| Sumario: | Forest degradation poses a greater ecological threat than deforestation, with forest fragmentation being a key concern. Fragmentation breaks vast forest tracts into smaller, isolated patches, jeopardizing biodiversity. A study in Haryana's sub-Himalayan region analysed forest fragmentation using satellite data from Landsat-7 ETM+ (2001) and Landsat-8 OLI (2021). Geospatial methods, employing tools like QGIS, ArcGIS, and FRAGSTAT, evaluated landscape metrics and fragmentation dynamics. Over 20 years, forest area significantly declined, particularly in large core regions. Paradoxically, while the largest patch index and mean patch area increased, overall patch fragmentation decreased. This trend reflects the loss of smaller forest patches to non-forest land uses rather than ecological recovery, resulting in more uniform patch sizes. The study reveals the growing threat posed by shrinking core forest areas and expanding scrubland, endangering local biodiversity. These findings emphasize the need for conservation policies addressing land-use transitions and forest protection. By integrating patch metrics with land-cover analysis, the research sheds light on the complex dynamics of forest fragmentation, offering valuable insights for ecological conservation.
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