Land Suitability Analysis for Afforestation in Semi-arid Watershed of Western Ghat, India: A Groundwater Recharge Perspective

Abstract

Land suitability analysis (LSA) for afforestation is an approach that stands amongst the most able frameworks revealing the concern for cultivable land and predicting the availability for sustainable development in semi-arid areas. In view of this, the objective of the present study is to propose a conceptual procedure for LSA that would help enhancing the green cover to combat environmental threats rendering groundwater recharge.  LSA involves various thematic layers such as distribution of land use/landcover, slope, soil depth, soil type, pH, soil calcium, soil magnesium, sodium, bulk density, organic matter, boron and run-off that have been derived using satellite images and collateral data. Food and Agriculture Organization framework and guidelines have been followed for LSA and it has been found that only 9.16% land is ‘highly suitable’, 14% of land is ‘moderately suitable’ whereas, marginally suitable lands for afforestation are estimated about 14% of total area and non-suitable areas for afforestation are about 61% of the total area. The multi-parametric based decision making AHP tool integrated with GIS proposes a novel methodology and outcomes of the research could be useful to identify suitable lands for agriculture in any various parts of the world.