Land Use Change Impacts over the Indus Delta: A Case Study of Sindh Province, Pakistan

Maira Masood, Chunguang He (), Shoukat Ali Shah and Syed Aziz Ur Rehman
Additional contact information
Maira Masood: State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Vegetation Restoration, School of Environment, Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130024, China
Chunguang He: State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Vegetation Restoration, School of Environment, Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130024, China
Shoukat Ali Shah: State Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping, and Remote Sensing, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430079, China
Syed Aziz Ur Rehman: Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore 54000, Pakistan

Land, 2024, vol. 13, issue 7, 1-25

Abstract: Land use and land cover changes (LULCCs) are vital indicators for assessing the dynamic relationship between humans and nature, particularly in diverse and evolving landscapes. This study employs remote sensing (RS) data and machine learning algorithms (MLAs) to investigate LULCC dynamics within the Indus River Delta region of Sindh, Pakistan. The focus is on tracking the trajectories of land use changes within mangrove forests and associated ecosystem services over twenty years. Our findings reveal a modest improvement in mangrove forest cover in specific areas, with an increase from 0.28% to 0.4%, alongside a slight expansion of wetland areas from 2.95% to 3.19%. However, significant increases in cropland, increasing from 22.76% to 28.14%, and built-up areas, increasing from 0.71% to 1.66%, pose risks such as altered sedimentation and runoff patterns as well as habitat degradation. Additionally, decreases in barren land from 57.10% to 52.7% and a reduction in rangeland from 16.16% to 13.92% indicate intensified land use conversion and logging activities. This study highlights the vulnerability of mangrove ecosystems in the Indus Delta to agricultural expansion, urbanization, resource exploitation, and land mismanagement. Recommendations include harmonizing developmental ambitions with ecological conservation, prioritizing integrated coastal area management, reinforcing mangrove protection measures, and implementing sustainable land use planning practices. These actions are essential for ensuring the long-term sustainability of the region’s ecosystems and human communities.

Keywords: coastal areas; Indus Delta; land use land cover change; machine learning algorithms; mangroves (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/7/1080/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/7/1080/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:13:y:2024:i:7:p:1080-:d:1437381

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().