C. Romankiewicz, M. Doevenspeck, M. Brandt, C. Samimi
In the debate about the nexus between environmental change, climate and migration much attention has been given to a changing climate as a push factor for migration. A more recent strand of academic work focuses on migration as a means to enhance adaptation capacities and resilience. This article questions these intentional attributions and starts from the observation that migration is occurring regardless of environmental or climatic change and connects people and places through shared social and cultural identities and the flow of ideas and resources. Drawing on a case study of Nguith, a village in the Senegalese Sahel with a long and complex migration history, it is shown how migration and material and non-material remittances have led (in a way accidentally) to an increased independence from local agro-ecological conditions. Therefore, we investigate the social, cultural and historical background of the people of Nguith with regard to their mobility and trace the continents-traversing migration network and connected translocal spaces. Finally, we explain the cohesive forces of this community that perpetuate and reinforce migration and show the effects of migration on everyday life, economic development in the village and resulting land-use change.
{"title":"Adaptation as by-product: migration and environmental change in Nguith, Senegal","authors":"C. Romankiewicz, M. Doevenspeck, M. Brandt, C. Samimi","doi":"10.12854/ERDE-147-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12854/ERDE-147-7","url":null,"abstract":"In the debate about the nexus between environmental change, climate and migration much attention has been given to a changing climate as a push factor for migration. A more recent strand of academic work focuses on migration as a means to enhance adaptation capacities and resilience. This article questions these intentional attributions and starts from the observation that migration is occurring regardless of environmental or climatic change and connects people and places through shared social and cultural identities and the flow of ideas and resources. Drawing on a case study of Nguith, a village in the Senegalese Sahel with a long and complex migration history, it is shown how migration and material and non-material remittances have led (in a way accidentally) to an increased independence from local agro-ecological conditions. Therefore, we investigate the social, cultural and historical background of the people of Nguith with regard to their mobility and trace the continents-traversing migration network and connected translocal spaces. Finally, we explain the cohesive forces of this community that perpetuate and reinforce migration and show the effects of migration on everyday life, economic development in the village and resulting land-use change.","PeriodicalId":50505,"journal":{"name":"Erde","volume":"8 1","pages":"95-108"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2016-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79617001","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
L. Eklund, C. Romankiewicz, M. Brandt, M. Doevenspeck, C. Samimi
The relationship between environment and migration has gained increased attention since the 1990s when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projected climate change to become a major driver of human migration. Evaluations of this relationship include both quantitative and qualitative assessments. This review article introduces the concept of scale to environment-migration research as an important methodological issue for the reliability of conclusions drawn. The review of case studies shows that scale issues are highly present in environment-migration research but rarely discussed. Several case studies base their results on data at very coarse resolutions that have undergone strong modifications and generalizations. We argue that scale-related shortcomings must be considered in all stages of environment-migration research.
{"title":"Data and methods in the environment-migration nexus: a scale perspective","authors":"L. Eklund, C. Romankiewicz, M. Brandt, M. Doevenspeck, C. Samimi","doi":"10.12854/ERDE-147-10","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12854/ERDE-147-10","url":null,"abstract":"The relationship between environment and migration has gained increased attention since the 1990s when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projected climate change to become a major driver of human migration. Evaluations of this relationship include both quantitative and qualitative assessments. This review article introduces the concept of scale to environment-migration research as an important methodological issue for the reliability of conclusions drawn. The review of case studies shows that scale issues are highly present in environment-migration research but rarely discussed. Several case studies base their results on data at very coarse resolutions that have undergone strong modifications and generalizations. We argue that scale-related shortcomings must be considered in all stages of environment-migration research.","PeriodicalId":50505,"journal":{"name":"Erde","volume":"21 1","pages":"139-152"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2016-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85827533","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICT) are exposed to the impacts of climate change. In extreme cases entire states may disappear. Kiribati is one of these countries. Within its own territory there are no places to where people could be safely resettled when their home islands become unsuitable for human habitation. Large-scale resettlement is nothing new to the people of Kiribati. In colonial times people from various islands were resettled. The Phoenix Island Settlement Scheme (PISS) is one of these efforts to allegedly bring people to safety. Making use of primary sources that have become available only recently the paper raises the question if there is anything to learn from PISS for present times, or if PISS has historical value only, as the United Kingdom’s last colonial expansion scheme. The paper asks about conflicting intentions of colonial authorities and assesses if and possibly why strategic political considerations resulted in a situation where humanitarian motivations retreated into the background leading to a sub-optimal preparation of the scheme, which then finally led to its failure. The paper comes to the conclusion that behind reportedly noble purposes there is a layer of colonial interests which lets settlers appear as objects in a larger colonial game.
