A STUDY ON LAND USE AND ENVIRONMENT IN TONZA CITY AREA IN HAINAN PROVINCE, CHINA: TWENTY YEARS OF CHANGE

摘要

Counties under the Tonza city of Hainan province in China are remote areas inhabited mainly by Li ethnic community. Remote Sensing has been utilized in order to better understand the human interaction with the environment and the natural resources. This paper summarizes the study of changing land use covering a time span of last two decades, in the four counties, namely Fan Yang Zheng, Maoyan Zheng, Hongshang Xiang and Shui Man Xiang in Tonza city area in Hainan. Landsat MSS and Landsat ETM data were used to analyze the land cover into broad classes, and then spatial and temporal dynamics of land use change was analyzed for the whole area and different counties. The study showed a significant increase in forest and a decrease in grassland in the study area over this period. This change is consistent with the history of various policy measures and laws with respect to shifting cultivation and forest use adopted in the area during the period, which could be verified from our field investigations.