Tropical Forest and Wetland Losses and the Role of Protected Areas in Northwestern Belize, Revealed from Landsat and Machine Learning

Changes in land-use and land-cover, including both agricultural expansion and the establishment of protected areas, have altered the landscape pattern and extent of forest and wetland cover in the tropics. In Central America, land-use and land-cover change is also threatening the cultural resources of the region’s ancient Maya heritage since many ancient sites have been degraded by burning, deforestation, and plowing. In this study of Orange Walk District of northern Belize, from the 1980s to the present, we used multitemporal Landsat data with a random forest classifier to reveal trends in land-use and land-cover change and the increasing loss of forest and wetlands. We develop a random forest classifier that is time-generalized to map land-use and land-cover across the entire Landsat record, including Landsat 4, 5, 7, and 8, with a single algorithm. Including multiyear and seasonal composites was important for obtaining cloud-free coverage and distinguishing between different land-use and land-cover types. Early deforestation (1984–1987) was in small patches scattered across the landscape and likely driven by small scale agriculture such as milpa and smaller area tractor and horse-drawn plowing. The establishment of protected areas in the late 1980s and early 1990s allowed for forest regrowth in these areas, while wetland losses were high at 15%. The transition to industrial agriculture in the 2000s, however, drove a 43.6% expansion of agriculture and a 7.5% loss of forest and a 28.2% loss of wetlands during the ~15 years. Protected areas initiated in the 1980s led to a nearly 100 km2 decrease in agriculture from 1984–1987 to 1999–2001, and they became essential refugia for habitat and maintaining ecosystem services.

Loss of wetlands due to the expansion of polder in the Dongting Plain, China, AD 1368–1980

The Dongting Plain is an area characterized by wetland losses because of long-term polder construction. The study of historical polder expansion provides an opportunity to better understand the loss of wetlands covered by polders. To reconstruct the polder expansion over time, the polder patches extracted though remote sensing were marked with the names obtained from maps and the times of construction obtained from local gazetteers, and shown in the chronological order of turning points. Then, the distribution and changes in the wetlands covered by polders during 1368–1980 were reconstructed. The following are the major findings: (1) the current polders (2010s) accumulated over many centuries. There were 5.7% of the current polder area in 1644, 14.0% in 1735, 23.4% in 1850, 55.0% in 1911, 73.6% in 1949, and 100% in 1980; (2) the wetlands were mostly lost in the northern part of the region and declined rapidly over the past two centuries. The wetland area in 1850 was 6635 km2, which in 1911, 1949 and 1980 were 73.9%, 62.7% and 40.6% of that in 1850, respectively; (3) there were differences in the rate of wetland loss. The fastest time of wetland area disappearance was in 1949–1980, and 45.8 km2 of the wetlands had been lost each year; and (4) there was a spatial difference in wetland losses caused by polder expansion. In the northern part of the area, the wetland loss was mainly in 1851–1980, and the polders constructed in this period covered 89.5% of the polder area. In contrast, in the southern part of the area, the change in the wetland area was relatively small in each period, and the polder constructed before and after 1850 covered 48.3% and 52.7% of the polder area, respectively.

Numerical Analysis of Breakwaters Turbulence Under Coastal Wave Actions

Due to the coastal wave actions, Louisiana coastline has been experiencing serious depletion of wetlands over decades. The loss of wetlands is threating the environment and the economic development of Louisiana. Therefore, breakwaters are designed to protect the coastline from coastal erosion and wetland losses by dissipating the energy of waves and changing the transport of sediment which is brought by the waves. The objective of this research was to give a numerical analysis of 2-dimensional breakwaters under wave actions and 3-dimensional breakwaters turbulence characteristics under coastal wave actions using CFD simulation. In this research, three breakwater structures are tested: a solid panel with no holes, a panel with three holes, and a panel with eight holes. The breakwater designs aim to allow sediment pass through the holes, to deposit and accumulate sediment at target areas, and to reduce wave actions. There were three different cases simulated with wave actions and without wave actions in this study, each case using a different panel design. The results of this study were mainly compared with the 2-dimensional CFD simulation analysis conducted previously to prove the accuracy.

An Interactive Platform for Sustainable Supply Chains

In 2015, the United Nations set up 17 sustainable development goals to transform the world. Sustainable supply chains play a key role in achieving these goals. In this article, the authors propose an interactive platform with communication systems and technologies to empower sustainable development participants actively engaging in managing sustainable supply chains and international soft landings. Specifically, this article illustrates how to develop an interactive “Flying High, Landing Soft” platform of wetland entrepreneurship to address the growing global problem of wetland losses. The interactive platform, grounded in the theory of digital nervous systems and equipped with social interaction technologies, and allows student entrepreneurs to participate in exploring and developing business solutions to maintain a healthy wetland and have positive impact on global sustainability development.

GEOSPATIAL ANALYSIS OF WETLANDS DEGRADATION IN MAKURDI, NIGERIA

Globally, the amount of wetlands have being on the decline due to the fragile nature of these ecosystems and unplanned land consumption practices. This has created pressure on suitable land for cultivation in most developing countries where most of the growing food demand originates. Previous studies revealed that wetlands and agricultural landuse dominated the landscape of Makurdi. However, the trend is changing in recent times. Makurdi has undergone tremendous transformation in its landuse/landcover due to rapid urbanization since 1976 when it became the capital city of Benue State. To estimate the land cover change in Makurdi, Landsat ETM, ETM+ and OLI satellite data for 1996, 2006 and 2016, respectively were utilised. The study adapted the Kappa index for assessing accuracy of the land use/cover maps generated from the analysis to improve the accuracy of results. An accuracy level of 80 to 91 % was achieved. The results reveal an overall significant increase in built-up area and other land uses at the expense of wetlands from 26.3 % in 1996 to 18.1 % in 2016. Further analysis includes the land consumption rate (LCR) and land absorption coefficient (LAC) which reveals the role of population expansion in the recorded levels of wetland losses recorded in this study. The study projects a further decline of wetland cover by 33.15 km² (or by 22.57 %) in 2026 if steps are not instituted to control the rate of decline. Suggestions are made to align with and incorporate into policy the strategic need to adopt the provisions of the SDGs at local levels if we intend to avert the massive failure recorded by the now rested MDGs.

Sustainable Supply Chains and International Soft Landings

Dealing with the “hidden dynamics” of diplomacy, espionage, and geopolitics has been a major challenge in international business. The rise of climate change and global terrorism, however, has brought nations together to seek for collaborative solutions. Coopetition is a strategy needed for business executives and managers engaging in strategic planning and operations of their international businesses in the 21st century. In this paper, we propose a two-stage process of coopetition consisting of sustainable supply chains and international soft landings. We illustrate how the two-stage process is used to develop a “Flying High, Landing Soft” platform of wetland entrepreneurship to address the growing global problem of wetland losses. The platform allows students to participate in exploring and developing businesses to maintain a healthy wetland and have positive impact on public health.

Oil Residues Accelerate Coastal Wetland Losses

Coastal wetland loss after an oil spill can be more extensive than after a hurricane.