Land Use/Land Cover Changes in Ashtamudi Wetland Region of Kerala - A Study Using Remote Sensing and GIS

Ashtamudi estuary, the second largest wetland ecosystem of Kerala is the deepest among all the estuanes of Kerala This wetland is under severe environmental stress due to large-scale land use/ land cover conversions that occurred in and around it for the past several decades Ashtamudi is one of the 21 notified wetlands of paramount importance in India needing special conservation measures In the present study, land use/ land cover conversions in Ashtamudi wetland region from 1967 to 1997 is quantified using the technique of Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) Survey of India topographic map, hard copies of IRS-1 A LISS II, IRS-1C LlSS III images are used in the present work The study shows that increasmg population density, change in family system, extensive coconut husk retting and deposition of husk waste along the margin of the estuary, solid waste deposition from factories, reclamation of the estuary by local population and low profit obtained from paddy cultivation are mainly responsible for the large-scale land use/ land cover conversions in the wetland region The study tries to correlate unscientific land use/ land cover conversions in the wetland region With its environmental degradation.