Determination of land use and land cover change in firefly ecotourism areas using landsat images: a case study of Sungai Sepetang, Perak / Nor Shafikah Idris, Nurul Asyikin Ibharim and Muzzneena Ahmad Mustapha ,

Changes in land use and land cover (LULC) are a method that facilitates the understanding of the physical and human interactions within the natural environment, thereby promoting sustainable development. The objective of this study was to determine the changes in LULC surrounding the firefly ecotourism area in Sepetang River, Perak, from 2002 to 2020. This was accomplished by utilising Landsat multitemporal satellite images and identifying the factors that influence the changes in the mangrove area. The LULC modifications were determined using the maximum likelihood classifier technique. In 2002 and 2020, the classification accuracy of LULC was 82.4% and 81.2%, respectively, with Kappa statistics of 0.81 and 0.80. The results showed a 22.06% decrease (122.52 hectares) and a 4.47% increase (24.99 hectares) in mangrove areas. The mangrove areas were converted to a variety of land uses, such as oil palm (32.7%), forests (32.3%), settlements (9.25%), barren land (8.99%), rivers (6.8%), swamp (6.11%), urban (1.67%), paddy (1.25%), water bodies (0.77%), and road (0.09%). The total area of mangroves that were lost over the course of 18 years was 317.21 hectares, while the area of mangroves that were rehabilitated was 23.05 hectares. The results of this study demonstrate that the integration of remote sensing technologies will be advantageous for the monitoring and conservation of the firefly population in mangrove habitats.