ASSESSMENT AND CLASSIFICATION OF FOREST LAND DEGRADATION LEVELS IN LAI CHAU PROVINCE, VIET NAM

Abstract

Forest land in many regions is facing serious challenges due to land degradation, which has a huge impact on ecosystem safety, social and food security and sustainable development. The Northwest is one of the four key desertification regions in Vietnam. This paper shares research conducted in Lai Chau province, the types of forest land degradation are assessed and classified into four different levels: (i) slight degradation; (ii) moderate degradation; (iii) severe degradation; and (iv) no degradation. The method of overlaying maps with three thematic maps: rain-eroded soil, drought-affected soil and soil with reduced fertility was applied. The results showed that, in the forestry land area of Lai Chau province (in 2022), moderate rain-eroded soil was dominant (211,226.51 ha), while the remaining two types of soil mostly showed signs of slight degradation (379,534.20 ha of slight drought-affected soil and 156,567.45 ha of slight fertility-affected soil). Accordingly, the total land area of slight degradation is 204,812.98 ha (accounting for 42.07%), moderate degradation is 148,391.93 ha (accounting for 30.48%), and severe degradation is 64,721.68 (accounting for 13.29%), and no degradation is 68,946.95 ha (accounting for 14.16%). Over 80% of the forest land area of districts/cities is degraded at different levels. Determining the level of degradation is necessary to propose appropriate measures to increase the effectiveness of restoration and sustainable use of forest land in the province.