Anthropogenic Threats to Degraded Forest Land in the Savannahs’ Region of Togo from 1984 to 2020, West Africa

This study focuses on the landscape dynamics of the savannahs’ region in the far north of Togo. Based on a literature review and satellite images analysis using GIS and remote sensing, the study aims to ascertain the effects of anthropogenic threats on the forest coverage of the Savannahs’ Region between 1984 to 2020. The objective is to clarify the dynamics of land use in the region from 1984 to 2000 and from 2000 to 2020. The findings indicate a significant decline in forest coverage within the region from 1984 to 2020, a trend attributed to land use patterns. Dry forests in the Savannah region are largely converted to farmlands, housing, dry savannahs or agroforestry parks, leading to a steady reduction in forest areas.

Land Use and Forest Dynamics in the Context of Redd+: Pathway to Sustainable Environmental Management*

Reverting to nature as a major arsenals in a universal fight against Climate Change impact and loss of biodiversity, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), views sustainable Land use and Forest (the main crux of the Glasgow declaration 2021) as the way to go. Forest conservation, protection and management in the context of REDD+ would guarantee sustainable ecosystem and mitigate climate change impacts. At National and subnational levels, the Nigerian REDD+ readiness scheme holds out hope for environmental sustainability. This study throws light into the historical background of trends in land use forest change in Nigeria, and places Nigeria on a “red” stage 3 (Low Forest Cover, High Deforestation Rate-LFHD) status while maintaining optimism that with REDD+ properly implemented in Nigeria, Stage 4: Low forest cover, Low Deforestation Rates (LFLD) and Stage 5: Low forest cover, Negative Deforestation Rates (LFND) can be achieved by 2030 and 2050 respectively, if the trio of reforestation, afforestation and natural restoration is practiced as a matter of national policy and subnational implementation within the context of REDD+. Four (4) broad drivers of deforestation and forest degradation were identified as direct, indirect, pre-disposing and planned /unplanned. The paper concludes that a viable pathway to sustainable environmental management is appropriate monitoring and evaluation of land use and forest dynamics in the context of REDD+.

Quantitative Simulation of Dynamic Changes in Cultivated Land in Areas of Reclamation and Returning Cultivated Land to Forest or Pastures under RCPs Climate Scenarios

Northeast China as one of important agricultural production bases is an area under reclamation and returning cultivated land to forests or pastures. Therefore, it is of great practical significance in guaranteeing the sustainable development and national food security to study the spatial and temporal variation of cultivated land in Northeast China under future climate scenarios. In this study, based on data of land use, natural environment and social-economy, dynamics of land system（DLS） model was used to to simulate the spatial distribution and changing trends of cultivated land in the typical areas of reclamation and returning cultivated land to forest or pastures in Northeast China during 2010-2030 under land use planning scenario and representative concentration pathways（RCPs） scenarios quantitatively.The results showed that the area of cultivated land had an overall decreasing trend under the land use planning scenario, but the area of upland field increased slightly from 2000 to 2010 and then declined greatly, while the area of paddy field continuously declined from 2000 to 2030. Under the Asia-Pacific Integrated model（AIM）scenario, the total area of cultivated land had a tendency to increase considerably,with the upland field expanding more obviously and the paddy field declining slightly.In addition, the cultivated land showed a greater decreasing trend under the model for energy supply strategy alternatives and their general environmental impact（MESSAGE） scenario compared to the land use planning scenario. Moreover, analysis on the conversion between different land use types indicated that the reclamation and returning cultivated land to forests or pastures was likely to continue under future scenarios, but the frequency of occurrence could decrease as the time goes by. The conclusions can provide significant decision-making information for the rational agricultural planning and cultivated land protection in Northeast China to adapt to the climate change.

