Land use changes in Nuwara Eliya divisional secretary division: quantitative and qualitative approaches.

Abstract

Development of a region depends on how the land is used in that particular region. A region moves to the state form developing to the state of developed when to land resource in that region is used to its optimum. Research on use of land is important to make the region to a developed region. Through land use change analysis, quantitative and qualitative information on land use and the driving factors of land use changes can be obtained. This information is being used for regional planning, decision making on environmental conservation and sustainable land use planning. The natural phenomena covered nature of the surface of the land is known as land cover, it becomes land use when people process using the inputs in order to preserve those land cover, to change and for production process. The researches regarding land use and the attempt to map those are active and developing since long. Remote sensing and Geographical Information System technologies are being developed for the mapping of land use and detect its changes. And therefore this research focuses on analysis the quantitative and qualitative changes on land use of Nuwara Eliya Divisional secretary Division of Sri Lanka. Satellite images and land use map have been used as data source for preparing the land use maps in different periods of this study. Field work has been carried out to make clear of unclear patterns of land use on satellite images. The collected data has been analyzed through Geographical Information System and statistical methods. Accordingly, spatial and temporal land use changes in quantitative and qualitative nature were obtained from the period of 1992- 2018 which was under study. At the results of the study, it was observed that tea land has been converted at large into homesteads between these periods. A natural forest also has been cleared and changed into residential, urban land uses. Therefore, it is urgently required to control the adverse effects of changes on land uses and to carry proper planning and management activities which would lead sustainable development of land resources and conservation of nature.