Monitoring of Forest Changes in Mount Kenya National Park Based on Domestic High-Resolution Satellites

Between 2019 and 2023, Mount Kenya National Park experienced significant forest changes, with a net loss of 2,425.91 hectares primarily driven by arable land expansion (1,613.41 ha) and illegal logging (408.34 ha), while artificial reforestation added 3,078.71 hectares. High-resolution domestic satellite imagery (2-meter resolution from Gaofen-1, Gaofen-6, and Ziyuan-3 constellations) combined with a deep learning-based semantic segmentation model (DeepLabv3+) enabled precise monitoring of these changes. Human activities were more constrained at higher altitudes, with most deforestation occurring below 2,600 meters above sea level. Effective environmental policies contributed to large-scale reforestation efforts, while land conversion and logging remained dominant threats to forest integrity.

Liu, K., Luo, Z., Liu, L., Gan, Y., Mu, X., Wang, H., & Du, X. (2025). Monitoring of Forest Changes in Mount Kenya National Park Based on Domestic High-Resolution Satellites. The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, XLVIII-G-2025, 973–979. https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-xlviii-g-2025-973-2025