Evaluation and Analysis of Land Use Change Trends in Protected Areas (Case Study: Lar National Park)

Today's, one of the impacts of human activities in the form of land use change is the lack of attention to environmental constraints that impact the appearance of the environment, and have devastating impacts on natural ecosystems such as National Parks and Protected Areas. Therefore, identifying the trend of changes in land surface features is essential to understand the relationship between humans and the environment. In this study, with the aim of evaluating the trend of land use changes through Landsat TM satellite images in 1989 and 1999, +ETM in 2009, and Landsat OLI_TIRS in 2019, using multi-spectral data capabilities and digital image processing. Land use of the area was classified into five classes, constructed lands (residential, commercial, industrial, and pathway), water land use areas, agricultural and garden lands, high-density pastures, and low-density pastures. According to the results, low-density pastures in 2019 compared to 1989 has been associated with an increasing trend. Therefore, results indicate that during, studied years, the most trend of changes in high-density pastures have decreasing and low-density pastures due to the high number of nomads (destruction of vegetation due to excessive and untimely grazing of livestock), has an increasing trend. In addition, in this area, due to the lack of permanent settlements and legal restrictions, use of agricultural and garden lands has been facing a declining trend, and it is worth noting that agricultural operations in this area in some cases only to cultivate alfalfa along the river Lar is limited to provide forage for nomadic livestock. Among other existing land uses, water areas have been increasing years under the study, although in 1999 due to the increased presence of nomads in pastures, number of livestock over capacity, and in addition conservation status of area and, lack of protection restrictions (not upgrading area to a national park during this period), a decreasing trend can be seen in this land use. Other land uses in this area include built-up, in 1989, compared to 2019, there has been an increasing trend, one of the reasons for the increase in this land use is development of roads and increase of access roads to this area year under the study. Given that the animal and non-animal life in the area as well as soil survival against erosion depends on vegetations, the decreasing trend of vegetation and increasing soil degradation and erosion can serve as a warning to pay more attention to the biology condition in this area. Also, according to the results of the study of the most important factors affecting the trend of land use change in the area, the physical-environmental dimension with a weight coefficient of 0.465, economic-institutional dimension with a weight coefficient of 0.315, and demographic-social with a weight coefficient of 0.223, respectively.