Philippine Journal of Science

150 (4): 723-734, August 2021

ISSN 0031 - 7683
Date Received: 12 Oct 2020

Monitoring of Land Use and Land Cover Changes

in Mt. Pulag National Park Using Landsat
and Sentinel Imageries

Nova D. Doyog1, Roscinto Ian C. Lumbres1, and Zenaida G. Baoanan2*

1College of Forestry, Benguet State University

Km 6, La Trinidad, Benguet 2601 Philippines
2Department of Biology, College of Science
University of the Philippines Baguio, Baguio City 2600 Philippines

The degree of land use and land cover (LULC) conversion of Mt. Pulag National Park (MPNP),
Benguet Province, Philippines, from 1990–2020 was assessed to provide valuable information for
land resource management strategies. The increasing demand for vegetable farming threatens
the park with further degradation. The magnitude of changes in the LULC of MPNP was
determined using Landsat 5 for 1990–2010 and Sentinel-2 for 2020. The FLAASH (Fast Line-of-
sight Atmospheric Analysis of Hypercubes) algorithm was performed to enhance the reflectance
of the satellite images before data analysis. The maximum likelihood classification (MLC) was
used to classify the MPNP into five LULC changes: agricultural lands, barren lands, built-up
areas, forest lands, and grasslands with areal percentage cover of 15.88, 0.26, 1.34, 80.51, and
2.01%, respectively, in 2020, and overall accuracy of 90.58%. The LULC percentage of change
from 1990–2020 showed that agricultural areas increased by 8.96%, barren lands decreased
by 2.14%, built-up areas increased by 1.02%, forest lands decreased by 8.35%, and grasslands
increased by 0.51%. The results showed that the increasing area of human-induced LULC
class such as the agriculture lands and built-up areas is the primary cause of forest land loss.
However, the barren lands undergoing natural regeneration contribute to the gain of the forest
area. Therefore, the LULC conversion pattern serves as a warning that the park will continue
to lose a significant portion of the forest due to land conversion if no intervention is done.

Keywords: LULC, MLC, MPNP, optical data, remote sensing

INTRODUCTION Pielke 2005; Pielke et al. 2011). While we are supposed

The LULC determines the environmental condition and
physical attributes of a particular area and its potential
for biomass productivity and biodiversity (Anderson
et al. 1976; Yesuph and Dagnew 2019). LULC data
play essential roles in ecological assessments relative
to many environmental concerns and issues affecting
worldwide land cover conversion (Feddema et al. 2005;
*Corresponding Author: zgbaoanan@up.edu.ph
to be aiming for positive LULC change through the
expansion of the forest land cover to mitigate the impact
of climate change, this is not the typical scenario. The
increasing human population demands more built-up and
agricultural areas at the expense of barren and naturally
vegetated lands (Kafi et al. 2014; Toure et al. 2018). Poor
environmental governance may further influence land-use
alteration (Mahmud and Achide 2012). Both human and
nature-induced disturbances contribute to LULC changes

