Identification of land use and land cover in Nipa-Nipa Forest Park, Southeast Sulawesi Province, Indonesia

Identification of land use and land cover (LULC) in the Nipa-Nipa Forest Park area offers essential insights into forest degradation and deforestation within protected regions. This study aims to assess land cover changes in the Nipa-Nipa Forest Park area through the analysis of Landsat 8 OLI images from 2014 to 2024. The study utilized Maximum Likelihood Classification (MLC) in conjunction with a map overlay for the years 2014, 2019, and 2024. The results of the analysis show that in 2014 and 2019, shrubs dominated the land cover class by 48.34% and 53.07%, respectively, while in 2024 the forest land cover class dominated by 55.81%, but each class for each period showed area dynamics, where 2014-2019 period, shrubs (372.85 Ha), settlements (11.17 Ha), and agriculture (7.77 Ha) experienced area increases, while forest (-387.37 Ha) and open land (-4.43 Ha) experienced a decrease in area. while in the 2019-2024 period, there was a significant increase in forest areas (1,085.68 Ha), agricultural land (434.31 Ha), and settlements (41.06 Ha). In contrast, there were notable decreases in shrubland (-1535.23 Ha) and open ground (-25.81 Ha). The Nipa-Nipa Forest Park area has been significantly altered and is characterized by the presence of forest and shrub vegetation. Keywords: Land use and cover, forest parks, biodiversity, ecosystem, remote sensing, climate change.