Dynamics of Land Cover and Land Use Changes in the Upper Ca River Basin of Nghe An, Vietnam(<Special Issue>Land Use Changes in the Uplands of Southeast Asia: Proximate and Distant Causes)

This paper draws on four hamlet case studies and a broader three district study to identify land cover andland use changes in the upper Ca River Basin of Nghe An Province and the possible trigger events that areinfluencing land cover and land use changes. The study uses two chronosequences of Landsat TM andETM+ imagery, from 1989 to 1993 and from 2000 to 2003, to classify the land cover and land use for thelarger study area and for the hamlet study areas. This information is combined with socio-economic datathat was collected at the district and hamlet level in a series of field studies carried out from 1997 to 2003.Results show that areas of mature tree cover have expanded, the area devoted to long-term swidden/fallowland use has decreased and the area under permanent agriculture and short fallow swidden systems haveincreased, across both of the scales studied. The analysis indicates that a forest transition is taking placeat the broader three district level and also within the four hamlet case study areas. Two trigger events areidentified that may have helped initiate the forest transition. One is the agriculture and forest land allocationprograms that were initiated in the districts and in three of the four hamlets during the 1990s andearly 2000s and the second is market influences that appear to be linked to the increase in cattle and pigraising in the case study hamlets

Identifying Ancient Settlement Patterns through LiDAR in the Mosquitia Region of Honduras

The Mosquitia ecosystem of Honduras occupies the fulcrum between the American continents and as such constitutes a critical region for understanding past patterns of socio-political development and interaction. Heavy vegetation, rugged topography, and remoteness have limited scientific investigation. This paper presents prehistoric patterns of settlement and landuse for a critical valley within the Mosquitia derived from airborne LiDAR scanning and field investigation. We show that (i) though today the valley is a wilderness it was densely inhabited in the past; (ii) that this population was organized into a three-tiered system composed of 19 settlements dominated by a city; and, (iii) that this occupation was embedded within a human engineered landscape. We also add to a growing body of literature that demonstrates the utility of LiDAR as means for rapid cultural assessments in undocumented regions for analysis and conservation. Our ultimate hope is for our work to promote protections to safeguard the unique and critically endangered Mosquitia ecosystem and other similar areas in need of preservation

Linkage of Forest Policies and Programs with Land Coverand Land Use Changes in the Northern Mountain Region of Vietnam: A Village-level Case Study(<Special Issue>Land Use Changes in the Uplands of Southeast Asia: Proximate and Distant Causes)

This paper examines the land cover and land use changes in one village in the Vietnam's northern mountainregion. It overviews the changing forest policies in Vietnam from the country's independence in 1954to 2005 and relates these changes to the management of forest land at the village level. Findings show thatuntil the late-1980s/early-1990s Vietnam's policies encouraged the harvesting of timber for nation buildingactivities and the expansion of cultivated land, leading to the decreased forest area within the village.After this, as government policies changed to encourage forest protection and the planting of trees by localpeople, tree covered forest land area increased. The trigger for the change in land cover and land use atthe village level in both periods is a consistent political intention represented in a series of laws and decreesand consequent extension activities. These established a strong linkage between national and the villagelevel forest governance and led to the almost simultaneous occurrence of national policy change and forestrecovery. It is concluded that it is important to recognize the multiple channels that link the governmentagencies with people and the intensive learning process needed for local people to understand the politicalintentions behind laws and regulations promulgated at the central government level

Redefining diversity and dynamics of natural resources management in Asia, Volume 2: Upland natural resources and social ecological systems in Northern Vietnam

Redefining Diversity and Dynamics of Natural Resources Management in Southeast Asia, Volumes 1-4 brings together scientific research and policy issues across various topographical areas in Asia to provide a comprehensive overview of the issues facing the region. Upland Natural Resources and Social Ecological Systems in Northern Vietnam, Volume 2, provides chapters on natural resource management in northern Vietnam tied together by the concept that participatory local involvement is needed in all aspects of natural resource management. The volume examines planning for climate change, managing forestland, alleviating food shortages, living with biodiversity, and assessing the development projects and policies being implemented. Without the involvement of local communities, households, and ultimately individual people, the needed action will not be effectively taken. Upland Natural Resources and Social Ecological Systems in Northern Vietnam, Volume 2, goes beyond just Northern Vietnam to address the issue of transboundary natural resource management-an issue that Vietnam is dealing with in its relations with northern neighbor, China, and western neighbor, Laos-as well as the transboundary water governance between Pakistan and India in south Asia, with the hope that some of the lessons learned may one day be useful in the case of Vietnam and its neighbors. Provides a multi-disciplinary case study into a complex environmental situation involving government institutions, planning, and practices, using northern Vietnam as the focus. Covers the issues of natural resource management and biodiversity in depth using international case studies. Provides examples of measuring the potential climate change impacts on food security in agricultural regions. Examines topics such as planning for climate change, managing forestland, alleviating food shortages, living with biodiversity, and assessing development projects and policies

Conserving Working Rangelands: A Social–Ecological Case Study from Northeastern Colorado

Land changes in rangeland systems cascade through interconnected social and ecological spheres, affecting both humans and the environment. This study applied a multi-method approach to examine the causes and consequences of change in two rangeland communities in northeastern (NE) Colorado. First, this study used a Random Forest supervised classifier to analyze 36 years of land-cover data and create a land-cover/use change classification model. Second, the research team analyzed transcripts of interviews with 32 ranchers, examining how ranchers’ adaptive strategies influence land-cover change trends. Lastly, the analysis integrated the quantitative and qualitative data, constructing a social–ecological rangeland change conceptual model. This study found that the cultivated area decreased in both study sites from 1984–2019, with 16.0% and 18.7% of each site transitioning out of the cultivated area. Moreover, 10.3% and 18.4% of each site, respectively, transitioned to herbaceous/grassland cover from 1984–2019. The qualitative analysis identified the role of conservation policies, such as open space programs, on land change. Also, despite the relatively small area that transitioned to developed cover—1.83% and 0.183% of each site—participants emphasized that the associated demographic and cultural shifts drive land-use change. This study highlights that while rangelands are undergoing social–ecological change, land-use decisions and land conservation programs can help mitigate the global trend of declining rangeland and grassland cover

The Application of Airborne Mapping LiDAR for the Documentation of Ancient Cities and Regions in Tropical Regions

It is a conundrum of the 21st Century that there is much left to discover and yet never before has our cultural and ecological patrimony been so threatened. This is especially true in tropical regions where heavy vegetation, inaccessibility, and rugged topography hamper investigation. Here we present two case studies that add to a growing body of literature demonstrating the utility of airborne mapping LiDAR (a.k.a. Airborne Laser Scanning) for rapid archaeological assessments in poorly documented regions. The first outlines a program of LiDAR scanning to better understand the urban center of Angamuco in the Mexican State of Michoacán. This work shows that (1) large urban centers with complex spatial organization were present centuries prior to the formation of the Purépecha Empire; (2) the settlement incorporates gardens and other landscape features within and around the settlement demonstrating a high degree of human environmental modification; and (3) current models for the evolution of social complexity in the region cannot account for the presence of Angamuco. The second presents the results of a LiDAR survey of a remote valley in the Mosquitia tropical wilderness of Honduras which has seen little archaeological research. Here we demonstrate that (1) though today the valley is a wilderness it was densely inhabited in the past; (2) this population was organized into a three-tiered system composed of 19 settlements dominated by a city; and (3) this occupation was embedded within a human engineered landscape. For both, LiDAR data fundamentally changed the understanding of coupled human/natural systems in these areas while providing critical baseline data for conservation and management