Detection of scattered settlement in and around Babile Elephant Sanctuary and threats it pose using robust remote sensing method, Eastern Ethiopia.

Abstract Illegal human activities occurring within protected areas (PA) are threats to the ecosystem and an annoyance for PA managers in many parts of the world including Ethiopia. This research aims to map scattered settlements in and surrounding Babile Elephant Sanctuary (BES) to analyse its impact on the endangered PA. Sentinel-2 L2 spectral data from dry and wet seasons were used to map settlements. A simple method of cloud masking based on multi-temporal thresholding that referenced a cloud-free dry season image was proposed to produce a cloud-free wet season image from several images. Then 19 features were derived from the seasonal images to be used as input for the random forest classifier. An integrated dataset was produced from the World Settlement Footprint and the new settlement map for analysis of settlement distribution. To see the variation in settlement density, cluster analysis was performed using Ordering Points to Identify the Clustering Structure (OPTICS) algorism. Our result was very closer to the World Settlement FootprintDataset The result showed that an area on the west of BES that covers only 18% of its boundary was settlement-free. If BES is to survive, relevant authorities should take immediate measures that curtain the movement of people into the sanctuary.