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	Viet Nam Conclusions

The usefulness of remotely sensed data particularly the intepreted NOAA AVHRR in conjunction with relevant ancillary data and field information has dispensed an important source of information in the assessment and monitoring of land cover at the national level. Major land cover types were enumerated for Vietnam such as evergreen forest, deciduous forest, mangrove forest, scrubland, agricultural area, and water bodies. Site specific classes like marshlands along the Mekong Delta was separately noted. Nevertheless, the land cover categories has been harmonized with other Asian countries under this exercise towards a more comprehensive regional resource assessment and information aggregation in the future.

As shifting cultivation continues to play a dominant role in forest type conversion, degradation from the evergreen to more open and dry vegetation formations will continue to evolve. The typical transformation from one type of vegetation to another is apparent, especially for the increasing proportion of open woodlands and dry deciduous group from the original evergreen or semi-evergreen type. The expansion of originally recognized scrubland that denotes mostly the presence of crop cultivation is the main feature of land degradation. Along the hill and slopes the magnitude of spatial change is rather insignificant yet fragmented in nature. However the expansion of cultivated area along the foot of the hills, valleys and its adjoining sloping area is rather more spatially notable and pronounced.

Vietnam, as one of the most populous country being investigated in this study follows the common nature of land cover transformation in the Asian region but also exhibits a more distinct spatial change over the period of seven years. The shrinking forest in the Northern Region and Central Plateau and the reduction of marsh land to give way for agriculture are depicted. Above all, it has been ascertained that the increasing population tends to be related to the expanding agricultural area.

In order to arrive at more precise monitoring results, a thorough understanding of the periodicity and environmental adaptations in relation to changing habitat condition are necessary. Incorporation of relevant thematic information through GIS manipulation is also indispensible in that effect. Considering the present scale of temporal and spatial change of the land cover in this country, at least a decade is required to indicate a more comprehensive land cover change monitoring. The predominant shifting cultivation practices signify a gradual but chronic degradation of the landscape in line with the nature of land transformation.

NOAA AVHRR data was found very useful for monitoring land cover transformation at a wider scale. It subsequently lead to increased attention to a deeper investigation of the areas. The use of high resolution satellite data are of vital importance. Up-to-date information about land cover variables and the nature of transformation of land cover would be a valuable guide for formulating appropriate policies and effective implementation of programs for natural resource allocation and its overall management.

REFERENCES

Collins, N.M., J. Sayer and T. Whitmore (eds). 1991. The Conservation Atlas of Tropical Forests in Asia and the Pacific. IUCN.

Defourny P. et al.,1993. Overview of South-East Asia Land Cover using a NOAA AVHRR one kilometer mosaic, Under review for publishing in Geocarto International.

FAO, 1992. Forestry Profiles. Tiger Paper. Vol., 19, No. 4. October-December 1992, Bangkok.

Mekong Secretariat, 1973. Land Use Map of Lower Mekong Basin: 1972-1973. Bangkok, Thailand

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	Introcution
	Results
	Conclutsions
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