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(Bajocco et al. 2012), thereby altering the atmospheric,
climatic, and biotic domains of the Earth at a particular
time (Feddema et al. 2005; Pielke 2005; Pielke et al.
2011).
The constant change of land use alters CO2 storage.
Therefore, continuous monitoring of terrestrial ecosystems
is essential for sustainable forest management. An
accurate LULC map supports a precise estimation of
CO2 sequestered from the atmosphere and serves as an
indicator of biodiversity status (Giri et al. 2005; Kafi et
al. 2014).
Remotely sensed imagery is gaining a reputation as an
efficient LULC information predictor (Jensen 2000;
Richards 2013; Shivakumar and Rajashekararadhya 2018)
based on its “unique view” of the spatial and temporal
dynamics (Batty and Howes 2001; Roy et al. 2002;
Martha et al. 2008). The satellite images evolve with
the emergence of new instruments – from Landsat and
Sentinel to Worldview – resulting in increasing spatial,
spectral, and temporal resolution. The data obtained from
remote sensing are appropriate for investigating timely
and scheduled changes in vegetation cover and systematic
observation of environmental conditions (Gong et al.
2008).
The field area chosen for this study is MPNP, being
a valuable watershed in the Cordillera and harboring
endemic flora and fauna (Fernando and Cereno 2010).
The place was declared as a national park by Presidential
Proclamation No. 75, s. 1987. It was closed to occupancy
through Republic Act No. 7586 (National Integrated
Protected Areas System or NIPAS Act of 1992)
to encourage protection of the area and its unique
biodiversity. However, the accessibility to tourists –
coupled with uncontrolled development and expanding
farming – are possible factors leading to continued land
cover changes in the park. Hence, this study is conducted
to monitor the extent of LULC conversion of MPNP from
1990–2020 using time-series satellite images, integrating
geographic information systems, remote sensing data, and
analysis techniques. We hope to bring to the attention of
the park management the current land use map of the area
in aid of legislation.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Study Site
The MPNP (~ 11,550 ha) sits in the Cordillera
Biogeographic Zone (Figure 1a) bounded by the
municipalities of Bokod, Kabayan, and Buguias of the
Benguet province, Tinoc of Ifugao, and Kayapa of Nueva
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Doyog et al.: LULC Changes in MPNP
Vizcaya (Figure 1b). The satellite image of MPNP is
shown in Figure 1c. Mt. Pulag used to be the second-
highest mountain in the Philippines at 2,926-m elevation
until Mt. Dulang-Dulang in Bukidnon exceeded the record
with a 2,938-m peak (Peterson et al. 2008).
Buot and Okitsu (1998) determined the annual mean
temperature of MPNP from 16 °C at 2,000 masl to 14
°C at the pine forest’s upper limit (2,300 masl). At 2,800
masl, the annual mean temperature drops to 12 °C. The
mountain has a unique vegetation zonation pattern since
it does not have a dipterocarp flora in its lower slopes,
while on top is defined grassland vegetation (Merrill and
Merritt 1910; Hipol et al. 2007).
Satellite Images Used for the LULC Prediction
To monitor the LULC change of MPNP in this study,
we utilized the satellite images downloaded freely from
the United States Geological Survey website ( www.
earthexplorere.usgs.gov/). We only chose satellite images
with no greater than 15% cloud cover to achieve higher
accuracy results. For 1990–2010, we used images from
Landsat 5 with 116 WRS path and 049 row on the
following dates, providing the respective land and scene
cloud cover percentages in parenthesis: 10 Apr 1990 (9.0
and 14.00), 23 Mar 2001 (5.00 and 12.00), and 12 Feb
2010 (5.00 and 12.00). Although Landsat 7 was launched
on 05 Apr 1999, the images are not clear due to high cloud
cover. Hence, we resolved to use Landsat 5 imagery for
2000 and 2010. All the raster files used were projected
to the Universal Transverse Mercator system, Zone 51
North, and WGS 84 datum.
For 2020 LULC analysis, we used Sentinel-2 images
with 116/049 path/row acquired on 27 Feb 2019 and a
scene cloud cover of 2.18. Figure 2a shows the extents
of the satellite images relative to the whole Philippines,
while the downloaded satellite images of the study site
are presented in Figures 2b–e.
Existing LULC Identification and Collection of
Training and Validation Data per LULC Class
The different types of LULC information describe the
vegetation, water, and natural features of the ground
surface. Through visual observation of the satellite
images and verification from the Google Earth desktop
application, five LULC types were designated over MPNP
– namely, agricultural lands, barren lands, built-up areas,
forest lands, and grassland.
The training and validation dataset used for classification
and accuracy assessment, respectively, were collected
from the Google Earth desktop application. Each sample
was randomly picked through the visual inspection of the
study site. A random number of sample data were collected
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Vol. 150 No. 4, August 2021

Figure 1. Geographical location of the MPNP showing its specific location in the Northern part of the
Philippines (a), the political boundaries of the province surrounding the national park (orange
is the whole Benguet province; blue is part of the Ifugao province and green is part of the
Nueva Vizcaya; red is the boundary of MPNP) (b), and satellite image with the location
of the training (red) and validation (yellow) data representing the LULCs of MPNP (c).

Figure 2. The location of the MPNP in the Philippines (a) and the various satellite
images of the study site from 1990–2020 (b–e).

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per LULC class. Google Earth’s imagery resolution ranges
from 15 m to 15 cm, providing very high quality, with
historical and up-to-date details of the Earth’s surface.
A supervised selection technique was conducted to ensure
that each LULC class is valid for all periods. The LULC
class presumed to have not changed from 1990–2020 was
purposely chosen as training and validation data. The satellite
image of MPNP acquired on 19 Feb 2019 was used to select
the dataset for each LULC class through the historical
imagery tool of the Google Earth desktop application.
The overall minimum number of samples that were
determined by Equation 1 is 64:
(1)
where A is the area (ha) of the study site, C is the
coefficient of variation, e is the error, and a is the sampling
size. A minimum of 10 samples per LULC class was
considered to avoid the prevalence sampling effect (Vach
2005; Allouche et al. 2006)
A total of 955 pixels were collected to represent the
existing LULC classes: 24 for agricultural lands, 170 for
barren lands, 45 for built-up areas, 325 for forest lands,
and 295 for the grassland. The total points that were
collected in the Google Earth Pro were divided into two:
20% for the validation dataset for the accuracy assessment
of the classification and 80% for the training dataset. No
similar sample points were used for both the training and
validation sample since a sample that was already used for
the training would be excluded as a validation sample. The
distribution of the different training and validation samples
collected in the different locations is shown in Figure 1c.
On the other hand, the appearance of each LULC viewed
on Google Earth in different periods is shown in Figure
3. Numerous points in different locations were selected
per LULC class since pixels in the same LULC class may
have different reflectance.

Figure 3. The specific locations of the collected dataset for agricultural lands, barren lands,
built-up areas, forest lands, and grassland in each particular period. The images
were outsourced from the Google Earth Pro.

