Analyses of Land Cover Change Trajectories Leading to Tropical Forest Loss: Illustrated for the West Kutai and Mahakam Ulu Districts, East Kalimantan, Indonesia

Carina Van der Laan, Arif Budiman, Judith A. Verstegen, Stefan C. Dekker, Wiwin Effendy, André P. C. Faaij, Arif Data Kusuma and Pita A. Verweij
Additional contact information
Carina Van der Laan: Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, 3584CB Utrecht, The Netherlands
Arif Budiman: Winrock International, Little Rock, AR 72202, USA
Judith A. Verstegen: Institute for Geoinformatics, University of Münster, 48149 Münster, Germany
Stefan C. Dekker: Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, 3584CB Utrecht, The Netherlands
Wiwin Effendy: World Wide Fund for Nature Samarinda, Samarinda 75124, Indonesia
André P. C. Faaij: Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Groningen, 9747AG Groningen, The Netherlands
Arif Data Kusuma: Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), Jakarta 129020, Indonesia
Pita A. Verweij: Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, 3584CB Utrecht, The Netherlands

Land, 2018, vol. 7, issue 3, 1-19

Abstract: In Indonesia, land cover change for agriculture and mining is threatening tropical forests, biodiversity and ecosystem services. However, land cover change is highly dynamic and complex and varies over time and space. In this study, we combined Landsat-based land cover (change) mapping, pixel-to-pixel cross tabulations and expert knowledge to analyze land cover change and forest loss in the West Kutai and Mahakam Ulu districts in East Kalimantan from 1990–2009. We found that about one-third of the study area changed in 1990–2009 and that the different types of land cover changes in the study area increased and involved more diverse and characteristic trajectories in 2000–2009, compared to 1990–2000. Degradation to more open forest types was dominant, and forest was mostly lost due to trajectories that involved deforestation to grasslands and shrubs (~17%), and to a lesser extent due to trajectories from forest to mining and agriculture (11%). Trajectories from forest to small-scale mixed cropland and smallholder rubber occurred more frequently than trajectories to large-scale oil palm or pulpwood plantations; however, the latter increased over time. About 11% of total land cover change involved multiple-step trajectories and thus “intermediate” land cover types. The combined trajectory analysis in this paper thus contributes to a more comprehensive analysis of land cover change and the drivers of forest loss, which is essential to improve future land cover projections and to support spatial planning.

Keywords: land use change; land cover change; tropical forests; deforestation; agriculture; oil palm; Indonesia; Kalimantan (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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