Application of Remote Sensing in Analyzing Mangrove Forest Changes and Drivers in Mui Ca Mau National Park, Vietnam

Mangroves are vital in coastal ecology and for sustaining and securing coastal communities. However, several factors such as human activities and climate change have changed mangroves' quantity and quality. This research analyses land-use/land cover (LULC) changes focusing on mangroves in Mui Ca Mau National Park (MCMNP) from 1995-2022. Collected Landsat imagery in 1995, 2003, and 2022 were applied to perform this research. Overall accuracy and Kappa of land cover classification were 88.5% and 0.86 in 2003, and 87.6% and 0.85 in 2022, respectively. The classified results showed that the mangrove area had increased significantly from 4,316.1 hectares in 1995 to 8,741.3 and 10,764.1 hectares in 2003 and 2022, respectively. In addition, the drivers of mangrove change were identified and analyzed. This study showed the important role of policy in mangrove conservation and the sustainable use of natural resources. The study provided useful information for policy-making in terms of forest conservation and management.