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Preprocessing of Satellite Images
Landsat image preprocessing is a prerequisite when using
satellite data, especially if taken in two or more different
periods. The satellite images need to be registered with
each other for comparison. Atmospheric correction is
needed to remove the effects of the different noises caused
by sensor errors, the responsitivity of satellite sensors,
changes in brightness, and atmospheric interventions
(Vicente-Serrano et al. 2008), and convert the radiances
acquired by the instruments to the reflectance of the
object’s surface (Gao et al. 2006). The principle of
atmospheric correction algorithm is based solely on the
spectral radiance that can be expressed as the function of
three components – namely, the radiance that is coming
from the surface and captured directly by the sensor, the
radiance that is the effect of the adjacent environments,
which is coming from the surface being scattered by
the atmosphere into the sensor, and the radiance that
is reflected by the atmosphere without even touching
the surface. The FLAASH model approach is proven
to provide better results (Lee et al. 2015; Somdatta and
Chakrabarti 2011; Guo and Zeng 2012) compared to DOS
(Dark Object Subtraction), QUAC (Quick Atmospheric
Correction), 6S, and ATCOR 2-3. The FLAASH model
approach is based mainly on radiative transfer (Guo
and Zeng 2012). It is the most advanced model as it
also accounts for adjacency effects (Adler-Golden et
al. 1999) during the process of atmospheric correction.
The adjacency effect compensates for the low resolution
obtained from Landsat 5 imagery.
In addition to atmospheric correction, the pansharpening
technique was applied to enhance the spatial resolution
of the image while retaining the spectral attributes. It was
applied to the Sentinel-2 image but was not performed
for the Landsat 5 due to the absence of the panchromatic
band. Although the Sentinel-2 Multispectral Instrument
does not have a panchromatic band, the resolution of its
four bands at 10 m was used to enhance the resolution of
the other bands, which have 20–60 m spatial resolution.
The Sen2Res plugin for SNAP was used in this study to
enhance the resolution of all the bands of the Sentinel-2
to 10 m.
Satellite Image Segmentation
Image classification is either with (supervised) or
without (unsupervised) the presence of training data. In
unsupervised classification, image classification is being
processed to cluster pixels based only on the available
statistics of the image while in supervised classification,
the classification and clustering of pixels are based on the
attributes of the provided pre-defined training data. The
MLC, as one of the supervised classification techniques,
requires the availability of training samples. Before the
LULC classification, the satellite images were segmented
Doyog et al.: LULC Changes in MPNP
first to classify and merge the pixels of the same image
attributes such as reflectance, color, and texture. This
study used the image segmentation toolbox in ENVI for
the segmentation using the edge segmentation and full
lambda merge algorithm with 10 and 96 as parameters,
respectively. A suitable combination of the parameters is
needed to achieve the best segmentation and grouping
of pixels.
Satellite Image-based LULC Classification
Technique
This study utilized the MLC algorithm for the classification
of the LULC of MPNP based on the Bayes theorem
expressed as Equation 2:
(2)
where (P(ω|i) is the likelihood function, P(i) is the a priori
information, i.e. the probability that object i occurs in the
focused area, and P(ω) is the probability that ω is observed.
The general procedures in MLC are as follows (Ahmad
and Quegan 2012):
(1) determining the different land cover types within
the study area;
(2) choosing the land cover information-based
training pixels for each of the desired classes;
(3) estimating the mean vector and covariance matrix
of each class using the chosen training pixels; and
(4) classifying each pixel in the image into one of the
established land cover types.
Accuracy Assessment of the LULC Classification
The 20% of the data that were not used as training data
were used for validation assessment of the classification.
For the assessment of the accuracy of the LULC
classification per assessing period, the confusion matrix
was used in which the user, producer, overall accuracy,
and kappa coefficient were assessed. The overall accuracy
was calculated by getting the sum of all the correctly
classified pixels, represented from upper left to lower
right diagonal, and divided with the total number of all
the pixels. The user accuracy on the other hand was equal
to the sum of correctly classified pixels of a particular
class divided by the total number of classified pixels in
the class, while the producer accuracy was the sum of
correctly classified pixels of a particular class divided by
the number of training pixels of the same class (Patel and
Kaushal 2010). The three were all expressed in percentage
thus needed to be multiplied by 100. On the other hand, the
kappa coefficient that measured the agreement between
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classification and truth values ranged from 0–1. According
to McHugh (2012), a kappa value from 0–0.20 have no
agreement, 0.21–0.39 is minimal, 0.40–0.59 is weak,
0.60–0.79 is moderate, 0.80–0.90 is strong, and above 0.90
is very strong and has nearly perfect agreement.
Change Detection and Determination of the
Magnitude of Change
The changes over the five different LULC classes of MPNP
were analyzed for three decades covering 1990–2020. The
magnitude of change (K) is a change in the size of the
LULC class (expansion or reduction). A negative value
represents a decrease in LULC class size while a positive
value indicates an increase (Mahmud and Achide 2012).
The K is expressed by the following formula (Equation 3):
𝐾 = 𝐹 − 𝐼
On the other hand, the percentage of change (A) is
expressed as Equation 4:
where K is the magnitude of change, A is the percentage
of change, F is the first date, and I is the reference date.
RESULTS
Performance of MLC Classified Satellite Image-
based LULC
In this study, the MPNP was classified into five LULC
types using the multi-temporal Landsat images that
were atmospherically corrected. Pansharpening was an
additional technique applicable for Sentinel imagery. The
LULC of MPNP for a particular period was determined
based on the reflectance of the training data that was
observed in the satellite image.
The general reflectance of each LULC across the different
bands of the satellite image conveyed that trees had the
highest reflectance followed by the agricultural area,
grassland, then barren land. The reflectance was due to
the vegetation that was present in the forest, agricultural
areas, and grassland.
The MLC supervised classification was used in this study.
The training datasets required for classifying the target
pixels were obtained from the Google Earth Pro image.
It is a reliable source of training dataset or ground truth
data since it has high resolution resembling the real ground
(3) situation. Through the MLC technique, the LULC of
MPNP from 1990–2020 was determined.
The assessment of the performance of the MLC in
classifying the different LULC of MPNP in a particular
assessing period was conducted using the confusion
(4)
matrix through the computation of the user’s, producer’s,
and the overall accuracies. The kappa coefficient was also
used as one of the evaluation criteria. The computation
results per decade are shown in Tables 1–4.
It can be seen in the confusion matrices throughout the
decades that the user’s accuracy ranges from 45.45% – as
observed from built-up areas in 1990 (Table 1) – to 100%
from barren lands in 2000 (Table 2), 2010 (Table 3), and
2020 (Table 4), and from grassland in 2000 (Table 2).
With the computed 100% accuracy, there was no error
committed. The grassland obtained the highest producer’s
accuracy as well, with the computed value of 96.61%
(Tables 1 and 2). The lowest producer’s accuracy of
54.17% was recorded in built-up LULC in 1990 (Table

