| Context |
| DEFORESTATION |
| When people change the land |
| By observing land-cover changes via remote
sensing, one can study how the use of land influences land cover.
Empirical, diagnostic models of land-use/cover change developed from
such observations can then be used as a vital tool in sustainable
regional land management. |
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Start in a small way However, broad-scale, fast-track approaches
to land-use change are apt to produce superficial results. To really
grasp the complexity of land-use changes, small-scale land cover
and socio-economic data are needed. Because collecting such data
globally is a daunting task, one must focus attention on a sampling
of areas to collect remote sensing and field observations. The generic
trajectories and processes of change identified over these selected
regions can then be carefully generalised for larger areas. |
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Study the field These selected regions must of course be
truly representative, and sufficient knowledge of social and ecological
processes leading to land-use changes must be available. That's
why collaboration between remote sensing specialists and human ecologists
conducting long-term, field-based land-use studies is so highly
productive. Remote sensing scientists identify patterns of land-use
changes and, using geographic information systems (GIS), relate
observed patterns of change to natural and cultural landscape characteristics.
Human ecologists have a deeper insight into the processes of change
and the complexity of the driving forces impelling a particular
land use. However, in contrast to remote sensing and GIS approaches,
field-based studies rarely yield a good overview of the exact extent
of land-use change processes. |
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| And add remote sensing
The remote sensing component is then added to the collection of African study sites where long-term, field-based studies of land-use change are being conducted. For most of these sites, a collaboration was established with leading anthropologists. Such analysis of landscape dynamics generates spatial statistical models of land-cover change, which can be used to:
The last two points are particularly important for land use planners. They not only need to measure the rates and identify the factors of land-cover changes, but also anticipate where changes are likely to occur.
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