Forest cover mapping using geospatial technology in Peninsular Malaysia – towards the enhancement of future spatial - based forestry reporting

Forest is an important asset that provides tangible and intangible benefits to mankind. As the population grows and technology becomes advanced, the demand for land has also increased. In developing countries, forest becomes an important land bank for future development. However, adverse effects to the environment such as climate change and global warming have been linked to the accelerating rate of deforestation and the degradation of forests by those countries. The availability of timely, consistent and accurate information on the forest land resource particularly its extent and quality is crucial as an indicator for forest management and conservation performance. The integrated use of remote sensing and geographical information system (GIS) or geospatial technology, has enabled the production of statistical information derived from the geospatial datawhere the statistical size of a forest area is constant with the graphical map of the area. Thus, it prevents any dispute after reporting, which were formerly present when solely using non-spatial text or tabular data. Timeseries data is vital for forest cover change monitoring and assessment where element of using geospatial technology has begun to incorporate in the reporting process. The Forestry Department of Peninsular Malaysia (FDPM) has embarked on a forest cover mapping exercise for several years combining satellite imagery interpretation and GIS overlay analysis as a means to enhance the eminence of its reporting to ensure its integrity towards the attainment and protection of the country‘s forest resource, particularly the permanent reserved forest. This paper looks at the knowledge and experience gained from this technology used for forest cover mapping, issues and challenges that appear from its implementation and recommendation towards the enhancement for future spatially-enabled forest resource reporting for more effective future forest management.