000 hectares.Among the subregions, Malang had the highest deforestation rate, with a total area of 42,605 hectares, while Banyuwangi had the highest forest degradation, with around 64,782 hectares affected.Primary mangrove forest in East Java has decreased from approximately 15,000 hectares in 1990 to around 9,000 hectares in 2022.Furthermore, the study estimated the carbon stock changes over the study period.The total carbon stock in 1990 was around 196 million tonnes, but by 2022 it had decreased to approximately 156 million tonnes.The difference in carbon stock between 1990 and 2022 is approximately 40 million tonnes of carbon.Analyzing carbon stock with remote sensing and GIS will give faster results than the manual approach.These findings highlight the urgent need for effective forest management and conservation measures in East Java to mitigate further environmental degradation and carbon emissions.Integrating GIS-based forest monitoring techniques provides a valuable tool for assessing land cover changes and their impact on carbon stock, enabling informed decision-making for sustainable land use planning and conservation strategies.