Land use/land cover changes in the Tlemcen Region (Algeria) and classification of fragile areas

The Tlemcen region is characterized by very diverse and steep areas exposed to gravity hazards, especially in high and medium mountain areas. Tlemcen National Park was chosen for this study, the main objective of which is to map fragile areas in close relation to reduced vegetation cover due to land-use changes and forest fires. Multi-source data were used to monitor land use/land cover (LULC)patterns in the study area between 1987 and 2017. The methodology is based on an object-oriented classification of the Landsat images, using the K nearest neighbor method for mapping the major LULC classes at the national park level. The results show that LULC is constantly changing in the study area. In 1987, the landscape was made up of (16.5%) oak forests (holm oak, cork oak, zean oak) and Aleppo pine, which then deteriorated following repeated fires in the nineties to barely represent 7.22% of the surface in 1995, followed by a fast forest reclamation, with the forest area doubling in 10 years (13.46% of the area in 2005), and a near stabilization of the forest cover in 2017 with 14.68% of the area. These mutations are mainly due to fluctuations in anthropogenic action. Despite past declines and disturbances, the current forested area in the Tlemcen area represents significant forest capital classified as a national park to be protected and developed.