Monitoring vegetation dynamics in East Rennell Island World Heritage Site using multi-sensor and multi-temporal remote sensing data

East Rennell Island, the first natural site under customary law inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, has shown a gradual decline in vegetation cover from 2000 to 2015, with an annual decrease of –0.0011 in the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Despite this trend, 95% of the island remains undisturbed by forest cover, and the rate of change is less pronounced within the East Rennell World Heritage Site (ERWHS) compared to areas outside it. The study utilized multi-sensor and multi-temporal remote sensing data to track these changes, revealing that while potential threats like logging, mining, and agriculture persist, forest cover change outside ERWHS has remained below 15% over the studied period. The findings provide actionable insights for the Government of Solomon Islands, suggesting the integration of unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) and field surveys to enhance monitoring and ensure the long-term conservation of ERWHS.

Wang, M., He, G., Ishwaran, N., Hong, T., Bell, A., Zhang, Z., Wang, G., & Wang, M. (2018). Monitoring vegetation dynamics in East Rennell Island World Heritage Site using multi-sensor and multi-temporal remote sensing data. International Journal of Digital Earth, 13(3), 393–409. https://doi.org/10.1080/17538947.2018.1523955