Comparison and Analysis of Agricultural and Forest Land Changes in Typical Agricultural Regions of Northern Mid-latitudes

The northeastern China, the United States, and the western Europe are important agricultural regions both on the global and regional scales. The westem Europe has a longer history of agricultural land development than the eastem United States. These two regions have changed from the deforestation and reclamation phase in the past to the current land abandonment and reforestation phase. Compared with the two regions, large-scale land exploitation has only been practiced in the northeastern China during the last century. After a short high-intensity deforestation and reclamation period, agricultural and forest lands are basically in a dynamic steady state. By comparing domestic and international agro-forestry development and considering the ecological environment and socio-economic bene- fits that can be derived from agro-forestry, this paper suggests that large area of reforestation would be inevitable in future though per- sistent and large agricultural demand in coming decades even more. And local reforestation at slope farmland with ecological vulner- ability should be imperative at present to avoid severer damage. At the same time, from the perspective of Land Change Science, the results demonstrate that the research on land use change in the agro-forestry ecotone is typical and critical, particularly those dealing with the analysis of spatial and temporal characteristics and the simulation of climate, hydrology, and other environmental effects.

Strategies for Safe Land Use of the Three Gorges Reservoir Area (Chongqing Section)——With the Restoration of Degraded Forest Landscapes as a Study Case

As a key for constructing ecologically safe scenery, forest landscape pattern in Chongqing Section of the Three Gorges has shown degradation, fragmentation and revision of varying degrees. To ensure normal and safe operation of the Three Gorges, and meet requirements of integrated development strategies for ecological and economic effects in Chongqing City on the ecological security of land use in Chongqing section of the Three Gorges, the following points should be attached more importance in making future strategies for an ecologically safe land use pattern with the restoration of degraded forest landscape as its starting point:a. Ecological effects and economic functions that can be supplied by forest landscape elements in different restoration patterns should be understood to obtain background effect of the ecological security pattern scenario of land use in the reservoir region; b. Relationship between restoration of degraded forest landscapes and serious ecological interference factors such as degradation background, artificial disturbance and engineering stress, should be simulated to figure out the influence of natural or artificial driving factors on landscape pattern, determine the future restoration mode for the degraded forest landscapes in the reservoir region, so as to facilitate the construction of great ecological-economic security pattern of the Three Gorges. The findings will provide scientific basis for the decision-making in building an ecologically safe land use pattern in the Three Gorges reservoir area (Chongqing), when using the degradation of forest landscape restoration as a carrier at present or in the future. Further, they will help realize the development goals of "Livable Chongqing, Expedite Chongqing, Forestry Chongqing, Safe Chongqing and Healthy Chongqing".

Comparison of foliar nutrient concentrations between natural and artificial forests of Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica on sandy land, China

In order to examine the causes of degradation of Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica plantations on sandy land, the foliar concentrations of N, P, K and C were analyzed and compared between the field grown P. sylvestris var. mongolica trees from two provenances （natural forests and plantations）. The results indicated that natural tree needles had lower N, P and C concentrations, and higher K concentrations than those of plantation tree needles. For plantation tree needles, ratios of N： P, P. K and N： K increased with tree age before 45 years old; but they were not clear for the natural tree needles. Compared with the conclusions reported on Pinus spp., we found that the foliar N and P concentrations were in the optimal range for both natural and plantation tree needles. This result suggested that N or P might not be the absolute limit factors in plant nutrient for P sylvestris var. mongolica on sandy land. However, foliar K concentrations in both natural and plantation tree needles were much lower than those reported on Pinus spp. （〉4.80 g kg-1）.The N： P ratio of natural needles was in the adequate ranges, but N： P ratio of plantation needles was out of the adequate ranges. These results indicated that there was a better balanced nutrition status in the natural forest than in the plantations. If only considering the foliar nutrient concentrations of P sylvestris var. mongolica from different provenances, it might be concluded that the degradation phenomenon of P. sylvestris var. mongolica plantations was not induced by nutrition deficiency of absolute nutrients of N and P, but might be induced by other mineral nutrients or by the effectiveness of N and P nutrients. The unbalanced nutrition status and relatively quick decomposition of needles in the plantations might also contribute to the degradation.

