| Abstract: |
| The study was conducted at the Ngoc Phai Commune, Cho Don District, Bac Kan Province, Vietnam. The aimed to determine land-use changes (LUCs) for the last 15 years (1990-2005) of Doi Moi (renovation) era in the mountainous region of northern Vietnam. For spatial data, the Geographic Information System (GIS) was applied as a tool for determining LUCs. Three land-use maps (1990, 1998 and 2005) were overlaid and grouped into two intervals (1990-1998 and 1998-2005). Several thematic maps were created such as slope, elevation, drainage and road maps. Moreover, the study site was divided into 204-grid cells with 500 m x 500 m/cell or 25 ha/cell to identify and quantity the area and location of the land-use changes associated with the grid cell level. For the period 1990-1998, the total area of forest degradation was 109.31 ha. This occurred at 15°-35° slope, 500-700 masl and at a distance of 500-1000m from location of LUCs to the main road. Forest restoration for the same time period was 108.30 ha mainly at 15°-35° slope, 400-700 mal and at a distance of 100-250 m followed by 250-500 m and 500-750 m. For the period 1998-2005, forest degradation had a total area of 625.47 ha mainly at 15°-35°slope, 400-600 masl and at a distance of 250-500 m followed by 500-750 m and 750 – 1000 m. Forest restoration for the same time period was 657.94 ha mainly at 15°-35° slope, 400-700 mal and at a distance of 250-500 m followed by 500-750 m and 750-1000 m. |
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