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Islands in land- and seascape: The Challenges of Fragmentation |
Erlangen, 22-25 Feb. 2012
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scIenTIfIc posTer sessIon
Session Human dimensions of tropical deforestation, forest
fragmentation and forest management concepTual frameWorK for The
assessmenT of landscape vulnerabIlITy and land use poTenTIals In vu
gIa Thu bon rIver basIn In cenTral vIeTnam Magdalena Zakalek1,
Claudia Raedig1, Udo Nehren1, Dac Thai Hoang Ho2 1CUAS, Cologne,
DE, [email protected], Hue, VN The midlands of the
Vu Gia Thu Bon river basin (VGTB) are characterized by a highly
dynamic land use development including the expansion of the road
and electricity network, construction of hydropower plants,
intensification of agri-cultural and forestry production, gold
mining and other activities promoting eco-nomic growth of the area.
At the same time, however, this development leads to fragmentation
of landscapes and forests, forest loss, soil and water pollution,
and soil erosion. The present study aims at analyzing the landscape
vulnerability of VGTB and future land use potentials.Landscape
vulnerability is analyzed with respect to three degradation
processes: forest loss and degradation, soil erosion and river
water pollution. Like in many remote areas, data availability to
assess landscape vulnerability in VGTB is low. Available data for
land use classification follow the national Vietnamese
classifi-cation system, and its classes had been jointly defined
with Vietnamese experts before they were used for analyses.
Accordingly, the present study uses the classes rich, medium, poor
forest, and bare land to define very highly vulnerable, highly
vulnerable, vulnerable, and less vulnerable forests. In addition,
buffer areas along rivers are classified based on distance ranging
from very high (0-50m) to low vul-nerability (>200m) to
contaminant input. Vulnerability to soil erosion is assessed on the
basis of the USLE factors using primary and secondary data. By
overlaying the vulnerability of the different criteria, a landscape
vulnerability map is gener-ated. This map shows those areas which
are particularly vulnerable and for which more sustainable land use
practices have to be developed.The study is conducted as part of
the LUCCi project (http://www.lucci-vietnam.info). With further
development of the project, more data will be available to pro-vide
a more accurate picture of the spatial distribution of
vulnerability in the study area.Merian award applicant