Table 1. Confusion matrix of the LULC classification in MPNP for the year 1990.
Observed LULC class
Built- User's accuracy (%)
1990 Agriculture Barren Forest Grassland Total
up
Agriculture 13 0 2 0 0 15 86.67
Predicted LULC

Barren 0 29 2 0 31 93.55
Built-up 6 0 5 0 0 11 45.45
Forest 5 5 2 62 2 76 81.58
Grassland 0 0 0 1 57 58 98.28
Total 24 34 9 65 59 191
Producer's accuracy (%) 54.17 85.29 55.56 95.38 96.61
Kappa coefficient 0.82
Overall accuracy 86.91

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Table 2. Confusion matrix of the LULC classification in MPNP for the year 2000.

Observed LULC class

User's accuracy (%)
2000 Agriculture Barren Built-up Forest Grassland Total

Agriculture 13 0 4 3 0 20 65.00
Predicted LULC

Barren 0 30 0 0 0 30 100.00
Built-up 2 0 5 0 0 7 71.43

Forest 9 4 0 62 2 77 80.52

Grassland 0 0 0 0 57 57 100.00

Total 24 34 9 65 59 191

Producer's accuracy (%) 54.17 88.24 55.56 95.38 96.61

Kappa coefficient 0.83

Overall accuracy 87.43

Table 3. Confusion matrix of the LULC classification in MPNP for the year 2010.
Observed LULC class
User's accuracy (%)
2010 Agriculture Barren Built-up Forest Grassland Total
Agriculture 16 0 4 2 0 22 72.73
Predicted LULC

Barren 31 0 0 31 100.00
Built-up 2 0 5 0 0 7 71.43
Forest 6 3 0 62 3 74 83.78
Grassland 0 0 0 1 56 57 98.25
Total 24 34 9 65 59 191
Producer's accuracy (%) 66.67 91.18 55.56 95.38 94.92
Kappa coefficient 0.85
Overall accuracy 89.01

Table 4. Confusion matrix of the LULC classification in MPNP for the year 2020.
Observed LULC class
User's accuracy (%)
2020 Agriculture Barren Built-up Forest Grassland Total
Agriculture 16 0 2 2 0 20 80.00
Predicted LULC

Barren 0 32 0 0 0 32 100.00
Built-up 8 0 7 0 0 15 46.67
Forest 0 2 0 62 3 67 92.54
Grassland 0 0 0 1 56 57 98.25
Total 24 34 9 65 59 191
Producer's accuracy (%) 66.67 94.12 77.78 95.38 94.92
Kappa coefficient 0.87
Overall accuracy 90.58

1) and 2000 (Table 2). The overall accuracy in LULC coefficient, ranging from 0.82 in 1990 to 0.87 in 2020.
classification shows this pattern in the increasing order: These values are considered to be very strong and nearly
86.91% in 1990, 87.43% in 2000, 89.01% in 2010, and in perfect agreement (McHugh 2012).
90.58% in 2020. The same trend follows for the kappa

