Fig. 4.4 Land Use/Land Cover Map of the Study Area
4.4.1 Land Use/Land Cover Types
The following outlines the major land use/land cover types prevalent in the study area and that can be discerned by the satellite data used. Representative samples of selected land use/land cover classes are presented in Appendix-1.
| Paddy Field: | Two types of paddy cultivation are common: rain-fed and irrigated. Rain-fed rice is found in the uplands and in the shifting cultivated areas, whereas irrigated rice is found along the river and in valleys. |
| Cassava: | Cassava is an upland crop that can be found at different stages of growth at any time of the year. Fields ready for plantation, newly planted cassava fields, young cassava plantation, and recently harvested cassava fields are some of the stages observed during the filed visit. |
| Soybean: | Soybean, a cereal crop, can be found in moist areas mostly along the river corridor. |
| Eucalyptus
Plantation: |
A large tract of eucalyptus plantation probably affected by forest fire at the time of acquisition of the satellite data was detected in the north-eastern side of the study area. |
| Rubber Plantation: | Rubber plantation is scattered throughout the study area which is very distinct with its regular shape. |
| Other Crops: | Other crops are agricultural crops that are not included in the above definition. This includes the mix of banana and/or sugarcane, and/or coconut plantation, etc. |
| Barren Lands: | An area devoid of any vegetation and cover types. This might include abandoned agricultural lands, forest fallow and so on. |
| Forest: | This includes dense forests mostly inside the national parks, forest reserves, and botanical gardens. |
| Hill Forest: | Forests poorly stocked and are occurring in the degraded condition along the ridges of mountains. |
| Degraded Forest: | Forests occurring in a very degraded condition dominated by bamboo. This is one of the major cover types affected by shifting cultivation. |
| Waterbodies: | This includes rivers, lakes and dams. |
| Other Classes: | This class represents a mixture of two or more classes which are inseparable in the satellite imagery. |
4.4.2 Land Use/Land Cover Assessment
The land use/land cover map prepared with the interpretation of satellite data has been presented in Fig. 4.4. The map presents the spatial distribution of land use/land cover types described earlier. The following table provides the areal distribution of these classes.
Fig. 4.4 Land Use/Land Cover Map of the Study Area
| Land Use/Land Cover Classes |
Area (in ha.)
|
| Other Classes |
47595.72
|
| Soybean |
10802.72
|
| Barren Land |
57398.76
|
| E. Plantation |
460.84
|
| Rubber Plantation |
3881.84
|
| Degraded Forest |
77385.48
|
| Scrubland |
24005.04
|
| Paddy Field |
21752.28
|
| Waterbodies |
1625.44
|
| Sand |
1257.88
|
| Hill Forest |
118658.64
|
| Cassava |
1997.4
|
| Other Crops |
5873.2
|
| Forest |
7592.72
|
The dominant land use/land cover type in the area is forest that includes closed forest, degraded forest, hill forest, and plantations. Other major land use/land cover types include agricultural land, other classes, and waterbodies.
Harvested cassava fields and cassava fields ready for plantation provide similar signature to the barren land. In all of these cases, the reflection is coming from the exposed soil thus making it difficult to classify correctly. Field information collected during the field visit was used to rectify misclassification errors. Rubber plantation and soybean appear as red in the false color composite of SPOT XS data. However, rubber plantations are occurring in rectangular shape and soybean follows the linear shape, which helps in discriminating these two classes.
4.4.3 Change Assessment
Visual comparison of Landsat MSS and SPOT XS data as presented below clearly shows the change of forest cover within the span of 11 years (Fig. 4.5). Vegetation appears as red in False Color Composite (FCC) of both Landsat MSS and SPOT XS data.
Change of forest land to other land use is the main type of land use/land cover change observed in the area. The underlying causes for the forest cover change are multi-farious. Shifting cultivation, illegal logging, forest fire, and expansion of agricultural land are principal causes among others. Due to the intense population pressure, demand for agricultural land is ever increasing. As a result, lowland farmers are moving towards the surrounding hillsides to expand the area under cultivation. Migration from other provinces to this relatively less populated province has created additional stress on its fragile natural resource base.
Fig. 4.5 False Color Composite of Landsat MSS and SPOT XS Data
Landsat TM
SPOT XS
Change in the type and intensity of agricultural crops was also noticed. Farmers are moving more towards cash crops cultivating soybean, sugarcane, rubber and cassava, etc. The major change pattern has been summarized in the following diagram.
 |
 |