{"title":"Only a pawn in their games? environmental (?) migration in Kiribati – past, present and future","authors":"Eberhard Weber","doi":"10.12854/ERDE-147-11","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12854/ERDE-147-11","url":null,"abstract":"The Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICT) are exposed to the impacts of climate change. In extreme cases entire states may disappear. Kiribati is one of these countries. Within its own territory there are no places to where people could be safely resettled when their home islands become unsuitable for human habitation. Large-scale resettlement is nothing new to the people of Kiribati. In colonial times people from various islands were resettled. The Phoenix Island Settlement Scheme (PISS) is one of these efforts to allegedly bring people to safety. Making use of primary sources that have become available only recently the paper raises the question if there is anything to learn from PISS for present times, or if PISS has historical value only, as the United Kingdom’s last colonial expansion scheme. The paper asks about conflicting intentions of colonial authorities and assesses if and possibly why strategic political considerations resulted in a situation where humanitarian motivations retreated into the background leading to a sub-optimal preparation of the scheme, which then finally led to its failure. The paper comes to the conclusion that behind reportedly noble purposes there is a layer of colonial interests which lets settlers appear as objects in a larger colonial game.","PeriodicalId":50505,"journal":{"name":"Erde","volume":"1 1","pages":"153-164"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2016-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90113382","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Coastal regions worldwide have been focal points for migration as well as affected by environmental changes for a long time. In the debate on climate change and migration coastal regions are among the “hot spot” areas that are supposed to be prone to “climate migration” in the near future. The paper analyses the situation in two different regional settings and advocates for a sound regional perspective on the relationship of environmental change and migration. Based on the conceptual framework of migrant trajectories, the paper shows how populations in Keta (Ghana) and Semarang (Indonesia), affected by similar environmental changes such as flooding and erosion, react quite differently in terms of migration and mobility. The regional perspective as well as each region’s past experiences with migration and environmental changes shows to be crucial in order to understand current reactions to environmental degradation. The Keta setting represents a typology that pronounces migration trajectories as part of long-standing interregional and international migration, the Semarang setting, however, may be classified as a rather typical modernization-induced migration scheme, linked to rapidly growing urbanisation, with “trapped populations” on the one hand and in-migration of migrant workers on the other hand.
{"title":"Environmental change and migration in coastal regions: examples from Ghana and Indonesia","authors":"F. Hillmann, Usha Ziegelmayer","doi":"10.12854/ERDE-147-9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12854/ERDE-147-9","url":null,"abstract":"Coastal regions worldwide have been focal points for migration as well as affected by environmental changes for a long time. In the debate on climate change and migration coastal regions are among the “hot spot” areas that are supposed to be prone to “climate migration” in the near future. The paper analyses the situation in two different regional settings and advocates for a sound regional perspective on the relationship of environmental change and migration. Based on the conceptual framework of migrant trajectories, the paper shows how populations in Keta (Ghana) and Semarang (Indonesia), affected by similar environmental changes such as flooding and erosion, react quite differently in terms of migration and mobility. The regional perspective as well as each region’s past experiences with migration and environmental changes shows to be crucial in order to understand current reactions to environmental degradation. The Keta setting represents a typology that pronounces migration trajectories as part of long-standing interregional and international migration, the Semarang setting, however, may be classified as a rather typical modernization-induced migration scheme, linked to rapidly growing urbanisation, with “trapped populations” on the one hand and in-migration of migrant workers on the other hand.","PeriodicalId":50505,"journal":{"name":"Erde","volume":"6 1","pages":"119-138"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2016-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88406703","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Looking at the rapidly growing stock of literature linking climate change and migration, one could find evidence that there seems to be a “climatic turn” (Neverla 2007) concerning the explanation of migration. Climate change and its relevance for migration has undoubtedly developed into a strong argument, be it in migration research or in climate impact studies. Interestingly, already in the 19th century, scholars like Friedrich Ratzel and Ernest George Ravenstein considered ‘climate’ or ‘environment’ as relevant factors for triggering human mobility, although generally subordinated to other factors (Piguet 2013: 149). These assumed drivers of migration have been neglected for most of the last century. However, since Essam El-Hinnawi (1985) published an influential report for the United Nations Environmental Programme in which he coined the term ‘environmental refugee’, the idea that natural environments can force people to move, is back on the agenda. Ever since, we have witnessed a dynamic interand transdisciplinary field of research on the relation of climate and migration. In this field, environmental and climate scientists as well as scholars from social sciences and humanities participate. From the very beginning, geo graphers were engaged in this endeavour, too. This is hardly surprising as it is the main goal of geography to bridge the gap between human and physical sciences; therefore geographers seem predestined to contribute to the debate. Certainly, the geographical contribution is just as diverse as the interdisciplinary field itself. It differs in scope and scale, but also in perspective and epistemological position.
