Land-Use/ Land-Cover Changing Trends and their Relation to Landslides: A Case Study of Hali-Ela in Badulla District, Sri Lanka

Abstract

The study has evaluated the impact of Land-use/Land Cover (LULC) in a period of 65 years from 1956 to 2021 on landslides occurrence in Hali-Ela Divisional Secretariat Division (HDSD) in Badulla District, Sri Lanka. LULC distribution patterns were evaluated by comparing thematic maps prepared for three different years. These maps were overlaid with spatial distribution of total landslides and each type of landslides in a Geographic Information System (GIS) to assess their spatial frequency distribution and relative failure potentials related to selected topographic attributes LULC type in that particular area. The spatial analysis results revealed a close relationship between the topographic attributes of the post-landslides, local surface and LULC changes. And also, in the study area the forest area has decreased by more than 45%, whereas home garden has increased by 27% for the study period of 65 years. It is clear that changes in vegetation cover affect the landslide frequency distribution and landslides are highly dependent on LULC changes. Poorly managed tea land, home gardens on steep slopes and poorly managed open forest areas are more vulnerable to landslides.