Survey on the Peasants' Will of Forest Land Transfer in the Reform of Collective Forest Right System——On the Case of 180 Peasant Households in Lishui City of Zhejiang Province

Taking sample survey in the eighteen villages of Yunhe, Longquan and Qingyuan County of Lishui City of Zhejiang Province, the results show that the forest land transfer of sample peasants is mainly transfer-out, the private treaty of forest land transfer is the main pattern of most peasant households, forest right trading market hasn't got wide approval in peasants, peasants' dependence on land is reducing, and so on. Through analysis, the reasons of influent transfer of forest land include peasant's subjective will, less type of transfer objects, dull information communication, big difference of expected price and imperfect development of intermediary organization. In order to promote a healthy development of forest land transfer, the paper puts forward proposals of strengthening policy publicity, improving system, identifying property right, pushing variety of transfer types, developing forest land market, cultivating subject of market and so on.

Spatiotemporal variation of forest land and its driving factors in the agropastoral ecotone of northern China

As an important natural resource,forest land plays a key role in the maintenance of ecological security.However,variations of forest land in the agropastoral ecotone of northern China(AENC)have attracted little attention.Taking the AENC as an example and based on remote-sensing images from 2000,2010 to 2020,we explored the spatiotemporal variation of forest land and its driving factors using the land-use transfer matrix,spatial autocorrelation analysis and spatial error model.The results showed that from 2000 to 2020,the total area of forest land in the AENC increased from 75,547.52 to 77,359.96 km^(2) and the changes were dominated by the transformations among forest land,grassland and cropland,which occurred mainly in areas with the elevation of 500-2000 m and slope of 15°-25°.There was obvious spatial agglomeration of forest land in the AENC from 2000 to 2020,with hot spots of forest land gathered in the southern marginal areas of the Yanshan Mountains and the low mountainous and hilly areas of the Loess Plateau.The sub-hot spots around hot spots moved southward,the sub-cold spots spread to the surrounding areas and the cold spots disappeared.The spatiotemporal variation of forest land resulted from the interactions of natural environment,socioeconomic and policy factors from 2000 to 2020.The variables of average annual precipitation,slope,terrain relief,ecological conversion program and afforestation policy for barren mountains affected the spatial pattern of forest land positively,while those of annual average temperature,slope and road network density influenced it negatively.

Rapid Urbanization Induced Extensive Forest Loss to Urban Land in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, China

China has experienced rapid urbanizations with dramatic land cover changes since 1978. Forest loss is one of land cover changes, and it induces various eco-environmental degradation issues. As one of China’s hotspot regions, the Guangdong-Hong KongMacao Greater Bay Area(GBA) has undergone a dramatic urban expansion. To better understand forest dynamics and protect forest ecosystem, revealing the processes, patterns and underlying drivers of forest loss is essential. This study focused on the spatiotemporal evolution and potential driving factors of forest loss in the GBA at regional and city level. The Landsat time-series images from 1987 to2017 were used to derive forest, and landscape metrics and geographic information system(GIS) were applied to implement further spatial analysis. The results showed that: 1) 14.86% of the total urban growth area of the GBA was obtained from the forest loss in1987–2017;meanwhile, the forest loss area of the GBA reached 4040.6 km2, of which 25.60%(1034.42 km2) was converted to urban land;2) the percentages of forest loss to urban land in Dongguan(19.14%), Guangzhou(18.35%) and Shenzhen(15.81%) were higher than those in other cities;3) the forest became increasingly fragmented from 1987–2007, and then the fragmentation decreased from2007 to 2017);4) the landscape responses to forest changes varied with the scale;and 5) some forest loss to urban regions moved from low-elevation and gentle-slope terrains to higher-elevation and steep-slope terrains over time, especially in Shenzhen and Hong Kong.Urbanization and industrialization greatly drove forest loss and fragmentation, and, notably, hillside urban land expansion may have contributed to hillside forest loss. The findings will help policy makers in maintaining the stability of forest ecosystems, and provide some new insights into forest management and conservation.

