Experts flag decline in forest area in Ranthambore reserve

Over the past 45 years, the Ranthambore Tiger Reserve (RTR) has undergone a dramatic environmental transformation — losing 63.55% of its water bodies, witnessing a 42.83% decline in shrubland, and experiencing a rise in built-up areas, according to a recent study.

- Dinesh Bothra

JODHPUR:

The study, titled "Forest Fragmentation and Human-Wildlife Conflict: Assessing the Impact of Land Use Land Cover Change in Ranthambore Tiger Reserve, India", was conducted by Bhanwar Vishvendra Raj Singh and Khushbu Kulhari from the department of geography, Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur, in collaboration with Amit Kumar Batar from the National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan, Vivek Agrawal from Northumbria University, UK, and Anjan Sen from the Delhi School of Economics. It was published in Environment Research Communications on June 17.

According to the study, the researchers used Landsat satellite imagery from 1975 and 2020, remote sensing techniques, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) analysis, and conflict data to understand the spatiotemporal transformation in the reserve and its consequences for wildlife and local communities.

"The results reveal a significant decline in dense forest by 13.81% and shrubland by 42.83% in the Core Zone, along with a sharp reduction in water bodies by 63.55%, all of which indicate increasing habitat fragmentation, environmental stress, and water scarcity. In contrast, built-up areas expanded exponentially by 7183.18%, highlighting the rapid encroachment of urban development," said Bhanwar.