Permanent vegetation distribution: Indicators of watershed management

Abstract

Watershed management aims to improve or restore and or protect the carrying capacity of watersheds, especially to maintain the preservation of water systems, increase land productivity and improve community welfare. This can be done by controlling the factors causing land degradation. Erosion is one of the causes of degradation can be controlled by managing land use to suit its capabilities. The more areas that are not suitable for their capability will reflect the failure of land management. The sloping area (slope > 15%) should be covered by permanent vegetation such as, are shrub, secondary forest, plantation forest, and plantation. If the proportion of sloping areas covered by permanent vegetation compared to the total sloping area is very small (<50%) then it can be said that land management activities are less successful, because, in reality, these areas are relatively more vulnerable to erosion. This condition provides information that in these erosion-prone areas, land cover needs to be improved. In this way in addition to the area, the distribution of permanent vegetation can also be known. The spatial distribution of permanent vegetation at sloping locations that are upstream of a watershed/sub-watershed can be seen clearly.