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Eco-Environmental Risk Evaluation for Land Use Planning in Areas of Potential Farmland Abandonment in the High Mountains of Nepal Himalayas

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  • Suresh Chaudhary

    (Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS), Beijing 100049, China
    Wanzhou Key Regional Ecology and Environment Monitoring Station of Three Gorges Project Ecological Environmental Monitoring System, Wanzhou 404020, China
    National Society for Earthquake Technology-Nepal, Kathmandu Lalitpur, P.O. Box 13667, Nepal)

  • Yukuan Wang

    (Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China
    Wanzhou Key Regional Ecology and Environment Monitoring Station of Three Gorges Project Ecological Environmental Monitoring System, Wanzhou 404020, China)

  • Amod Mani Dixit

    (National Society for Earthquake Technology-Nepal, Kathmandu Lalitpur, P.O. Box 13667, Nepal)

  • Narendra Raj Khanal

    (Central Department of Geography, Tribhuvan University, University Campus, Kirtipur, P.O. Box 44613 Nepal)

  • Pei Xu

    (Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China
    Wanzhou Key Regional Ecology and Environment Monitoring Station of Three Gorges Project Ecological Environmental Monitoring System, Wanzhou 404020, China)

  • Kun Yan

    (Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China
    Wanzhou Key Regional Ecology and Environment Monitoring Station of Three Gorges Project Ecological Environmental Monitoring System, Wanzhou 404020, China)

  • Qin Liu

    (Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China
    Wanzhou Key Regional Ecology and Environment Monitoring Station of Three Gorges Project Ecological Environmental Monitoring System, Wanzhou 404020, China)

  • Yafeng Lu

    (Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China
    Wanzhou Key Regional Ecology and Environment Monitoring Station of Three Gorges Project Ecological Environmental Monitoring System, Wanzhou 404020, China)

  • Ming Li

    (Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China
    Wanzhou Key Regional Ecology and Environment Monitoring Station of Three Gorges Project Ecological Environmental Monitoring System, Wanzhou 404020, China)

Abstract

Land use change, especially that due to farmland abandonment in the mountains of Nepal, is being seen as a major factor contributing to increasing eco-environmental risk, undesirable changes in the socio-cultural landscape, biodiversity loss, and reduced capacity of the ecosystem to provide key services. This study aims to: i) evaluate eco-environmental risk for one of the high mountain river basins, the Dordi river basin in Nepal, that has a growing potential of farmland abandonment; and ii) develop a risk-based land use planning framework for mitigating the impact of risk and for enhancing sustainable management practices in mountain regions. We employed a multi-criteria analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to assign risk weightage to geophysical and socio-demographic factors, and performed spatial superposition analysis in the model builder of a geographic information system (GIS) to produce an eco-environmental risk map, which was subjected to a reliability check against existing eco-environmental conditions by ground truthing and using statistical models. The result shows that 22.36% of the basin area has a high level of risk. The very high, extreme high, moderate, and low zones accounted 17.38%, 7.93%, 28.49%, and 23.81%, respectively. A high level of eco-environmental risk occurs mostly in the north and northwest, but appears in patches in the south as well, whereas the level of moderate risk is concentrated in the southern parts of the river basin. All the land use types, notably, forest, grassland, shrub land, and cultivated farmland, are currently under stress, which generally increases with elevation towards the north but is also concentrated along the road network and river buffer zones where human interference with nature is the maximum. The risk map and the framework are expected to provide information and a scientific evidence-base for formulating and reasonable development strategies and guidelines for consensus-based utilization and protection of eco-environmental resources in the river basin. As an awareness raising tool, it also can activate social processes enabling communities to design for and mitigate the consequences of hazardous events. Moreover, this risk assessment allows an important link in understanding regional eco-environmental risk situation, land use, natural resources, and environmental management.

Suggested Citation

  • Suresh Chaudhary & Yukuan Wang & Amod Mani Dixit & Narendra Raj Khanal & Pei Xu & Kun Yan & Qin Liu & Yafeng Lu & Ming Li, 2019. "Eco-Environmental Risk Evaluation for Land Use Planning in Areas of Potential Farmland Abandonment in the High Mountains of Nepal Himalayas," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-20, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:24:p:6931-:d:294467
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    Cited by:

    1. Ojha, Roshan Babu & Atreya, Kishor & Kristiansen, Paul & Devkota, Deepa & Wilson, Brian, 2022. "A systematic review and gap analysis of drivers, impacts, and restoration options for abandoned croplands in Nepal," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    2. Szymon Szewrański & Jan K. Kazak, 2020. "Socio-Environmental Vulnerability Assessment for Sustainable Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-5, September.
    3. Bo Liu & Wei Song & Qian Sun, 2022. "Status, Trend, and Prospect of Global Farmland Abandonment Research: A Bibliometric Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-30, November.
    4. Yaotao Xu & Peng Li & Jinjin Pan & Yi Zhang & Xiaohu Dang & Xiaoshu Cao & Junfang Cui & Zhi Yang, 2022. "Eco-Environmental Effects and Spatial Heterogeneity of “Production-Ecology-Living” Land Use Transformation: A Case Study for Ningxia, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-20, August.

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