Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Wetland Cover Changes in East Kolkata Wetlands, India from 1972 to 2011

Land use and land cover change has a slow but prolonged impact on various aspects of environment on local, regional and global scales. In developing countries especially population pressure and food demand have compelled conversion of wetlands to built-up and agricultural lands. One such unique example is the East Kolkata Wetlands (EKWs) located on the eastern fringes of Kolkata City in India where such land cover change is very intense and rapid. In this study, wetland conversions in EKWs from 1972 to 2011 were analyzed with four Landsat images using the Geographic Object-Based Image Analysis (GeOBIA) and a post-classification comparison. Results suggested that wetland areas decreased by 17.9 percent during the study period. The western part of the wetlands saw the maximum conversion of wetlands to built-up areas with time, whereas the east and south experienced more of wetlands to agricultural and other land conversions