Effect of population pressure on land to Manggar watershed at East Belitung Regency, Bangka Belitung Island Province, Indonesia

Abstract

Population pressure triggers farmers to expand their cultivation area due to population growth. East Belitung Regency, an expanded area of Belitung Regency, has developed into a new economic center on Belitung Island. The agricultural sector which has the largest contribution to the economy of east Belitung, but it has a negative impact due to the increasing demand for land by the community. This research examines the population pressure on agricultural land in each sub-district area as part of Manggar Watershed. The recent study presents the results of spatial analysis of land cover overlaying to the population of the Manggar watershed using ArcGIS 10.1 software. The results showed that three sub-districts intersect one another, namely Gantung sub-district (2.17%), Kelapa Kampit sub-district (12.49%), and Manggar sub-district (83.34%). In addition, there are ten types of land cover in the Manggar watershed, and the most prominent area is dominated by mining (8,709 Ha). Population pressure on agricultural land in the Manggar watershed is classified as moderate for the Gantung sub-district and low for the Kelapa Kampit and Gantung sub-districts. Furthermore, this study also revealed that land exploitation for the agricultural mean is still below its carrying capacity. Nevertheless, it is necessary to improve the better management of land-use systems in the Manggar watershed.