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Islands in land- and seascape: The Challenges of Fragmentation | Erlangen, 22-25 Feb. 2012

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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, magdazakalek@googlemail.com2HUAF, 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