Abstract
Despite recognizing the importance of tropical forest systems, deforestation in Malaysia has increased rapidly over the past 15 years. Since the first civilian earth observation satellite launched in 1972, remote sensing techniques and image processing analysis have been extensively used for long-term and continuous forest monitoring. This chapter selected the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform to monitor deforestation in Malaysia from 2000 to 2020. GEE is a cloud-based platform that works with substantial geospatial datasets using high-performance computing resources. This chapter quantified trends of deforestation in Malaysia through the statistical approach based on GEE and used the quantitative data as a basis for analyzing the drivers of deforestation. The deforestation statistics for Malaysia from 2000 to 2020 was 86,893 km2, with the highest deforestation in 2014. Overall, the statistical results demonstrated a high level of accuracy, and the GEE platform was confirmed to be suitable for forest monitoring on a national scale. Based on the statistical data of states in Malaysia, we further elaborated on the main drivers of deforestation. There is no single driver of tropical deforestation in Malaysia; the palm oil industry, forest fires, and illegal logging are attributed to the loss. The GEE monitoring tool was found appropriate for monitoring deforestation and has potential in guiding Malaysia’s management and conservation of forest resources.
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Hu, L., Shariff, A.R.B.M., Omar, H., Song, DX., Wu, H. (2022). GEE-Based Spatiotemporal Evolution of Deforestation Monitoring in Malaysia and Its Drivers. In: Ahamed, T. (eds) Remote Sensing Application. New Frontiers in Regional Science: Asian Perspectives, vol 59. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-0213-0_10
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