Kakoli SAHA, School of Planning and architecture, bhopal, India
Debjani GHATAK, School of Planning and architecture, bhopal, India
Land use/cover change (LUCC) occur because of human actions as well as due to natural causes. LUCC has long-term effects as well; for example, forest degradation results into the loss of biodiversity and poses threat on the supply of food, water and shelter to the ecosystem. Scientists have warned us about the impact of LUCC, which leads to the spread of diseases. More specifically, existing literatures have suggested that LULCC have led to the outbreak of Emerging Infectious Diseases (EIDs). The goal of this research is to explore the direct and indirect impact of LUCC on infectious disease outbreaks in the context of Wayanad district of Kerala, India. Wayanad district was exposed to large scale land-cover transformation after the arrival of British during 1800. At first, they used fire as a tool to clear the forest. Subsequently, plantations of coffee, cinchona, tea, and hardwood trees were established by removing timber from the forests. EIDs like Dengue, Leptospirosis and Kyasanur forest disease (KFD) have been a rampant public health challenge in the state of Kerala over the past one decade with high rates of mortality and morbidity. Using GIS as a tool, spatial analysis was performed to establish linkage between LUCC and spread of infectious diseases. This project employs an extensive use of GIS, field survey and interview-based data sources. Major finding includes replacement of forests by plantation resulted human-animal conflict leading to outbreak of infectious diseases.
Mots clés : LUCC|EIDs|deforestation |diseases
A102770KS