Corine land cover change detection in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina

The structure of land cover in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and the Republic of Serbia has been constantly changing due to a number of different factors. The war profoundly influenced life, particularly the socio-economic structure, which furthermore has a meaningful impact on current land cover. In this research CORINE land cover (CLC) databases are used (from 2000 to 2018) for analysis and comparison of land cover in the aforementioned countries. The analysis is conducted by ArcGIS Pro 2.9.0 software to interpret changes in land cover over the period 2000-2018. The result showed that in the period from 2000 to 2018 agricultural land has a trend of a significant decrease in both countries. In addition, artificial surfaces enlarged their surface, especially to the detriment of all agricultural categories which is directly linked with the process of the post-war reconstruction of the countries. In this paper, land cover changes in Serbia and BiH that occurred during the period 2000-2018 are analyzed and presented in graphical forms. The results show that the period 2000-2006 has undergone the most intense changes. A total of 1,223.14 km2 of agricultural land was transferred to other types of land cover in Serbia in the period 2000-2006 while in BiH it amounted to 1,045.76 km2 . Most of these changes can be attributed to the past war and its implications, but also to the challenges of the current economic situation. The CLC database established in this way serves as a necessary framework for providing information on vulnerable ecosystems and habitats, as well as a basis for regional spatial planning, natural resource inventory and environmental monitoring.