Monitoring and assessment of endangered UNESCO World Heritage Sites using space technology: a case study of East Rennell, Solomon Islands

Abstract Space technology offers effective tools to monitor the status of World Natural Heritage sites. East Rennell Island, which covers approximately 37,000 hectares (ha) and a marine area extending three nautical miles into the sea, was added to the list of endangered World Natural Heritage sites...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Sijia Huo, Mengmeng Wang, Guolong Chen, Huiqin Shu, Ruixia Yang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2021-08-01
Series:Heritage Science
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-021-00574-5
id doaj-31ea5bdcd3684efaa3c5510e6b3f5094
record_format Article
spelling doaj-31ea5bdcd3684efaa3c5510e6b3f50942021-08-29T11:13:04ZengSpringerOpenHeritage Science2050-74452021-08-019111310.1186/s40494-021-00574-5Monitoring and assessment of endangered UNESCO World Heritage Sites using space technology: a case study of East Rennell, Solomon IslandsSijia Huo0Mengmeng Wang1Guolong Chen2Huiqin Shu3Ruixia Yang4International Centre on Space Technologies for Natural and Cultural Heritage, The Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of SciencesChina University of GeosciencesInternational Centre on Space Technologies for Natural and Cultural Heritage, The Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of SciencesInternational Centre on Space Technologies for Natural and Cultural Heritage, The Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of SciencesInternational Centre on Space Technologies for Natural and Cultural Heritage, The Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of SciencesAbstract Space technology offers effective tools to monitor the status of World Natural Heritage sites. East Rennell Island, which covers approximately 37,000 hectares (ha) and a marine area extending three nautical miles into the sea, was added to the list of endangered World Natural Heritage sites in 2013. Deforestation and natural disasters have increasingly threatened sustainable development on the island. Based on analyses of multi-source time series of remote sensing data (e.g., MODIS and Worldview), the forest cover change on Rennell Island from 2000 to 2020 and its future trends were mapped and analysed using Sen + Mann–Kendall and Hurst index models. A land cover classification system derived from high-resolution Worldview images was developed as a baseline for monitoring and analysing future forest cover changes on the island. Our results showed that (1) the areas of vegetation degradation and improvement were basically equal from 2000 to 2020. (2) The forest cover change trend had weak continuity, and significant improvements could be achieved in areas with damaged vegetation given sufficient protection measures and financial input. (3) This heritage site has a strong vegetation regeneration ability, and human activities such as mining, logging, and road construction, which could greatly disturb the unique ecosystem, should be restricted.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-021-00574-5World HeritageEast RennellSolomon IslandVegetation ChangeMulti-source Remote Sensing Data
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Sijia Huo
Mengmeng Wang
Guolong Chen
Huiqin Shu
Ruixia Yang
spellingShingle Sijia Huo
Mengmeng Wang
Guolong Chen
Huiqin Shu
Ruixia Yang
Monitoring and assessment of endangered UNESCO World Heritage Sites using space technology: a case study of East Rennell, Solomon Islands
Heritage Science
World Heritage
East Rennell
Solomon Island
Vegetation Change
Multi-source Remote Sensing Data
author_facet Sijia Huo
Mengmeng Wang
Guolong Chen
Huiqin Shu
Ruixia Yang
author_sort Sijia Huo
title Monitoring and assessment of endangered UNESCO World Heritage Sites using space technology: a case study of East Rennell, Solomon Islands
title_short Monitoring and assessment of endangered UNESCO World Heritage Sites using space technology: a case study of East Rennell, Solomon Islands
title_full Monitoring and assessment of endangered UNESCO World Heritage Sites using space technology: a case study of East Rennell, Solomon Islands
title_fullStr Monitoring and assessment of endangered UNESCO World Heritage Sites using space technology: a case study of East Rennell, Solomon Islands
title_full_unstemmed Monitoring and assessment of endangered UNESCO World Heritage Sites using space technology: a case study of East Rennell, Solomon Islands
title_sort monitoring and assessment of endangered unesco world heritage sites using space technology: a case study of east rennell, solomon islands
publisher SpringerOpen
series Heritage Science
issn 2050-7445
publishDate 2021-08-01
description Abstract Space technology offers effective tools to monitor the status of World Natural Heritage sites. East Rennell Island, which covers approximately 37,000 hectares (ha) and a marine area extending three nautical miles into the sea, was added to the list of endangered World Natural Heritage sites in 2013. Deforestation and natural disasters have increasingly threatened sustainable development on the island. Based on analyses of multi-source time series of remote sensing data (e.g., MODIS and Worldview), the forest cover change on Rennell Island from 2000 to 2020 and its future trends were mapped and analysed using Sen + Mann–Kendall and Hurst index models. A land cover classification system derived from high-resolution Worldview images was developed as a baseline for monitoring and analysing future forest cover changes on the island. Our results showed that (1) the areas of vegetation degradation and improvement were basically equal from 2000 to 2020. (2) The forest cover change trend had weak continuity, and significant improvements could be achieved in areas with damaged vegetation given sufficient protection measures and financial input. (3) This heritage site has a strong vegetation regeneration ability, and human activities such as mining, logging, and road construction, which could greatly disturb the unique ecosystem, should be restricted.
topic World Heritage
East Rennell
Solomon Island
Vegetation Change
Multi-source Remote Sensing Data
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-021-00574-5
work_keys_str_mv AT sijiahuo monitoringandassessmentofendangeredunescoworldheritagesitesusingspacetechnologyacasestudyofeastrennellsolomonislands
AT mengmengwang monitoringandassessmentofendangeredunescoworldheritagesitesusingspacetechnologyacasestudyofeastrennellsolomonislands
AT guolongchen monitoringandassessmentofendangeredunescoworldheritagesitesusingspacetechnologyacasestudyofeastrennellsolomonislands
AT huiqinshu monitoringandassessmentofendangeredunescoworldheritagesitesusingspacetechnologyacasestudyofeastrennellsolomonislands
AT ruixiayang monitoringandassessmentofendangeredunescoworldheritagesitesusingspacetechnologyacasestudyofeastrennellsolomonislands
_version_ 1721187019250466816