Abstract

This study aims to assess and quantify forest cover change within one of the few remaining forest protected landscapes in south west Nigeria, Okomu forest reserve. The study utilised multi-temporal Landsat satellite images over three epochs (1986, 2002 and 2023) to assess forest cover change over the study area. From the results generated we were able to determine the effectiveness level of forest protected status assigned the study area as a means of reducing deforestation from 1986 to 2023. To achieve this objective, trends of forest change within the reserve were investigated. These result showed that forest protected status assigned to the reserve has not fully mitigated the effects of deforestation within reserve. The annual deforestation rates of the reserve increased from 3.5% in period 1 (1986-2002) to 5.1% in period 2 (2002-2023). We suggest that government needs to review forest policies and laws and improve upon the technical capacity of forest managers to improve forest management. Overall, the study has demonstrated the usefulness of using remote sensing and geographic information system to better understand dynamics of forest cover transition in forest protected areas across tropical forests.