看看快速增长的将气候变化和移民联系在一起的文献,人们可以找到证据表明,似乎有一个关于移民解释的“气候转向”(Neverla 2007)。无论是在移民研究还是在气候影响研究中,气候变化及其与移民的相关性无疑已发展成为一个强有力的论点。有趣的是,早在19世纪,弗里德里希·拉策尔(Friedrich Ratzel)和欧内斯特·乔治·拉文斯坦(Ernest George Ravenstein)等学者就认为“气候”或“环境”是引发人类流动性的相关因素,尽管它们通常属于其他因素(Piguet 2013: 149)。在上个世纪的大部分时间里,这些假定的移民驱动因素一直被忽视。然而,自从Essam El-Hinnawi(1985)为联合国环境规划署发表了一份有影响力的报告,他在报告中创造了“环境难民”一词,自然环境可以迫使人们迁移的观点又回到了议程上。从那时起,我们目睹了气候与移民关系的跨学科研究领域的动态发展。在这一领域,环境和气候科学家以及社会科学和人文学科的学者参与其中。从一开始,地理学家们也参与了这项工作。这并不奇怪,因为地理学的主要目标是弥合人文科学与自然科学之间的差距;因此,地理学家似乎注定要参与这场辩论。当然,地理上的贡献就像跨学科领域本身一样多样化。它不仅在范围和尺度上有所不同,而且在观点和认识论立场上也有所不同。
{"title":"Climatic turn in migration studies? Geographical perspectives on the relationship between climate and migration","authors":"C. Felgentreff, Andreas Pott","doi":"10.12854/ERDE-147-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12854/ERDE-147-5","url":null,"abstract":"Looking at the rapidly growing stock of literature linking climate change and migration, one could find evidence that there seems to be a “climatic turn” (Neverla 2007) concerning the explanation of migration. Climate change and its relevance for migration has undoubtedly developed into a strong argument, be it in migration research or in climate impact studies. Interestingly, already in the 19th century, scholars like Friedrich Ratzel and Ernest George Ravenstein considered ‘climate’ or ‘environment’ as relevant factors for triggering human mobility, although generally subordinated to other factors (Piguet 2013: 149). These assumed drivers of migration have been neglected for most of the last century. However, since Essam El-Hinnawi (1985) published an influential report for the United Nations Environmental Programme in which he coined the term ‘environmental refugee’, the idea that natural environments can force people to move, is back on the agenda. Ever since, we have witnessed a dynamic interand transdisciplinary field of research on the relation of climate and migration. In this field, environmental and climate scientists as well as scholars from social sciences and humanities participate. From the very beginning, geo graphers were engaged in this endeavour, too. This is hardly surprising as it is the main goal of geography to bridge the gap between human and physical sciences; therefore geographers seem predestined to contribute to the debate. Certainly, the geographical contribution is just as diverse as the interdisciplinary field itself. It differs in scope and scale, but also in perspective and epistemological position.","PeriodicalId":50505,"journal":{"name":"Erde","volume":"81 1","pages":"73-80"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2016-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80497693","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
P. Sakdapolrak, S. Naruchaikusol, Kayly Ober, S. M. Peth, Luise Porst, Till Rockenbauch, V. Tolo
Climate change and migration are drawing increasing interest from researchers and policy makers as well as from the general public. While in the beginning a simplistic and geo-deterministic comprehension of the environmental impact on human mobility had dominated the discussion, the framing of the relationship has recently become more differentiated. Vast empirical evidence derived from rural livelihoods research clearly shows that migration is an important strategy of households when dealing with multiple risks, including environmental stress. This has led to the growing acknowledgement of the idea of “migration as adaptation” in migration-environment research. We consider this conceptual development an important step for a better understanding of this nexus. Nonetheless, migration as adaptation has several shortcomings. Firstly, it is narrowly focused on migration as an adaptive response to environmental risks and neglects the significant impact of other forms of migration. Secondly, it does not cover other dimensions of how people, communities and societies deal with environmental change: a blind eye is all too often turned to processes of resilience building. Thirdly, migration as adaptation has been found to be interpreted in a way which justifies migration policies with neo-liberal tendencies. In order to overcome such drawbacks, we propose an approach that integrates translocality and social resilience. In this paper we thus introduce the concept of translocal social resilience and reflect on its conceptual implications. We will thereby show how this approach can improve the understanding of the migration-environment nexus, and how it can also shape the concept of migration as adaptation, allowing for nuanced and critical views on the dynamics in the migration-environment context.
