Land cover changes, forest loss and degradation in Kutai Barat, Indonesia

As part of efforts on Reducing Emis sions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) and low CO 2 emission development planning for Kutai Barat district, East Kalimantan, Indonesia, it is important to obtain estimates of the land cover changes and the change trajectories. The information is u seful for further assessments on CO 2 emissions, trade - off as well as for inputs in land use planning. The objectives of the study are to produce four time series of land cover data, to analyze land cover changes and trajectories in the district, and to ana lyze forest deforestation and degradation in Kutai Barat District. Four time series Landsat Imageries (1990, 2000, 2005 and 2010) were utilised, and herarchichal object - based classification method was employed for the map production. The result demonstrate s that most of forest loss in Kutai Barat during 1990 – 2010 was caused by changes from degraded forest (especially open and closed Tree.Evergreen - broadleaved ) to rubber agroforests, rubber plantations and shrub land; this latter change implying forest deg radation due to timber extraction. Most forest loss and forest degradation occur in Production Forest zones ( Hutan Produksi ) where tree cutting is legal. However, there is as well degradation taking place in Protection Forest zone (Hutan Lindung) which imp lies illegal activities. For a district where natural resources still play a major role in the development and economic growth, locally appropriate strategies on land - use planning and its implementation should be comprehensively designed in order to mainta in good environmental practices

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