Evaluation of the Land Production Potential in the Context of Returning Farmland to Forest in Karst Region:A Case Study of Guizhou Province

In this paper, we take Guizhou Province (the heart of southwestern Karst region in China) as the research object. By establishing gray forecasting model and time series forecasting model, we conduct the accuracy test on the actual production capacity of land and the forecasted production capacity of land in 2007 and 2008, and then conduct comprehensive forecast of the land production potential in Guizhou Province in 2020. On this basis, considering the nutritional standards needed by three kinds of life type (dressing warmly and eating one's fill, well-off life, relatively affluent life), we evaluate the land production potential in Guizhou Province under the project of returning farmland to forest. Based on the evaluation results, we put forth the relevant recommendations for achieving sustainable land use in the context of returning farmland to forest in Guizhou Province.

Land Use/Land Cover and Forest Canopy Density Monitoring of Wafi-Golpu Project Area, Papua New Guinea

This study aims to examine the use of Remote Sensing and Geographical Information System (GIS) technology in land use/land cover mapping to aide sustainable planning and development in the Wafi-Golpu project area. At the same time, this study examines an existing method of Forest Canopy Density (FCD) model to estimate forest canopy density of the proposed deforestation site, which is known as the Advanced Exploration Feasibility Study Activities (AEFSA) area within the Wafi-Golpu Project site. The FCD model calculates the forest canopy density using the three (3) indices of vegetation, soil and shadow from the Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) satellite image of year 2013. In this study an attempt has been made to monitor the forest loss or degradation during deforestation in a natural forest stand of the Wafi-Golpu project area using forest FCD mapping and monitoring model and the findings of the study will assist the project planners and developers with their work on forest rehabilitation and reforestation for the purposes of sustainable forest management. The result of the work shows that a considerable amount of forest loss will be undertaken during the AEFSA deforestation exercise and also the findings show that a reliable land use/land cover map will greatly assist sustainable development in a resource project development period.

Land cover changes and fragmentation in mountain neotropical ecosystems of Oaxaca, Mexico under community forest management

Changes in land cover have a direct impact on forest ecosystem goods and services. In this study, changes in land cover in Sierra de Juarez–Oaxaca ecosystems were estimated using a consistent processing of Landsat images and OBIA methodology. Additionally, landscape analyses using FRAGSTAT were conducted. In 2014, Sierra de Juarez–Oaxaca was covered by approximately 84% of forests, mainly pine-oak and cloud forests. After extensive deforestation until 2001, this trend was reversed and the forest cover surface area in 2014 was slightly higher than in 1979. The comparison of the landscape structure of the forested and agricultural lands suggests an increase in habitat heterogeneity. However, interspersion and juxtaposition indices, showing the patch shape by patch area and perimeter, were similar throughout the study period(1979–2014). Social and economic drivers can explain this situation: namely, community organization, forest enterprises, payment for ecosystem services programs, and changes of agricultural activity. Communities in the Sierra of Oaxaca have reforested degraded lands, created community forest enterprises, and preserved the forest under conservation schemes like those proposed by the Mexican payment for ecosystem services programs. However, their sustainable management faces internal challenges and has become highly dependent on political and institutional decisions beyond their control.

Spatial assessment of forest cover and land-use changes in the Hindu-Kush mountain ranges of northern Pakistan

