Land Use Change and It Impact on the Coastal Ecosystem : A case of Mararikulam pachayats, Kerala, India
Pandurangan, Gayathri Devi (2012)
Pandurangan, Gayathri Devi
Yrkeshögskolan Novia
2012
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201205239475
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201205239475
Tiivistelmä
Kerala, situated at the west coast of the Indian peninsula, faces coastal erosion and degradation of coastal vegetation and various natural hazards. Furthermore, Kerala's coast is the centre for major economic activity and exhibits a much diversified land use pattern. This study attempts to find the land use changes and its impact on the coastal ecosystem of Kerala.
After analysing the coastal ecosystem in Mararikulam South and North panchayat (a village council) in Kerala through a socio-economic survey, the impact of land use change and development activities on those ecosystems as well as the possible consequences have been outlined. As the prime objective of the study is to find the changes in the land use, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technique helped to pasteurize and estimate the current trends and the status of land use in the study area.
The result shows that the changes in the land use is one of the main causes of coastal erosion, coastal accretion and degradation of coastal vegetation in both panchayats, and the steps taken by the government to mitigate these issues resulted in serious drawbacks. Hence, a future course of action that includes planning and development guidelines considering Integrated Coastal Zone Management is recommended.
After analysing the coastal ecosystem in Mararikulam South and North panchayat (a village council) in Kerala through a socio-economic survey, the impact of land use change and development activities on those ecosystems as well as the possible consequences have been outlined. As the prime objective of the study is to find the changes in the land use, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technique helped to pasteurize and estimate the current trends and the status of land use in the study area.
The result shows that the changes in the land use is one of the main causes of coastal erosion, coastal accretion and degradation of coastal vegetation in both panchayats, and the steps taken by the government to mitigate these issues resulted in serious drawbacks. Hence, a future course of action that includes planning and development guidelines considering Integrated Coastal Zone Management is recommended.