Land use changes and climate parameters assessments in a tropical highland region of Cameron Highlands, Malaysia

Abstract

Tropical highland regions are susceptible to climate change and natural disasters due to their geographical location and hilly terrain. The objectives of this study are to determine land use land cover (LULC) changes in Cameron Highlands and analyse the climatic parameters of Cameron Highlands. This study integrates LULC analysis using remote sensing techniques and 10-year climatic parameters data to evaluate the impact of climate variability on the sustainability of Cameron Highlands. Based on the validation results, the overall accuracy of LULC was 95.42% in 2016, 96.60% in 2018, and 97.40% in 2020. The results show an 18% rise in agriculture, a 16% increase in urban growth, and an 8.14% decline in forest coverage in Tanah Rata and Ringlet, Cameron Highlands, from 2016 to 2020. The Mann–Kendall and Sen slope indicated a statistically significant increasing trend in rainfall (Kendall's Tau, Z = 0.102, p < 0.0001 and Sen value = 0.131, p < 0.001, respectively) and temperature (Kendall's Tau, Z = 0.151, p < 0.001 and Sen value = 0.294, p < 0.001, respectively) from 2012 to 2021, increasing the area's susceptibility towards climate change impact and natural disasters. This study highlights the vulnerability of Cameron Highlands to natural disasters, emphasizing the crucial need for efficient land management in slope areas to minimize the impact of climate change.