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Impact of Climate Change, Land Use and Land Cover, and Socio-economic Dynamics on Landslides pp 149–164Cite as

Landslide, Land Cover, and Land use Changes and Its Impacts in Nepal

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Part of the book series: Disaster Risk Reduction ((DRR))

Abstract

The study of land use and land cover (LULC) changes has become a key index in identifying and understanding the patterns of urbanization, land use changes and their contribution to the exposure and distributions of hazards. The increasing urbanization has resulted in the acquisition of a large area of forest and cultivable land, thereby converting it into the urban fringes. Besides, the existing rugged terrain and the complex topography of the country, the anthropogenic interventions has activated a large number of landslides and its occurrence. This study visualizes the LULC with regards to built-up areas, forest, agriculture, road, and water networks and thus helps to assess the increasing exposure of landslide hazards and vulnerability. Satellite remote sensing data along with field observation were used in order to quantify the spatial and temporal dynamics of LULC changes over time. The existing topography, roads excavated at the higher gradient and the agricultural lands on the steeper slopes have been the hotspots for the large number of landslides. Poor engineering road construction, inappropriate agricultural practices, rural–urban/ highland-lowland migration and abandoned agricultural lands are responsible for the generation of landslides and LULC changes in Nepal. This study helpful for the mainstreaming of Sustainable Land Management Practices and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) strategies into the development planning.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Disaster Management and Reconstruction, Sichuan University-The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China

    Basanta Raj Adhikari

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, Pulchowk Campus, Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur, Nepal

    Basanta Raj Adhikari

  3. Institute of Himalayan Risk Reduction, Kathmandu, Nepal

    Basanta Raj Adhikari & Suraj Gautam

  4. Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Basanta Paudel

Authors
  1. Basanta Raj Adhikari
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  2. Suraj Gautam
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  3. Basanta Paudel
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Basanta Raj Adhikari .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, Delhi Technological University, Delhi, India

    Raju Sarkar

  2. Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University, Shonan Fujisawa Campus, Fujisawa, Kanagawa, Japan

    Rajib Shaw

  3. Centre for Advanced Modelling and Geospatial Information Systems, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia

    Biswajeet Pradhan

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Adhikari, B.R., Gautam, S., Paudel, B. (2022). Landslide, Land Cover, and Land use Changes and Its Impacts in Nepal. In: Sarkar, R., Shaw, R., Pradhan, B. (eds) Impact of Climate Change, Land Use and Land Cover, and Socio-economic Dynamics on Landslides. Disaster Risk Reduction. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-7314-6_6

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