Monitoring Land Cover/Use Conversions in Türkiye Wetlands Using Collect Earth

Abstract

Wetlands provide biodiversity conservation, carbon sequestration, recreation services, and contribute to the health and resilience of the overall ecosystem. It is of great importance to protect wetlands to ensure that these benefits are sustainable and to mitigate the effects of climate change. Overall, monitoring environmental changes in wetlands plays a vital role in understanding, managing, and safeguarding wetland environments and resources. Accessible platforms providing diverse RS&GIS integrated methodological approaches to continental/national land-cover changes provide important information about the direction and causes of land-cover changes as well as their possible effects on ecosystems, biodiversity, and human societies. Open-source platforms and data are frequently used to collect and evaluate data quickly and efficiently. This has successfully implemented land monitoring and provided fresh opportunities for Earth observation applications. According to the 2020 official data, 93 wetlands in T & uuml;rkiye are recognized as being of national/international significance (and 14 of these wetlands are protected under the Ramsar Convention) and were selected as the study area. The focus of our evaluation is on the LULC classes and conversions of the T & uuml;rkiye Wetland, as well as the 22-year (2000-2022) LULC vegetation gain and loss land determination. This article examines T & uuml;rkiye Wetland environment monitoring using Collect Earth (CE), a free open-source and user-friendly software tool developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), a land monitoring platform powered by Google Earth Engine (GEE). The primary objectives of this study are threefold: (1) to ascertain Wetland land cover/use classes; (2) to identify land cover/use conversion and direction in wetland areas with different statuses; and (3) to delve into potential factors driving shifts in wetland land cover/use, particularly the loss-gain areas. The anticipated outcomes of the study, an enhanced comprehension of factors influencing regional wetlands in the context of environmental conservation, water management, climate change mitigation, and economic benefits, will empower planners and policymakers to formulate appropriate strategies for the long-term conservation of these vital ecosystems. Furthermore, this study example demonstrates that Collect Earth is a comprehensive and user-friendly tool for land monitoring, can be used to rapidly and sustainably build capacity for land monitoring, and to substantively improve our collective understanding of Wetland land use and land cover.