Monitoring permissible boundaries of mines in Moteh wildlife refugee based on land use map derived from satellite images

Study the land use and land cover changes and exploring spatial pattern trends is essential for better understanding of landscape dynamics during the time as well as land-use planning and reaching conservation goals. Determining the Land use and land cover changes in the region can help managers to perform appropriate management. Nowadays, mine is one of the current interferences in protected areas. Mines change natural landscape during processes of discovery, extraction and production. All activities of the mines are limited with permissible operation boundaries by Ministry of Industries and Mines but always consistent and accurate monitoring is necessary to limit mining activities in permissible boundaries. Such monitoring has a great importance when the under operation mines are located in the areas which are under the preservation of Environment Organization.
In this research, the monitoring objective was the permissible boundaries in the area and land use map was used as a basis for comparison. Satellite images of IRS-P6 LISS-III acquired in 2006 were used to generate land use map. After geometric and topographic correction, land use map was produced using hybrid classification method. The overall accuracy of generated map was 87%.  According to the documents of Ministry of Industries and Mines and National Geosciences Database of Iran, the permissible boundaries were drawn on topographic map at a scale of 1:50000 and were digitized in polygon type layer in GIS. The result of conformity of permissible boundaries and land use map shows that mining activities  in some areas were extended to out of permissible boundaries and it is required to be  followed up more seriously by managing   organizations specially by Department of Environment and put the new utilizations in a proper path in permissible boundaries.