Land Use Change and Its Driving Forces in the Koshi Hills, Eastern Nepal
01 Jan 2017-pp 67-108
TL;DR: In this article, the change in land use and land cover categories due to the intervention of different development activities in the eastern hills of Nepal during the past two and half decades was analyzed.
Abstract: In rural Nepal, development efforts often mean increasing the production and productivity of Arable land. Therefore, the land resources remain often changing its use. This paper intends to analyse the change in land use and land cover categories due to the intervention of different development activities in the eastern hills of Nepal during the past two and half decades. Both analogue and digital data have been used from three different sources including the Land Resource Mapping Project (LRMP, 1986), toposheets from 1996, and Landsat imagery from 2010. The spatial data generated was verified in the field via observation, a ‘Reality Check Approach’ (RCA), and consultation workshops held in the four districts such as Bhojpur, Dhankuta, Sankhuwasabha, and Terhathum. An attempt has also been made to identify the possible factors responsible for land use changes. Five broad categories of land uses, such as arable land, forest, shrubland, grassland, and others (water bodies, snow land, bare land, rock and ice, settlement built-ups, and roads), have been determined, based on 1996 toposheets. In the Koshi Hills, significant changes have occurred particularly in forest land, with it increasing consistently over the past 24 years, whereas cultivated land first increased during 1986–1996 and then decreased from 1996 onwards. In agriculture, while traditional subsistence cereal crops have been replaced with commercial vegetables and high-value crops such as large cardamom, ginger, seeds, and fruits, particularly around the roadsides, what has also happened is that patches of abandoned agricultural land have been observed due to a tendency of local youths migrating outwards to areas away from direct road access. The Community Forestry Program, the construction of roads, and the introduction of improved agriculture development programs have contributed to the internal trading between major land cover/use categories. These have brought benefits like nature conservation, national and international trade of local products, and improved living conditions for local communities. It is therefore possible to exhibit spatial relationships between development interventions and land use change on a GIS framework.
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31 Dec 2020
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors concluded that the acceleration of land degradation has exerted to the sustainability of population-resource relation and the watershed needs an integrated watershed management program to address human-induced vulnerability and sustainability of watershed resources.
Abstract: Earthen road construction has resulted land degradation in the Tankhuwakhola watershed of Dhankuta district, eastern hills of Nepal. The community living near the highway has dramatically changed in their way of living with the adoption of commercial crops. As a result, the people who lived far from the access of roads have interested in the expansion of agricultural link roads to their community. The local government had prepared a District Transport Master Plan (DTMP) and identified 25 rural earthen road schemes in the Tankhuwakhola watershed. The local people have also given high priority to road construction for increasing access to markets, education, health services and other facilities. The analysis of both spatial and non-spatial data reveals that the watershed area losses 1.8 million cubic meter soils due to the cause of earthen road construction. As a result, the area is suffering from the problem of the landslide, soil erosion that ultimately result of land degradation. This paper concludes that the acceleration of land degradation has exerted to the sustainability of population-resource relation. The watershed area has been producing more profitable commercial crops for exporting outside from the hills since the construction of the Koshi highway. The watershed needs an integrated watershed management program to address human-induced vulnerability and sustainability of watershed resources.
5 citations
Cites background from "Land Use Change and Its Driving For..."
...The road construction is a major factor for land use land cover change as well as land degradation (Pradhan & Sharma, 2017)....
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...It is mainly due to the average road density of the Koshi hills observed 14.2/1000 km2 in 2010 and it was 9.1/1000 km2 in 2007 (Pradhan & Sharma, 2017)....
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...History of road networks development in Dhankuta The Koshi highway, also known as the Dharan-Dhanktua Highway was completed in 1982 (Pradhan & Sharma, 2017)....
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TL;DR: In this paper , a systematic review of existing studies to identify the key causes and impacts of cropland abandonment and consider a range of restoration options for abandoned croplands is presented.
4 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a study was carried out in the northeast part of the Andhikhola watershed lying in the Middle Hills of Nepal, where over the last two decades, heavy loss of labor due to outmigration of rural farmers and increasing urbanization in relatively easy accessible lowland areas has caused agricultural land abandonment.
Abstract: Land use intensity is a valuable concept to understand integrated land use system, which is unlike the traditional approach of analysis that often examines one or a few aspects of land use disregarding multidimensionality of the intensification process in the complex land system. Land use intensity is based on an integrative conceptual framework focusing on both inputs to and outputs from the land. Geographers’ non-stationary data-analysis technique is very suitable for most of the spatial data analysis. Our study was carried out in the northeast part of the Andhikhola watershed lying in the Middle Hills of Nepal, where over the last two decades, heavy loss of labor due to outmigration of rural farmers and increasing urbanization in the relatively easy accessible lowland areas has caused agricultural land abandonment. Our intention in this study was to ascertain factors of spatial pattern of intensity dynamism between human and nature relationships in the integrated traditional agricultural system. High resolution aerial photo and multispectral satellite image were used to derive data on land use and land cover. In addition, field verification, information collected from the field and census report were other data sources. Explanatory variables were derived from those digital and analogue data. Ordinary Least Square (OLS) technique was used for filtering of the variables. Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) model was used to identify major determining factors of land use intensity dynamics. Moran’s I technique was used for model validation. GWR model was executed to identify the strength of explanatory variables explaining change of land use intensity. Accordingly, 10 variables were identified having the greatest strength to explain land use intensity change in the study area, of which physical variables such as slope gradient, temperature and solar radiation revealed the highest strength followed by variables of accessibility and natural resource. Depopulation in recent decades has been a major driver of land use intensity change but spatial variability of land use intensity was highly controlled by physical suitability, accessibility and availability of natural resources.
