Estimated deforestation of the rainforests in Madagascar using multi-date Landsat image classification between 2005, 2010 and 2013

Monitoring forest state is required to estimate the levels of greenhouse gases emissions from deforestation. The objective of this study was to estimate deforestation trends for 2005-2010 and 2010-2013 periods in the eastern rainforests ecoregion of Madagascar. A supervised classification approach of multi-date Landsat images using the Random Forest algorithm was used. A complete 30 m map of the forest cover change was produced on 20.5 million hectares. The result was validated by photo interpretation of nearly 11 000 points from a regular sampling grid on the basis of SPOTand Landsat satellite images acquired in 2010-2013. The overall mapping accuracy was estimated to be about 90[%]. The area of Madagascar rainforests has been estimated at 4.5 million hectares in 2005, 4.4 million hectares in 2010 and 4.3 million hectares in 2013. The annual rate of deforestation has increased from 0.5[%]. to 0.9 [%] between the two periods. This study could be considered as a reliable cost-effective and reproductible approach for monitoring forests in Madagascar.