The study was conducted at the Ngoc Phai Commune, Cho Don District, Bac Kan Province, Vietnam. The aimed to determine land-use changes (LUCs) for the last 15 years (1990-2005) of Doi Moi (renovation) ra in the mountainous region of northern Vietnam. | Đàm Việt Bắc và cs Tạp chí KHOA HỌC & CÔNG NGHỆ 77(01): 97 - 102 FOREST LAND-USE CHANGE IN NGOC PHAI COMMUNE, CHO DON DISTRICT, BAC KAN PROVINCE, VIETNAM (1990-2005) Dam Viet Bac, Dam Xuan Van* College of Agriculture and Forestry - Thai Nguyen University SUMMARY The study was conducted at the Ngoc Phai Commune, Cho Don District, Bac Kan Province, Vietnam. The aimed to determine land-use changes (LUCs) for the last 15 years (1990-2005) of Doi Moi (renovation) ra in the mountainous region of northern Vietnam. For spatial data, the Geographic Information System (GIS) was applied as a tool for determining LUCs. Three land-use maps (1990, 1998 and 2005) were overlaid and grouped into two intervals (1990-1998 and 19982005). Several thematic maps were created such as slope, elevation, drainage and road maps. Moreover, the study site was divided into 204-grid cells with 500 m x 500 m/cell or 25 ha/cell to identify and quantity the area and location of the land-use changes associated with the grid cell level. For the period 1990-1998, the total area of forest degradation was ha. This occurred at 15°-35° slope, 500-700 masl and at a distance of 500-1000m from location of LUCs to the main road. Forest restoration for the same time period was ha mainly at 15°-35° slope, 400-700 mal and at a distance of 100-250 m followed by 250-500 m and 500-750 m. For the period 19982005, forest degradation had a total area of ha mainly at 15°-35°slope, 400-600 masl and at a distance of 250-500 m followed by 500-750 m and 750 – 1000 m. Forest restoration for the same time period was ha mainly at 15°-35° slope, 400-700 mal and at a distance of 250-500 m followed by 500-750 m and 750-1000 m. Keywords: Land use change, mountainous region, northern Vietnam INTRODUCTION* Three-quarters of Vietnam‟s total land area of million hectares is occupied by hills and mountains. The remaining one-third is home to the national population which have undergone rapid .