4 citations
References
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TL;DR: In this article, the spatial and temporal changes in land use between 1978 and 1992 in a typical watershed covering 543 km2 in the Middle Hills of Nepal and used GIS to compare land use changes between village development committees (VDCs) with and without formally handed-over community forests during this period.
Abstract: This study analyzed the spatial and temporal changes in land use between 1978 and 1992 in a typical watershed covering 543 km2 in the Middle Hills of Nepal and used GIS to compare land use changes between village development committees (VDCs) with and without formally handed-over community forests during this period. The forest handover procedure followed the specifications of the national community forestry policy of Nepal. In the watershed, the total area of forested land (defined as high forest plus shrubland) declined by about 8% during the period. However, high forest increased over the study period, whereas shrubland cover declined. Between VDCs with community forests and those without, there were large differences in the rate of total forested area loss, with community forest VDCs losing less total forested area over the 14-year period. Moreover, in the group of VDCs with community forests, high forest area increased by 77%, in comparison with 13% for VDCs without community forests. Higher...
152 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors evaluated the impacts of Australian development assistance over a continuous 19-year period fostering community forestry in Sindhu Palchok and Kabhre Palanchok districts of Nepal and found that community forestry activities within certain areas at the lower altitude are having a beneficial effect on the balance of land use as part of a broader process of agrarian change.
Abstract: Between 1993 and 1996 the Nepal Australia Community Forestry Project carried out four comparative land-use stud- ies in Sindhu Palchok and Kabhre Palanchok districts of Nepal to evaluate the impacts of Australian development assistance over a continuous 19-year period fostering community forestry. The four studies made use of sets of air photographs taken in 1978 and 1992 to assess land-use changes. The samples covered almost 15 percent of the 400,000 ha land area of the two districts; they ranged between 600 and 4,000 m in altitude. Land-use change based on photo interpretation and ground truthing was supple- mented by Rapid Rural Appraisal and by information obtained from local villagers. Community forestry activities within certain areas at the lower altitudes are having a beneficial effect on the balance of land use as part of a broader process of agrarian change. Shrublands and grasslands are being converted to more productive categories of forest land, reflecting the care of communities in managing and conserving their own forest resources. The same cannot be said for the upper slopes where there is evidence that the forest cover is being denuded rapidly and that the shrubland and grassland areas are expanding at the expense of forest cover. Many current land-use practices need to be abandoned or modified. Use of land for agricultural purposes appears to be stable. Recent evidence suggests that reliance on subsistence farming is de- clining as opportunities increase for off-farm income, but whether this has allowed population pressure on land resources to be contained is debatable. While it appears that community forestry has reduced the pressure on land at the lower altitudes of Sindhu Palchok and Kabhre Palanchok, sustained population pressures, combined with a lack of coherent and coordinated land manage- ment policies and practices, have resulted in a rapid decline in forest resources on the upper slopes together with loss of catch- ment stability.
93 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated land-use change over a 12-year period for a pilot area of 200 km2 of the Middle Mountain zone in Dhankuta District.
Abstract: Land-use change over a 12-year period was investigated for a pilot area of 200 km2 of the Middle Mountain zone in Dhankuta District. The studies were based on interpretation of air photographs taken in 1978 and 1990 and field checks on a sample of 13 sites of 300 ha each, representing a 20% sample. Six categories were mapped: agriculture (7 sub-categories); abandoned farmland; forest (7 sub-categories); grazing; shrub; and other (such as landslides, urban, and water). Separate measurements were made of crown cover of trees within arable lands. Population changes were estimated by house counts on the air photographs. The results indicated a stability in land use, despite an estimated 19% increase in population. No statistically significant changes in overall land use were detected but considerable internal trading occurred between categories within sample areas, especially between "forest" and "shrub,' demonstrating a fluidity of land use. Total forest cover increased from 36.5% of the sample area in 1978 to 38.8% in 1990. Forest land increased by 34%, indicating a significant improvement in on-farm fodder, fuelwood, and fruit tree resources. Landslide areas increased from 1.0% of the total sample in 1978 to 1.9% in 1990. The method developed proved to be rapid and sufficiently accurate for determining farm-level land-use changes in steeply dissected mountain terrain.
67 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the land use and management systems and their environmental effects with reference to a small watershed and found that farm lands on the ridges were undergoing unsustainable rates of soil erosion and soil nutrients depletion due to frequent hoeing and ploughing of lands, application of inadequate amounts of organic fertilisers, lack of mulching, and fallowing of lands for too short a period.
59 citations
TL;DR: Tests reveal that changes in social organization are strongly associated with changes in land use independent of measures of population size, affluence, and technology, and local birth events shape local land use changes and key proximate determinants of land use change.
Abstract: A new approach to investigation of human influences on the environment identifies social organization as an influence independent of population size, affluence, and technology. The framework also identifies population events, such as births, that influence the environment. The authors use longitudinal, multilevel, mixed-method measures of local land use changes, population dynamics, and social organization to test this framework. These tests reveal that changes in social organization are strongly associated with changes in land use independent of measures of population size, affluence, and technology. Also, local birth events shape local land use changes and key proximate determinants of land use change.
55 citations