Change Detection and Marine Management in South Water Caye Marine Reserve, Belize

Keywords: MPA, LULC, Belize, change, protected area, remote sensing
Session Type: Virtual Poster Abstract
Day: Saturday
Session Start / End Time: 2/26/2022 09:40 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/26/2022 11:00 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 69

Abstract

Ecological and anthropogenic changes constantly shape the form, function, and longevity of tropical marine ecosystems. With the help of emerging technologies in remote sensing and geographic analysis, these changes can be monitored and provide meaningful, actionable information that may shape the future of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). The South Water Caye Marine Reserve (SWCMR), an MPA in Belize’s southern waters, contains the largest unbroken stretch of the Belize Barrier Reef as well as many small mangrove islands, patch reefs, and seagrass beds that sustain myriad threatened and economically important fisheries. This measures land and water cover change inside and outside the SWCMR to test the accuracy of high-resolution imagery in these environments, establish a baseline of recent environmental change, and identify current change trends in the area. Land cover change analysis methods are applied to three and five meter resolution satellite images from Planet taken in 2010, 2015, and 2019. Results of this study have an accuracy of at least 80%. They show that while greater amounts of change are found outside the marine reserve boundaries, within the SWCMR the total area of developed and barren land cover increased at a swift rate between 2010 and 2019. Knowing and understanding these changes will provide valuable information for future management and conservation decisions that affect MPAs and Belize’s valuable marine diversity.