کد مقاله کد نشریه سال انتشار مقاله انگلیسی نسخه تمام متن
93213 160117 2013 12 صفحه PDF دانلود رایگان
عنوان انگلیسی مقاله ISI
Underlying and proximate driving causes of land use change in district Swat, Pakistan
موضوعات مرتبط
علوم زیستی و بیوفناوری علوم کشاورزی و بیولوژیک جنگلداری
پیش نمایش صفحه اول مقاله
Underlying and proximate driving causes of land use change in district Swat, Pakistan
چکیده انگلیسی

Swat is part of the high mountain Hindu-Kush Himalayan region of Pakistan, with diverse biophysical and socio-economic characteristics. The region is endowed with many fragile and fragmented ecosystems, and land use and land cover changes have accelerated destructive processes with irreversible effects on ecosystems. The paper aims to (1) find proximate and underlying causes of land use and land cover changes; (2) analyse the drivers of change; and (3) reflect on the role of governance and policy.We used land use maps for the years 1968 and 2007 to highlight the extent and type of land use changes, and household surveys and expert interviews were conducted to collect quantitative and qualitative data for detecting and analysing the drivers of change.Results of household surveys and expert interviews show that technological and environmental factors, accessibility and proximity to local markets, immense use of firewood, conflicting property rights and other institutional weaknesses, and over-grazing of alpine pastures were the main driving forces for agriculture expansion and deforestation.Given the present governance structure of forest management in Pakistan a multi-sectoral and multi-scale framework is required to conserve the Swat's natural landscape and associated ecosystem services. A carefully crafted reform programme is required to clarify and assign unambiguous property rights, provisions for communal management and market-based incentives, depending on the social, economic, and ecological characteristics of the different zones under consideration. Only with such policies in place can the current rapid rate of deforestation be avoided and sustainable natural resources use be ensured.


► Our research is about socio-economic driving forces of land use changes in district Swat, Pakistan.
► Our analyses are particularly important because of the disparate accounts on the state of forest resources in the region and due to its importance.
► Numerous studies reported significant deforestation in Pakistan but none of these have discussed the in-depth causes of these changes.
► For conservation and sustainable use of these resources, an effective policy will only be possible if we understand the primary drivers of land use change and their interrelationship.

ناشر
Database: Elsevier - ScienceDirect (ساینس دایرکت)
Journal: Land Use Policy - Volume 34, September 2013, Pages 146–157
نویسندگان
, , ,