ASSESSMENT OF DEFORESTATION IN BALI LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF TARABA STATE USING REMOTE SENSING AND GIS

Deforestation is one of the leading environmental threats which causes a lot of negative environmental impacts resulting from excessive logging of trees, population growth and urbanization, bush fire, agricultural expansion and traditional medicine, lumbering and overgrazing, etc., for economic and other uses. It is a severe environmental and socio-economic problem facing the Bali Local government of Taraba State. Thus, this remote sensing research aims to assess the study area's deforestation due to excessive logging of the Rosewood plant and other activities. The research examines the use of remote sensing and GIS to detect the changes in forest cover that have taken place between the years 2010 and 2024. In achieving this, satellite imagery of Landsat 7 ETM of 2010 and Landsat 8 OLI of 2015, 2020 and 2024 were used. The result reveals that bare land, built-up areas, water bodies, less vegetation and others have increased by 19%, 4%, 3%, 2%, and 35%, respectively, while dense vegetation cover has decreased by 63% from 2010 to 2024. That increased the deforestation of the study area and affected the climate as well as the agricultural activities of the area.