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The accuracy assessment – combining the user’s,
producer’s, overall accuracy, and kappa coefficient –
implies that the LULC classification applied for MPNP
was reliable.
Percentage Area Distribution of LULC of Mt. Pulag
in a Particular Year
The resultant maps in Figure 4 indicate the changing
LULC in MPNP from 1990–2020. During the year 1990,
MPNP was covered mainly by forest occupying 88.86%
of the total area followed by agriculture LULC (6.93%),
barren lands (2.39%), grasslands (1.50%), and built-up
area (0.32%). After 10 years (2000), the majority of the
national park was still covered by forest but was decreased
by 2.35% resulting in 86.51%, then agriculture (9.92%)
that was increased by 2.99%, grassland that was increased
by 0.11% resulting in an area of 1.61%, barren lands
that were decreased by 1.29% resulting to 1.11%, and
Figure 4. The LULC map of the MPNP from 1990–2020 with the
corresponding areal percentage of each LULC class.
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Doyog et al.: LULC Changes in MPNP
built-up that was increased by 0.53% resulting to 0.85%.
In 2010, the area of the forest continued to decline by
3.33% resulting in area coverage of 83.18% although it
was still the major cover of MPNP. On the other hand,
the agriculture LULC lands continued to increase by
3.69% and already covered 13.61% of MPNP, while the
grasslands covered 1.71% of the area. The built-up areas,
on the other hand, covered 0.92%, which was increased
by 0.07%. The remaining area was still barren, occupying
0.58%. In 2020, the forest area continued declining to
80.51% due to the expansion of the other LULC classes.
The agricultural areas, grasslands, barren areas, and
built-up covered 15.88%, 2.01%, 0.26%, and 1.34%,
respectively.
Overall, the forest lands decreased from 1990–2020 by
8.35%. The agriculture areas increased by 8.95%, the
grassland increased by 0.51%, the barren lands decreased
by 2.14% while the built-up increased by 1.02%. The
LULC changes for three decades resulted in 0.28,
0.30, 0.02, 0.07, and 0.034% per year for forest lands,
agriculture areas, grassland, barren lands, and built-up
areas, respectively.
The Extent of LULC Conversion in MPNP from
1990–2020
The magnitude of change (K) is a change in the size of
the LULC (expansion or reduction).
The magnitude of change of the LULC size was analyzed
on a decadal basis from 1990–2020. Table 5 shows the
summary of the aerial percentage of each LULC per
period. Table 6, on the other hand, shows that agriculture,
built-up areas, and grasslands are constantly increasing
throughout the years, as indicated by the positive values.
The forest lands and barren lands are decreasing, as
indicated by the negative values. The agricultural areas
had the highest magnitude and percentage of change with
values of 397.70 ha (43.19%) from 1990–2000, 490.43
ha (37.20%) from 2000–2010, and 301.15 ha (16.65%)
in 2010–2020. The highest percentage of change was
observed from 1990–2000. The grassland increased by
14.62 ha (7.33%) from 1990–2000, 13.29 ha (6.21%),
and 39.52 ha (17.40%) from 2010–2020. The built-up
areas increased by 70.61 ha (166.07%) from 1990–2000,
8.55 ha (7.56%) from 2000–2010, and 56.61 ha (46.52%)
from 2010–2020. The forest decreased by 312.24 ha
(–2.64%) from 1990–2000, by 442.46 ha (–3.85%) from
2000–2010, and by 354.76 ha (–3.21%) from 2010–2020.
The decrease of the area of the barren lands was 170.68 ha
(–53.75%), 69.82 ha (–47.53%), and 42.52 ha (–55.17%)
from 1990–2000, from 2000–2010, and from 2010–2020,
respectively.
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Table 5. Areal percentage of each LULC class in the different periods.

1990 2000 2010 2020
LULC class
Area(ha) % Area % Area % Area %

Agriculture 920.79 6.93 1318.48 9.92 1808.92 13.61 2110.06 15.88

Barren 317.56 2.39 146.88 1.11 77.06 0.58 34.55 0.26

Built-up 42.52 0.32 113.13 0.85 121.68 0.92 178.29 1.34

Forest 11806.80 88.86 11494.56 86.51 11052.10 83.18 10697.34 80.51

Grassland 199.30 1.50 213.92 1.61 227.21 1.71 266.73 2.01

Total 13286.97

Table 6. Magnitude and percentage of LULC change from 1990–2020.

1990–2000 2000–2010 2010–2020
LULC class
Magnitude (ha) % Magnitude (ha) % Magnitude (ha) %
Agriculture 397.70 43.19 490.43 37.20 301.15 16.65
Barren –170.68 –53.75 –69.82 –47.53 –42.52 –55.17
Built-up 70.61 166.07 8.55 7.56 56.61 46.52
Forest –312.24 –2.64 –442.46 –3.85 –354.76 –3.21
Grasslands 14.62 7.33 13.29 6.21 39.52 17.40
Note: the positive values indicate increasing trend of change while negative values mean decreasing trend.

