Benhizia, R.; Kouba, Y.; Szabó, G.; Négyesi, G.; Ata, B. Monitoring the Spatiotemporal Evolution of the Green Dam in Djelfa Province, Algeria. Sustainability2021, 13, 7953.
Benhizia, R.; Kouba, Y.; Szabó, G.; Négyesi, G.; Ata, B. Monitoring the Spatiotemporal Evolution of the Green Dam in Djelfa Province, Algeria. Sustainability 2021, 13, 7953.
Benhizia, R.; Kouba, Y.; Szabó, G.; Négyesi, G.; Ata, B. Monitoring the Spatiotemporal Evolution of the Green Dam in Djelfa Province, Algeria. Sustainability2021, 13, 7953.
Benhizia, R.; Kouba, Y.; Szabó, G.; Négyesi, G.; Ata, B. Monitoring the Spatiotemporal Evolution of the Green Dam in Djelfa Province, Algeria. Sustainability 2021, 13, 7953.
Abstract
Abstract: Green walls and green dams are increasingly being considered as part of many nation-al and international desertification initiatives. This paper studies the spatiotemporal evolution of the green dam in the Moudjbara region (Djelfa Province, Algeria) from 1972 to 2019 by using Landsat imagery, Land Change Modeler and Open Land package. The future evolution of pine plantations for the year 2029 was also forecasted, based on an anthropogenic scenario (i.e., an-thropogenic pressure is the main driver of the green dam destruction). Our findings revealed that the green dam project was successful for a few years, but after that, pine plantations deteri-orated significantly due to forest harvesting, livestock overgrazing, and the proliferation of the pine caterpillar processionary, which destroyed most of the reforestation. Land Change Modeler predicted a huge degradation of pine plantations for the year 2029, and if the deforestation con-tinues at the same rate, the green dam will disappear in the Moudjbara region during the next few decades. Aware of this threat, the Algerian authorities are now planning to reforest more than 1.2 million ha under the latest rural renewal policy by introducing new principles related to sustainable development, fighting desertification, and climate change adaptation
Keywords
Green Dam; Green Walls; Desertification; Aleppo pine; Land degradation.
Subject
Environmental and Earth Sciences, Atmospheric Science and Meteorology
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