Anthropogenic activities and natural processes are continuously altering the mountainous environment through deforestation, forest degradation and other land-use changes. It is highly important to assess, monitor and forecast forest cover and other land-use changes for the protection and conservation of mountainous environment. The present study deals with the assessment of forest cover and other land-use changes in the mountain ranges of Dir Kohistan in northern Pakistan, using high resolution multi-temporal SPOT-5 satellite images. The SPOT-5 satellite images of years 2004, 2007, 2010 and 2013 were acquired and classified into land-cover units. In addition, forest cover and land-use change detection map was developed using the classified maps of 2004 and 2013. The classified maps were verified through random field samples and Google Earth imagery(Quick birds and SPOT-5). The results showed that during the period 2004 to 2013 the area of forest land decreased by 6.4%, however, area of range land and agriculture land have increased by 22.1% and 2.9%, respectively. Similarly, barren land increased by 1.1%, whereas, area of snow cover/glacier is significantly decreased by 21.3%. The findings from the study will be useful for forestry and landscape planning and can be utilized by the local, provincial and national forest departments; and REDD+ policy makers in Pakistan.

Google Earth Engine Based Three Decadal Landsat Imagery Analysis for Mapping of Mangrove Forests and Its Surroundings in the Trat Province of Thailand

Monitoring and understanding the changes in mangrove ecosystems and their surroundings are required to determine how mangrove ecosystems are constantly changing while influenced by anthropogenic, and natural drivers. Cosistency in high spatial resolution (30 m) satellite and high performance computing facilities are limiting factors to the process, with storage and analysis requirements. With this, we present the Google Earth Engine (GEE) based approach for long term mapping of mangrove forests and their surroundings. In this study, we used a GEE based approach: 1) to create atmospheric contamination free data from 1987-2017 from different Landsat satellite imagery;and 2) evaluating the random forest classifier and post classification change detection method. The obtained overall accuracy for the years 1987 and 2017 was determined to be 0.87 and 0.96, followed by a Kappa coefficient 0.80 and 0.94. The change detection results revealed a significant decrease in the agricultural area, while there was an increase in mangrove forest, shrimp/fish farm, and bareland area. The results suggest that interconversion of land use and land cover is affecting the landscape dynamics within the study area.

Nitrogen flux in broad-leaved Korean pine forest land in Changbai Mountain

The flux of N in broad-leaved Korean pine forest land, Changbai Mountain, Northeast China was studied with thein situ sequential coring technique. The results showed that, in the growing season of 1994 (May to September), net rate of mineralization was 47.96 kg/hm2, plant uptake 28.37 kg/hm2 and leaching losses 20.47 kg/hm2. Net N mineralization rate exceeded plant uptake requirements. On the basis of the N budget, this forest land could be characterized as N saturated though more detailed studies are needed.

THE ENVIRONMENTAL CHARACTERISTICS OF FOREST LAND AND THE TECHNIQUES OF REFORESTATION IN FIRED LAND IN DAXING'AN MOUNTAINS

Analysis of nature environmental condition and evalwtion of selection and integration ofteclmiques have been carried out in Daxing’an mountains from 1987. The character of soil generaion in this area is influenced by the frigid, coniferous forest vegetation, weather, glacier and late soil formation process. Syntliesis teclmiques for high yield plantation include high seedling quality,suitable site preparation and eftbctive protectioll measures for yoimg trees.

Impact of land-use management on nitrogen transformation in a mountain forest ecosystem in the north of Iran

Soil inorganic N is one of the most important soil quality indexes, which may be influenced by land-use change. The historical conversion of land-use from native vegetation to agriculture resulted in sharp declines in soil N dynamics. This study was conducted to determine the soil inorganic N concentrations and net N mineralization rate in four common types of land-uses in the mountain forest area in the north of Iran, namely arable land, pine plantation, ash plantation, and beech stand. The soil samples were taken from top mineral soil layer （5 cm） in each site randomly （n=6） during August- September 2010. Beech stand and ash plantation showed significantly higher total nitrogen compared with arable land and pine plantation, while extractable NH4 ＋-N concentration was significantly greater in Beech stand compare to arable soils （p〈0.05）. No significantly difference was found in Net N mineralization, net nitrification and net ammonification rates among different land-uses. Results showed that net N mineralization and ammonification were occurred just in the soil of Ash plantation during the incubation time. Our findings suggested that conversion of Hyrcanian forests areas to pine plantation and agricultural land can disrupt soil natural activities and affect extremely soil quality.

