Krishna Vadrevu (ST11) led a special issue, “Forest Land Use Cover Changes (LUCC) and Impacts on Environment in South/Southeast Asian Countries,” in the Forests journal. The other editors included Kasturi Kanniah (University of Technology, Malaysia), Garik Gutman (NASA HQ), and Chris Justice (University of Maryland College Park).
Nine different articles were published by different research teams from the region and researchers working on South/Southeast Asia (S/SEA). Forests in S/SEA are undergoing rapid changes due to increased population and economic development. Addressing land-use cover changes (LUCC) in the forestry sector is one of the most important scientific challenges in global change research. LUCC are important drivers of environmental change in South/Southeast Asia (S/SEA).
In the region, LUCC in the forestry sector manifests in various phenomena, such as deforestation, logging, reforestation, etc. Slash-and-burn agriculture continues to be a major driver of forest-cover changes in the region. Further, a recent rise in the global prices for commodity crops like rubber and oil palm has increased commercial plantations, replacing natural forests. Drivers of LUCC in the forestry sector vary widely in the region, such as economic development, government policies, international trade, improper forest management, and land tenure issues. In addition, variability in the weather, climate, and socioeconomic factors is another driver of forest LUCC. The articles published in the special issue highlight some of the above issues, including mapping tree cover, plantations, reforestation and deforestation, biomass quantification, carbon stocks, emissions from peatland conversions to Oil Palm plantations, fires, and forest cover loss, including forest cover dynamics and policy. The Special issue contributes to the NASA LCLUC program-funded South/Southeast Asia Research Initiative (SARI) that Vadrevu has been leading.
The articles can be accessed from https://www.mdpi.com/journal/forests/special_issues/lucc.
