Evaluation of Land Use and Land Cover Change and Its Drivers in Battambang Province, Cambodia from 1998 to 2018

Phanith Chou,Taingaun Sourn,Manuel R Reyes,Dyna Theng,Phanna Rath,Sophak Pok,Nareth Nut,P.V Vara Prasad

doi:10.3390/su132011170

Abstract

The main objective of this research was to evaluate land use and land cover (LULC) change in Battambang province of Cambodia over the last two decades. The LULC maps for 1998, 2003, 2008, 2013 and 2018 were produced from Landsat satellite imagery using the supervised classification technique with the maximum likelihood algorithm. Each map consisted of seven LULC classes: built-up area, water feature, grassland, shrubland, agricultural land, barren land and forest cover. The overall accuracies of the LULC maps were 93%, 82%, 94%, 93% and 83% for 1998, 2003, 2008, 2013 and 2018, respectively. The LULC change results showed a significant increase in agricultural land, and a large decrease in forest cover. Most of the changes in both LULC types occurred during 2003–2008. Overall, agricultural land, shrubland, water features, built-up areas and barren land increased by 287,600 hectares, 58,600 hectares, 8300 hectares, 4600 hectares and 1300 hectares, respectively, while forest cover and grassland decreased by 284,500 hectares and 76,000 hectares respectively. The rate of LULC changes in the upland areas were higher than those in the lowland areas of the province. The main drivers of LULC change identified over the period of study were policy, legal framework and projects to improve economy, population growth, infrastructure development, economic growth, rising land prices, and climate and environmental change. Landmine clearance projects and land concessions resulted in a transition from forest cover and shrubland to agricultural land. Population and economic growth not only resulted in an increase of built-up area, but also led to increasing demand for agricultural land and rising land prices, which triggered the changes of other LULC types. This research provides a long-term and detailed analysis of LULC change together with its drivers, which is useful for decision-makers to make and implement better policies for sustainable land management.

Highlights

Based on the analysis of Landsat satellite images in the study area, the results of this study revealed significant Land use and land cover (LULC) change since the end of the civil war and Khmer
2018, with the area of agricultural land increasing by 287,600 hectares and the area of forest cover decreasing by 284,500 hectares
Conversion analysis showed that forest cover was largely lost to agricultural land and shrubland, while agricultural land was expanded mainly from forest cover, grassland and shrubland

Summary

Introduction

Land use and land cover (LULC) change happens due to natural and anthropogenic activities. One third of the Earth’s land surface is currently being used for growing crops or grazing cattle [1]. The rapid growth of human population, infrastructure development, urban growth, and legal framework or policy change, in particular land tenure security and expansion of agricultural land, have occurred at the expense of natural land cover such as forests, shrubland, and grassland that provide valuable habitats for diverse terrestrial plant and animal species and ecosystem services for humankind [2,3,4,5,6,7].

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion