Abstract:
Sri Lanka is faced with several aspects of land
degradation, many of which are human induced. The
country is free of serious natural hazards such as
volcanic activity and earthquakes resulting from climatic
extremes, but there are impacts of many natural
disasters, such as landslides, floods and droughts, the
intensity and frequency of which are increasing due to
human interventions. Some areas of Sri Lanka are also
periodically subject to cyclones that occur due to
climatic conditions and geographical locations.
Land degradation denotes all natural or anthropogenic
processes that diminish or impair productivity of land.
This occurs mainly through soil erosion, loss of organic
matter and nutrients in the soil; salinization and large
scale land degradation in Sri Lanka. Its manifestations
today are heavy loss of soil, siltation in the water
bodies, reservoirs and coastal waters, unplanned
settlements, loss of arable land leading to declining
productivity in agricultural lands and intensification of
impacts of natural hazards such as flooding and
landslides.
Land degradation is a major problem in Eastern
Coastal Area from Kalmunai to Nintavur DSDs of
Ampara District. However, there is a considerable
spatial heterogeneity exists within this area in terms of
land use, topography, land management and socioeconomic
conditions. Therefore, land degradation
assessment studies are very important for the
sustainable development of the area. Considering the
above background, this study was conducted with the
objectives of developing a land degradation assessment
model using a GIS based approach.
