Browsing by Author "Malinen, Ninna"

Land use changes occur everywhere. Land use changes, such as forest degradation, effect on a global level. They have an influence for example to climate change, water circulation and erosion. However, they affect also on a local level and can have an impact to the everyday lives of local communities. Examining land use changes is important, because it brings more knowledge about changing areas, and how to deal with the changes. Local level examination is important when analysing land use changes, as local level actions help to understand large-scale phenomena as well. Understanding of land use changes can aid policymakers, who are responsible for making decisions about land use management. Land use changes are evident also in Sri Lanka. During the past few centuries, the country has undergone considerable forest loss. The loss of forest has affected to the land management of the country, since strict nature protection procedures have been put in place. In practise, this has meant strict forest conservation policies and forest demarcations in many areas. The strict forest protection has been a successful solution in terms of biodiversity conservation. At times the conservation procedures have been so restrictive that they have affected negatively to the life styles and livelihoods of local communities, who are dependent on the forest resources. This thesis examines the changes in land use in Welioya village, in central Sri Lanka. The village is located in the proximity of a demarcated Bogahapalassa Natural Forest, which has worked as a source of livelihoods for the villagers. This study examines, how the land use and land management has developed in the area. It views also, which kind of governmental actions have been implemented in the area to increase crop productivity. Moreover, it will consider the impacts of the strict conservation procedures to the local communities. It will also present alternative solutions that aim to include locals in the forest conservation. One of these procedures is called community participation. The land use changes are analysed with classifying satellite data by visual interpretation method. With the method, two land use maps are created for two different years, 2003 and 2015. After satellite image classification, the land use changes are quantified with landscape pattern analysis to discover, whether there is change in the landscape. Moreover, patchiness, fragmentation and other features of landscape pattern are assessed. Based on the results it is discovered that the area has gone through significant change. Due to the governmental projects, the area of home gardens has increased and traditional cultivation practises have decreased. The conservation of the Bogahapalassa Natural Forest has had a reviving effect, as the area of the forest has increased and open areas inside the forest have decreased. The government aims at protecting the forest in the future, but their focus is mostly in the biodiversity conservation, and not so much in the subsistence or livelihoods of the locals. This creates challenges in the area, and this remains a concern among the villagers.