Home – Home – Jornals – Geography and Natural Resources 2024 number 4

А number of anthropogenic and natural disasters that have impacted the fragile ecosystems of the Baratang group of islands in the Andaman-Nicobar archipelago, resulting in the degradation and depletion of their natural environment and biodiversity, have been identified. It was found that in the early 20^th century the resources of the archipelago, especially Baratang Island, were exploited for infrastructure and plantations, resulting in a decrease in forest cover and an increase in anthropogenically transformed landscapes. However, the most recent available information on land use and land cover is only from 2013. This study aims to understand the dynamics of land use and land cover change in the Baratang Island group using multi-temporal satellite data for 1976, 1993, 2004, 2014, and 2023. Using visual interpretation techniques, spatial and temporal change maps were created to represent the different land use and land cover features in the study area. Analysis of these maps revealed an interesting trend: there is an increase in forest area with a simultaneous decrease in settlements and agricultural land, which contradicts the findings of previous studies. This work has identified several factors contributing to this trend, namely natural regeneration, reduction in logging and human activities, government policies and laws, and implementation of conservation measures by the forest department. However, the evidence on mangrove decline attributed to both human activities and natural disasters is consistent with the results of other studies. This study emphasizes the importance of regular monitoring of the island’s landscape dynamics to understand changes in land use and land cover and to take appropriate conservation measures.