Improving Hill Farming: From Maize Monocropping to Alternative Cropping Systems in the Thai Highlands

Lately, the Hill Pond Rice System (HPRS) is being promoted as a form of alternative farming systems in selected northern provinces of Thailand, in which the land conversion is designed to maximize rainwater harvesting in farmland consisting of forest trees, water reservoirs, paddy fields, and high-value crop cultivation to serve environmental and livelihood needs. This study employed the double-hurdle model and the tobit technique to investigate the farm-level factors associated with land conversion from maize monocropping to the HPRS using primary data collected from 253 households in Nan, Chiang Mai, Tak, and Lampang Provinces. It was found that education, farming knowledge, understanding benefits of the HPRS, access to water sources, access to advis, and workforce sharing raised the likelihood and extent of farmland conversion into the HPRS. In contrast, perceived complexity of the HPRS, experiences with negative shocks, and land tenure security lowered the likelihood and extent of land conversion. The findings suggest that on-farm collective action should be promoted to mitigate labor constraints in implementation and that access to equipment should be enhanced through HPRS advisors’ visits.

Spatial Pattern of Functional Urban Land Conversion and Expansion under Rapid Urbanization: A Case Study of Changchun, China

As populations continue to be concentrated in cities, the world will become entirely urbanized, and urban space is undergoing a drastic evolution. Understanding the spatial pattern of conversion and expansion of functional urban land, in the context of rapid urbanization, helps us to grasp the trajectories of urban spatial evolution in greater depth from a theoretical and practical level. Using the ESRI ArcGIS 9.3 software platform, methods, such as overlay analysis, transition matrix, and kernel density estimation, were used in order to analyze the spatiotemporal characteristics of different types of functional urban land conversion and expansion in the central city of Changchun. The results show that different types of functional urban land were often expanded and replaced, and the urban spatial structure was constantly evolving. The conversion and expansion of functional urban land show similar characteristics to concentric zone and sector modes and show dynamic changes in different concentric circles and directions at different periods. Our method can accurately identify the different types of functional urban land, and also explore the evolutionary trajectory of urban spatial structure. This study will help to coordinate the development of different functional urban spaces and to optimize the urban spatial structure in the future.

Monitoring Urban Expansion and Loss of Agriculture on the North Coast of West Java Province, Indonesia, Using Google Earth Engine and Intensity Analysis

Uncontrolled urban expansion resulting from urbanization has a disastrous impact on agricultural land. This situation is being experienced by the densely populated and fertile island Java in Indonesia. Remote sensing technologies have developed rapidly in recent years, including the creation of Google Earth Engine (GEE). Intensity analysis (IA) is increasingly being used to systematically and substantially analyze land-use/land-cover (LULC) change. As yet, however, no study of land conversion from agriculture to urban areas in Indonesia has adopted GEE and IA approaches simultaneously. Therefore, this study aims to monitor urban penetration to agricultural land in the north coastal region of West Java Province by applying both methods to two time intervals: 2003–2013 and 2013–2020. Landsat data and a robust random forest (RF) classifier available in GEE were chosen for producing LULC maps. Monitoring LULC change using GEE and IA has demonstrated reliable findings. The overall accuracy of Landsat image classification results for 2003, 2013, and 2020 were 88%, 87%, and 88%, respectively. IA outputs at interval levels for all categories showed that the annual change-of-area rate was higher during 2013–2020 than during 2003–2013. At the category level, IA results showed that the area of agricultural land experienced net losses in both periods, with net loss in 2013–2020 being 2.3 times greater than that in 2003–2013 (∼1,850 ha per year). In contrast, the built-up area made net gains in both periods, reaching almost twice as much in the second period as in the first (∼2,030 ha per year). The transition-level IA performed proved that agricultural land had been the primary target for the expansion of built-up areas. The most extensive spatial distribution of land conversion from agriculture to built-up area was concentrated in the regencies of Bekasi, Karawang, and Cirebon. These findings are intended to provide stakeholders with enrichment in terms of available literature and with valuable inputs useful for identifying better urban and regional planning policies in Indonesia and similar regions.

Analisis Alih Fungsi Lahan Menggunakan Regresi Logistik Ordinal

The occurrence of landslides can not be separated from conditions that are prone to landslide movements such as steep slopes and high rainfall. The occurrence of landslides is also exacerbated by the indiscipline of the community in using land according to its function, which is called land conversion which can be a trigger factor for landslides. Conducting research on land use change is important to see the impact caused by human activities. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of land conversion on landslide hazard levels in Samigaluh District, Kulon Progo Regency. The method in this research was descriptive quantitative using primary data, namely field surveys and secondary data collection. The steps on this research were conducting field observations about the occurrence of land conversion and then retrieving level of landslide hazard at the observation point of land use change. Data analysis was performed using ordinal logistic regression. The result of the analysis showed that the p value (0.036) <0.05 which meant H0 was rejected. Thus, at the 95% confidence level it could be said that the variable of land use change affected the level of landslide hazard in Samigaluh District, Kulon Progo Regency. This output could be considered for the community to use the land according to its function. Key words: Land Function Change; Landslide; Ordinal

The Challenges of Implementing Payment for Environmental Services to Prevent The Agricultural Land Conversion