{"title":"Migration in a changing climate. Towards a translocal social resilience approach","authors":"P. Sakdapolrak, S. Naruchaikusol, Kayly Ober, S. M. Peth, Luise Porst, Till Rockenbauch, V. Tolo","doi":"10.12854/ERDE-147-6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12854/ERDE-147-6","url":null,"abstract":"Climate change and migration are drawing increasing interest from researchers and policy makers as well as from the general public. While in the beginning a simplistic and geo-deterministic comprehension of the environmental impact on human mobility had dominated the discussion, the framing of the relationship has recently become more differentiated. Vast empirical evidence derived from rural livelihoods research clearly shows that migration is an important strategy of households when dealing with multiple risks, including environmental stress. This has led to the growing acknowledgement of the idea of “migration as adaptation” in migration-environment research. We consider this conceptual development an important step for a better understanding of this nexus. Nonetheless, migration as adaptation has several shortcomings. Firstly, it is narrowly focused on migration as an adaptive response to environmental risks and neglects the significant impact of other forms of migration. Secondly, it does not cover other dimensions of how people, communities and societies deal with environmental change: a blind eye is all too often turned to processes of resilience building. Thirdly, migration as adaptation has been found to be interpreted in a way which justifies migration policies with neo-liberal tendencies. In order to overcome such drawbacks, we propose an approach that integrates translocality and social resilience. In this paper we thus introduce the concept of translocal social resilience and reflect on its conceptual implications. We will thereby show how this approach can improve the understanding of the migration-environment nexus, and how it can also shape the concept of migration as adaptation, allowing for nuanced and critical views on the dynamics in the migration-environment context.","PeriodicalId":50505,"journal":{"name":"Erde","volume":"33 1","pages":"81-94"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2016-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73435854","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Along with the growing scientific and political concern on global warming, the relationship of climate and migration is framed as cause and consequence. Alarmist numbers of mass migration and related conflicts currently represent the main scientific narratives merging the issue of migration and climate change. This paper takes a different and explorative perspective: it suggests that scientific discourses on migration and climate change should be reframed by taking into consideration the diverse ‘knowledges’ offered by migrants. Employing an experimentalist approach, we aim at filling this gap in research and introduce an empirical perspective on climate framings among Italian and Chinese citizens in the local context of the city of Hamburg (Germany). Qualitatively analysing semi-structured interviews, the paper conveys an in-depth analysis of how Italian and Chinese migrants frame climate change and, furthermore, explores philosophical backgrounds informing them. We start with a theoretical and methodological outline on undertaking research with migrants and then turn to an empirical analysis in which we examine and discuss four prevailing categories found in the course of our investigation. The final section summarises the results and reflects upon the methodological and theoretical approach applied which refers to the relevance of migrants as active actors in local adaptation and mitigation processes of the hosting country.
{"title":"Challenging the current climate change - migration nexus: exploring migrants' perceptions of climate change in the hosting country","authors":"Corinna de Guttry, M. Doering, Beate M. W. Ratter","doi":"10.12854/ERDE-147-8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12854/ERDE-147-8","url":null,"abstract":"Along with the growing scientific and political concern on global warming, the relationship of climate and migration is framed as cause and consequence. Alarmist numbers of mass migration and related conflicts currently represent the main scientific narratives merging the issue of migration and climate change. This paper takes a different and explorative perspective: it suggests that scientific discourses on migration and climate change should be reframed by taking into consideration the diverse ‘knowledges’ offered by migrants. Employing an experimentalist approach, we aim at filling this gap in research and introduce an empirical perspective on climate framings among Italian and Chinese citizens in the local context of the city of Hamburg (Germany). Qualitatively analysing semi-structured interviews, the paper conveys an in-depth analysis of how Italian and Chinese migrants frame climate change and, furthermore, explores philosophical backgrounds informing them. We start with a theoretical and methodological outline on undertaking research with migrants and then turn to an empirical analysis in which we examine and discuss four prevailing categories found in the course of our investigation. The final section summarises the results and reflects upon the methodological and theoretical approach applied which refers to the relevance of migrants as active actors in local adaptation and mitigation processes of the hosting country.","PeriodicalId":50505,"journal":{"name":"Erde","volume":"53 1","pages":"109-118"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2016-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74858013","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
J. Seidel, G. Ketzler, B. Bechtel, B. Thies, A. Philipp, J. Böhner, Sebastian Egli, M. Eisele, F. Herma, T. Langkamp, E. Petersen, Timo Gerhard Sachsen, D. Schlabing, C. Schneider
Technical development during the last two decades has brought new potential and new applications for mobile measurements. In this paper, we present six case studies where mobile measurement devices were used to acquire data for meteorological and climatological research. Three case studies deal with ground-based mobile measurements – on buses for urban climate measurements and on a vessel on a lake – and three with airborne platforms – on a cable car and on an unmanned aerial vehicle for vertical soundings and on a tethered balloon sonde for cloud physics. For each study, we describe the measurement set-up and address the potential and drawbacks of these applications. At the end, we discuss general aspects related to mobile observations especially concerning the time and space dimension of measurements.
