Drivers and dynamics of land use land cover in Ambung VDC of Tehrathum district, Nepal

Abstract

Land use and land cover change has immense impact on the global environment and ecosystem. Geospatial technologies are very important for monitoring these changes. This research aims to find out the land use land cover dynamics and drivers of Ambung VDC, Tehrathum district. The Landsat images of the year 1990 and 2013 were used for quantifying the changes. Household survey, key informant interview, focus group discussion, training samples collection and direct field observations were carried out to gather socio-economic and bio-physical data. Supervised classification was performed to prepare land cover maps. Change on land use was calculated by using post classification change detection. During 1990–2013, forest cover was found to have increased by 6.6%, agriculture decreased by 5.9% and others (barren, settlement, grass, rock and water bodies) decreased by 0.7%. The VDC was found to have severe problem of rapid drying of water resources in spite of the increase in forest cover, and so research should be carried out to find out the reason and solve the problem before it is too late.

Banko Janakari

A Journal of Forestry Information for Nepal

Vol. 26, No. 1, Page:90-96, 2016