<p>Payments for environmental services mechanism is expected to strengthen decisions of agricultural landowners to maintain the existence of their agricultural land. This mechanism is expected to prevent the conversion of land that occurs due to its lower appreciation compared to other uses. This study is aimed to critically examine the challenges of implementing payments for environmental services in Indonesia and strategies to improve the implementation of payments for environmental services schemes to reduce agricultural land conversion. Ostrom’s Institutional Analysis and Development framework is used to examine the implementation of Payments for environmental services. The implementation was able to run well through the establishment of institutions that regulate constitutional rules. The collaboration between the Government (as the user of environmental service) and farmers (as the service provider) should be declared and fully understood before the scheme is implemented. Therefore, full participation of all related parties was crucial in achieving the program’s goals. Collective understanding of the need to prevent land conversion and the coordination of stakeholders needs to be carried out sustainably.<br />Keywords: Land, conversion, environmental services, payment</p><p><strong><br /></strong></p><p><strong>Abstrak</strong></p><p><strong>TANTANGAN IMPLEMENTASI PEMBAYARAN JASA LINGKUNGAN UNTUK PENCEGAHAN KONVERSI LAHAN PERTANIAN</strong></p><p>Mekanisme pembayaran jasa lingkungan diharapkan dapat memperkuat keputusan pemilik lahan pertanian untuk mempertahankannya. Mekanisme tersebut diharapkan dapat mencegah konversi lahan yang terjadi akibat apresiasi terhadap lahan pertanian secara ekonomi lebih rendah dibandingkan dengan penggunaan lainnya. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk menelaah secara kritis tantangan implementasi pembayaran jasa lingkungan di Indonesia dan strategi meningkatkan implementasi skema pembayaran jasa lingkungan untuk mengurangi konversi lahan pertanian. Kerangka Ostrom’s Institutional Analysis and Development digunakan untuk mengkaji implementasi pembayaran jasa lingkungan. Implementasi pembayaran jasa lingkungan dapat berjalan dengan baik melalui penetapan lembaga yang mengatur aturan konstitusional. Kontrak kerja sama antara pemerintah sebagai pengguna jasa lingkungan dengan petani sebagai penyedia jasa lingkungan harus disosialisasikan dan dipahami sebelum skema pembayaran jasa lingkungan dijalankan. Pelibatan partisipan secara penuh merupakan hal yang sangat penting dalam mencapai keberhasilan program. Pemahaman bersama tentang perlunya pencegahan konversi lahan dan koordinasi seluruh pemangku kepentingan terkait secara berkelanjutan sangat diperlukan.<br />Kata kunci: Lahan, konversi, jasa lingkungan, pembayaran</p>

Germany’s Agricultural Land Footprint and the Impact of Import Pattern Allocation

Footprints are powerful indicators for evaluating the impacts of a country’s bioeconomy on environmental goods, both domestic and abroad. We apply a hybrid approach combining a multi-regional input-output model and land use modelling to compute the agricultural land footprint (aLF). Furthermore, we added information on land-use change to the analysis and allocated land conversion to specific commodities. Using Germany as a case study, we show that the aLF abroad is 2.5 to 3 times larger compared to impacts within the country. When allocating land conversion of natural and semi-natural land-cover types in 2005 and 2010 to import increases by Germany, conversion rates were found to be 2.5 times higher than for the global average. Import increases to Germany slowed down in 2015 and 2020, reducing land conversion attributed to the German bioeconomy as well. Our results indicate that looking at a static import pattern is not sufficient to draw a realistic picture of the land footprint of a country. For a more detailed assessment that also considers temporal dynamics and impacts of biomass use and trade, our newly developed set of indicators also captures changes of import patterns over time. The case study shows that our enhanced land footprint provides clear and meaningful information for policymakers and other stakeholders.

Sustainable Agricultural Land Management in Garut Regency, West Java Province, Indonesia

The high land conversion rate to other sectors has led the government to issue Law No. 41 in 2009 concerning Protection of Sustainable Agricultural Land (SAL). The study aims to identify the distribution of sustainable agricultural land uses and determine agricultural land-use changes from 2016 to 2019 and determine farmers' understanding of sustainable agricultural land control in the strategic area of Garut Regency. We overlaid the land use maps of Garut Regency in 2016 and 2019 and conducted a survey using an online questionnaire with a Google form. The research location is in five districts in Garut Regency. The results showed no land conversion in the area of existing sustainable agricultural land in Garut Regency. The total rice field area is 6,081 hectares, with about 24% is sustainable agricultural land. From 2016 to 2019, the rice field area decreased by 12 hectares. The farmers' awareness of SAL tends to be more likely aware of the sustainable agricultural land area, as many as 39% of farmers aware of sustainable agricultural land. The incentives given to farmers who control sustainable agricultural land are tax deduction, agricultural infrastructure supply, agricultural production facilities subsidies, and land certification facilities. The majority of the respondents are aware of these incentives. In conclusion, no sustainable agricultural land is converted, even though changes occur in non-sustainable agricultural land. The impact of this study is for recommendations to the government in sustainable agricultural land management.

THE CONSIDERATION OF ZONING COMPLIANCE ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE FASTRACK NIL IN JOHOR

Under Section 53 of National Land Code 1965, there were lands alienated before the commencement of NLC whereby the titles do not indicate any particular category of land use and express conditions, but instead are stated as ‘Nil’. Therefore, this paper aims to describe the procedure of Fastrack NIL implementation in Johor and its consideration of zoning compliance upon the imposition of land categories and express conditions for land stated as ‘Nil’. Using content analysis and interview with selected respondent using purposive sampling, it is confirmed that the imposition of conditions or land conversion does not need to be in accordance with the zoning compliance. However, this practice is becoming a norm due to the equitable interests held by landowners and taking into account the interest of the state government, thus zoning must be considered in the Fastrack NIL application.