Land use change detection in Solan Forest Division,Himachal Pradesh,India

Background： Monitoring the changing pattern of vegetation across diverse landscapes through remote sensing is instrumental in understanding the interactions of human activities and the ecological environment. Land use pattern i the state of Himachal Pradesh in the Indian Western Himalayas has been undergoing rapid modifications due to changing cropping patterns, rising anthropogenic pressure on forests and government policies. We studied land use change in Solan Forest Division of Himachal Pradesh to assess species wise area changes in the forests of the region. Methods： The supervised classification （Maximum likelihood） on two dates of IRS （LISS III） satellite data was performed to assess land use change over the period 1998-2010. Results： Seven land use categories were identified namely, chir pine （Pinus roxburghii） forest, broadleaved forest, bamboo （Dendrocolamus strictus） forest, ban oak （Quercus leucotrichophora） forest, khair （Acacia catechu） forest, culturable blank and cultivation. The area under chir pine, cultivation and khair forests increased by 191 ha （4.55 %）, 129 ha （13.81%） and 77 ha （23.40 %）, whereas the area under ban oak, broadleaved, culturable blank and bamboo decreased by 181 ha （16.58 %）, 152 ha （6.30 %）, 71 ha （2.72 %） and 7 ha （0.47 %）, respectively. Conclusions： The study revealed a decrease in the area under forest and culturable blank categories and a simultaneous increase in the area under cultivation primarily due to the large scale introduction of horticultural cash crops in the state. The composition of forests also exhibited some major changes, with an increase in the area of commercially important monoculture plantation species such as pine and khair, and a decline in the area of oak, broadleaved and bamboo which are facing a high anthropogenic pressure in meeting the livelihood demands of forest dependent communities. In time deforestation, forest degradation and ecological imbalances due to the changing forest species composition may inflict irreversible damages upon unstable and fragile mountain zones such as the Indian Himalayas. The associated common property externalities involved at local, regional and global scales, necessitate the monitoring of land use dynamics across forested landscapes in developing future strategies and policies concerning agricultural diversification, natural forest conservation and monoculture tree plantations.

Changes of forest land use and ecosystem service values along Lao-Chinese border:A case study of Luang Namtha Province,Lao PDR

Forest cover and land use change directly impact biological diversity worldwide, contribute to climate change and affect the ability of biological systems to support human needs by altering ecosystem services. Given the forest land use characteristics and ecosystem types in Luang Namtha Province, Lao PDR, the forest cover and land cover category of Luang Namtha Province were divided into six classes, i.e., current forest （CF）, potential forest （PF）, other wooded areas （OW）, permanent agricultural land （PA）, other non-forest areas （NF） and water （W）. In first instance, earlier geographic information data （GIS data） of forest cover and land use during 1992 and 2002 was obtained from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry （MAF）, Lao PDR. Two steps of forest land use change assessment were conducted by the MAF, i.e., plot sampling on satellite image maps （SIMs） to detect the changes of forest cover and land use during 1992 and 2002 for the entire Luang Namtha Province and field verification in order to identify causes of the changes. Secondly, dynamic information of the forest land cover changes during this ten-year period was calculated by means of map algebra in ArcGIS 9.2. Thirdly, based on the theory of ecosystem service functions and the service function values of different global ecosystems, the value of the six forest cover and land use categories in the province was obtained. Finally, ecological environmental effects, produced by the regional land cover changes over the study period, were calculated.

Current Status and Development Countermeasures of Forest Land Resources in Southern Cixi City

Based on the investigation of the status of forest land resources in the southern parts of Cixi City,the problems exiting in the development of forestry(e.g.overdevelopment of industry and decline in water conservation quality)are pointed out,and countermeasures(e.g.coordination,integration,scientific planning,strict protection,orderly development and ecological compensation)are put forward,in order to provide a reference for the sustainable development of forestry in Cixi City.