Monitoring and Assessment on the UNESCO Endangered Heritage Sites using Space Technology-A Case Study on East Rennell, Solomon Islands

East Rennell Island, a UNESCO Endangered World Heritage Site since 2013, demonstrates resilience in vegetation recovery despite threats from deforestation and natural disasters. A study using long-term remote sensing data (MODIS, WorldView) revealed that areas of vegetation degradation matched those of improvement between 2000–2020, with weak but recoverable trends in forest cover change. High-resolution land cover classification provided a baseline for future monitoring. The research suggests that strict protection measures—limiting mining, logging, and road construction—could preserve this unique ecosystem's regenerative capacity.

Huo, S., Mengmeng, W., Chen, G., Huiqin, S., & Yang, R. (2021). Monitoring and Assessment on the UNESCO Endangered Heritage Sites using Space Technology-A Case Study on East Rennell, Solomon Islands. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-467580/v1