{"title":"Mobile measurement techniques for local and micro-scale studies in urban and topo-climatology","authors":"J. Seidel, G. Ketzler, B. Bechtel, B. Thies, A. Philipp, J. Böhner, Sebastian Egli, M. Eisele, F. Herma, T. Langkamp, E. Petersen, Timo Gerhard Sachsen, D. Schlabing, C. Schneider","doi":"10.12854/ERDE-147-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12854/ERDE-147-2","url":null,"abstract":"Technical development during the last two decades has brought new potential and new applications for mobile measurements. In this paper, we present six case studies where mobile measurement devices were used to acquire data for meteorological and climatological research. Three case studies deal with ground-based mobile measurements – on buses for urban climate measurements and on a vessel on a lake – and three with airborne platforms – on a cable car and on an unmanned aerial vehicle for vertical soundings and on a tethered balloon sonde for cloud physics. For each study, we describe the measurement set-up and address the potential and drawbacks of these applications. At the end, we discuss general aspects related to mobile observations especially concerning the time and space dimension of measurements.","PeriodicalId":50505,"journal":{"name":"Erde","volume":"28 1","pages":"15-39"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2016-03-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87206033","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The increasing demand for palm oil and bioenergy has promoted the expansion of tropical farmland covered with oil palms (Elaeis guineensis), resulting in increased competition with food production as well as environmental degradation. Moreover, oil palm cultivation may have increased greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through deforestation. The overall impact estimation of oil palm related land-use change requires spatiotemporal land-use maps. So far, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) has not established guidelines on how to measure and evaluate oil palm related land-cover change. While remote sensing methods are suitable in general, the use of Landsat images in the tropics for the monitoring and modeling of land-cover changes has been restricted due to the influence of cloud cover. This study presents a novel approach for mapping tropical land-cover change using the Google Earth Engine (GEE) cloud-based platform and the System for Automated Geoscientific Analysis (SAGA) GIS. Spatiotemporal land-use and land-cover changes in relation to oil palm cultivation are assessed using a median pixel composite mosaic of Landsat 5, 7 and 8 image scenes for the time periods 1999-2005 and 2009-2015. The proposed approach yields an overall accuracy and kappa coefficient of 70.33 % and 0.62 for the first image composite period, and 84.5 % and 0.80 for the second image composite period respectively
{"title":"A novel approach in monitoring land-cover change in the tropics: oil palm cultivation in the Niger Delta, Nigeria","authors":"S. Okoro, U. Schickhoff, J. Böhner, U. Schneider","doi":"10.12854/ERDE-147-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12854/ERDE-147-3","url":null,"abstract":"The increasing demand for palm oil and bioenergy has promoted the expansion of tropical farmland covered with oil palms (Elaeis guineensis), resulting in increased competition with food production as well as environmental degradation. Moreover, oil palm cultivation may have increased greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through deforestation. The overall impact estimation of oil palm related land-use change requires spatiotemporal land-use maps. So far, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) has not established guidelines on how to measure and evaluate oil palm related land-cover change. While remote sensing methods are suitable in general, the use of Landsat images in the tropics for the monitoring and modeling of land-cover changes has been restricted due to the influence of cloud cover. This study presents a novel approach for mapping tropical land-cover change using the Google Earth Engine (GEE) cloud-based platform and the System for Automated Geoscientific Analysis (SAGA) GIS. Spatiotemporal land-use and land-cover changes in relation to oil palm cultivation are assessed using a median pixel composite mosaic of Landsat 5, 7 and 8 image scenes for the time periods 1999-2005 and 2009-2015. The proposed approach yields an overall accuracy and kappa coefficient of 70.33 % and 0.62 for the first image composite period, and 84.5 % and 0.80 for the second image composite period respectively","PeriodicalId":50505,"journal":{"name":"Erde","volume":"10 1","pages":"40-52"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2016-03-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83654334","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}