Mapping the Forest Change: Using Landsat Imagery in Forest Transition Analysis within the Medvednica Protected Area

The Medvednica Nature Park was established in 1981. At that time its main phenomena were forests and forest communities which covered some two thirds of the protected area. The Park is located in close vicinity to Zagreb, the largest city in Croatia, which has been characterised by a considerable growth in population and area during the last several decades. This article reconstructs a segment of Medvednica protected area's environmental history from 1978 to 2007. The study combines textual and tabular as well as cartographic and remote sensing data in order to provide a clear insight into the proportions of deforestation and reforestation, and their spatial patterns across the entire area of the Park. Results indicate forest transition on more than one tenth of the protected area. These are mostly contact zones of human activities and forest communities located at the edges of the protected area and at its higher elevations. Results also indicate net forest gain of 8.3% over the 1978-2007 period.