Open AccessLand use land cover change in mountainous watersheds of middle Himalayas, Nepal
Author(s) -
Basanta Raj Gautam,
Paban Kumar Joshi
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
nepalese journal of geoinformatics/journal of geoinformatics nepal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2717-5022
pISSN - 2676-1246
DOI - 10.3126/njg.v8i1.39704
Subject(s) - geography , land cover , land use , population pressure , change analysis , limiting , physical geography , population , agricultural land , forestry , forest cover , agriculture , population growth , archaeology , ecology , mechanical engineering , demography , sociology , biology , engineering
The study was aimed at examining land use dynamics in two typical mountain watersheds in Rasuwa district in the central development region of Nepal, namely Chileme and Bamdang. A comparative change analysis was performed for the last three decades i.e. 1976–1988, 1988–2000 and 2000–2006 using RS & GIS technology. The analysis was based on the multitemporal Landsat and IRS images taken in December 1976, December 1988, December 2000 and January 2006. During the last three decades, forest cover has been reduced drastically with increasing population pressure and agricultural expansion. Some limiting factors such as socio-economic setup and policies have also contributed to these changes and resultant land use in the watersheds.