Electronic Green Journal

The paper examines the forestland conversion in the period 2001-2005 and its socioeconomic determinants affecting such a change in Kien Luong district of southern Vietnam using Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Remote Sensing (RS), and multiple regression techniques. The land use/ land cover (LULC) classes of the years 2001 and 2005 were in turn classified from Landsat ETM Plus 2001 and digitized from the district land-use map 2005. Corresponding socioeconomic data to the derived LULC classes were aggregated for the multiple regression analysis of determinants of the forestland conversion. The findings indicated that the loss of forestlands was driven by the quick growth of the rural economy in which the two largest contributors were the prompt expansion of agricultural and aquaculture lands. Such a land-use change initially hampered the agricultural development and ecological services. Addressing land-use suitability for production systems and socio-environmental costs of the changes was therefore an urgent need for the aim of more effective policies of utilization and management of land resources.