GIS-aided determination of socio-economic variables afecting land-use change in the Mt. Makiling Forest Reserve, Philippines

Results of the study showed that there was a net loss in forest of around 72 hectares over the 7-year period. The changes appeared as small patches located along the line separating the main forest block and the cultivated areas. The land-use and land-cover change in the forest reserve was observe to be dynamic as abandoned and unmanaged farms would regain forest cover given a favorable condition. The more than 4,300-hectares forest reserve is a mountain lanscape surrounded by fast growing industrial, commercial and residential areas. Cultivation and settlement in areas not alloted for housing facilities are not among the intended land uses. The forest reserve is primarily intended as a field laboratory of the University of the Philippines Los Banos (UPLB) and as site of scientific studies and researches. It is also very important watershed, recreation site and biodiversity conservation landscape. A sketch map of farm lots was imported to Arc View. Various thematic maps were created from queries on the socio-economic characteristics of the land claimants and on the attributes of the farm lots. The spatial distribution of farm lots and their relative location were used as the main basis in relating the observed change in land use in MFR [Makiling Forest Reserve] with the socio-economic variables that characterized the communities in the area. Geographical Information System (GIS) was employed to increase the utility of the existing socio-economic datasets. This gave a clearer picture of the spatial distribution of farm lots. The study found that land-use/land-cover change would continue in the mountain landscape. A gradual conversion along the edge of the existing forest is expected. The change would not be discernable on aerial photographs because a portion of the original forest cover is retained on new farms and due to widespread practice of multicropping system using fruit trees as base crops. In addition, the increasing population of forest occupants and land climants is also a factor in land-use change. Aside from population, land ownership and manner of staking land claims (actual cultivation, inheritance and purchase) were considered important factors that would shape up the future land uses of MFR. All the above mentioned factors were considered proximate determinants of land-use/land cover change in the study area. The study also found that the existing datasets, which include farm sketches, are a good alternative to primary data in terms of utility for land-use/land-cover change study. However, a georeferenced baseline data and information is still wanting