DISCUSSION brought about by the combined expansion of agricultural

Factors attributed to LULC conversion such as natural
and human activities may either have positive or negative
changes with corresponding impacts. An example of
positive change is the decrease in the barren land, which
is an indicator of regenerating vegetation. Looking back
at Figure 4, an orange color – which represents the barren
land in 1990 – has been replaced by green color, indicating
regrowth of trees in 2020. However, this gain in forest
cover is lesser compared to human-induced changes
area and built-up in 2020, leading to greater forest loss.
The increasing coverage of grassland areas likewise results
in reduced forest cover.
In the natural setting, negative LULC conversion is
the shift from vegetated to non-vegetated LULC or the
shift from rich to poor biodiversity. The positive LULC
conversion is the opposite. In the case of MPNP, the shift
from one particular LULC to another within the span of
30 years is summarized in Table 7. The table shows that

Table 7. Transition tables per LULC class for the years 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020.
Original LULC Current Shift in LULC (%)
(1990) LULC 1990–2000 2000–2010 2010–2020
Agriculture Agriculture 100.00 100.00 100.00
Barren 46.44 52.25 44.83
Barren
Forest 53.56 47.75 55.17
Built-up Built-up 100.00 100.00 100.00
Agriculture 3.36 4.27 2.73
Built up 0.60 0.08 0.50
Forest
Forest 95.91 89.44 96.41
Grassland 0.12 6.21 0.36
Grassland Grassland 100.00 100.00 100.00

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there was no land conversion in the agriculture, built-up,
and grassland for 30 years whereas portions of the forest
and barren lands were converted to other land uses. The
rate of conversion from barren to forest was highest from
2010–2020. The rate of conversion from forest to other
land uses was also highest in 2000–2010, where 10.56%
of the forest area was converted to agriculture, built-up,
and grassland as compared to 4.09% in 1990–2000 and
3.59% in 2010–2020.
Our findings provide empirical data to prove that the
LULC transformations in MPNP are mainly human-
induced. Abino et al. (2015) and Nauta et al. (2003)
reported the same trend for the Marikina sub-watershed
and Laguna de Bay, Laguna, Philippines, respectively.
Most of the negative conversions in key biodiversity
areas or national parks are attributed to human activities
(Santillan et al. 2019; Soriano et al. 2019). It seems ironic
since these areas are supposed to be protected and free
from human intervention. But with the growing population
estimated to reach 9 billion people by 2050 (Roser and
Ortiz-Ospina 2013; Sylvester 2018), the agricultural
demand is predicted to rise by 69% (Alexandros 2012).
The Benguet province, where MPNP lies, is one of the top
vegetable-producing provinces in the country. Farming is
therefore the main reason for land conversions not only
in Benguet but to many other mountainous regions in
the Cordillera (Lapniten 2020). Without proper planning
and management, even the protected areas may not be
exempted from human encroachment.
MPNP is also a famous ecotourism destination in Northern
Luzon. Irresponsible trekkers may also cause damage to
the park such as the reported grassfire in January 2018
(Bigtas 2018).
The decreasing forest cover poses threat to the unique
flora and fauna thriving in the area. The ecological goods
and services are likewise affected. The people relying on
the ecosystem services provided by the park are on the
losing end.
Strengthening the community-based forest management
systems may alleviate the problem of land conversions.
Bringing awareness to the people on the importance of
protecting natural resources may lead to a paradigm shift
towards sustainability.
CONCLUSION
The LULC transformations in MPNP from 1990–2020
were monitored and classified using Landsat 5 and
Sentinel-2 imagery and MLC supervised classification
technique. The LULC of Mt. Pulag was classified
depending on the reflectance that was registered by a pixel.
732
Doyog et al.: LULC Changes in MPNP
The pixels in the training data were registered and used
to classify the rest of the pixels. Despite the limitations in
using optical datasets, the overall accuracy was still high
and more cost-effective for LULC classification.
The combination of optical data and MLC supervised
classification produced reliable LULC maps of MPNP,
which facilitated measurements of the magnitude and
percentage of change. Anthropogenic-related activities
caused the alarming decline of the forest cover warranting
effective intervention. It is, therefore, recommended that
the local government pay attention to the LULC changes
in Mt. Pulag to prevent further destruction and to protect
the remaining biodiversity and the ecological services
provided by the park.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This study was supported by CHED-DARE TO
(Commission on Higher Education–Discovery Applied
Research and Extension Trans/Inter-Disciplinary
Opportunities) through the project, ”Popularizing Access
to Biodiversity Information Data and Conservation
Opportunities (PABIDACO).” Gratitude is also extended
to the Protected Area and Management Office of the
MPNP for permission to conduct the study.
STATEMENT ON CONFLICT OF
INTEREST
There is no conflict of interest that the authors need to
declare.
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