Determination of Cover Management and Soil Loss Risk Mapping by Sub-Districts and River Catchments of Cameron Highlands Malaysia

Roslan Zainal Abidin, Mohd Amirul Mahamud, Mohd Fazly Yusof, Nor Azazi Zakaria and Mohd Aminur Rashid Mohd Amiruddin Arumugam
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Roslan Zainal Abidin: River Engineering and Urban Drainage Research Centre, Engineering Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Nibong Tebal 14300, Penang, Malaysia
Mohd Amirul Mahamud: Geoinformatic Unit, School of Humanities, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Minden 11800, Penang, Malaysia
Mohd Fazly Yusof: River Engineering and Urban Drainage Research Centre, Engineering Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Nibong Tebal 14300, Penang, Malaysia
Nor Azazi Zakaria: River Engineering and Urban Drainage Research Centre, Engineering Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Nibong Tebal 14300, Penang, Malaysia
Mohd Aminur Rashid Mohd Amiruddin Arumugam: River Basin Research Centre, National Hydraulic Research Institute of Malaysia, Seri Kembangan 43300, Selangor, Malaysia

Land, 2021, vol. 10, issue 11, 1-15

Abstract: Uncontrolled deforestation and land clearing for agricultural, urban development, and infrastructure construction without considering cover management (C&P) factors have resulted in severe soil erosion over the land surface of Cameron Highlands in the state of Pahang, Malaysia. Thus, this study determines the C&P factors for the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) to forecast soil loss risk. Land use and land cover recorded by PLANMalaysia and the Department of Agriculture (DOA) Malaysia have produced different C&P factors in Cameron Highlands. The C&P factor produced from PLANMalaysia and the DOA has values ranging between 0.01 to 1.00 and 0.30 to 0.49, respectively. Since the C&P factor varies according to the data source, this study combined both data sources to capture both agricultural and urban development impacts, resulting in an acceptable C&P factor. These new C&P factors have improved the prediction of soil loss risk with 15.63% (10,581.86 hectares) of the Cameron Highlands area classified as having a moderate–critical soil loss risk compared to DOA 7.16% (4844.97 hectares) and PLANMalaysia’s 11.46% (7725.26 hectares). Thus, local authorities must strengthen all regulations and policies to address the predicted moderate–critical soil loss risk in Cameron Highlands, thereby preventing severe soil erosion.

Keywords: conservation practice factor; cover management factor; C factor; P factor (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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