Scoping study on coastal squeeze in the Ayeyarwady Delta
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Abstract
Coastal squeeze is the reduction in the space of coastal habitats to operate (Phan et al, 2014) and an important cause for coastline retreat, increase in flood risk, salinity intrusion etc. Land use changes, such as deforestation and urbanization, reduce the space of natural habitats, such as mangrove forests, and cause deterioration of these habitats, that leads to reduction of their natural protective and provisioning functions. Costs related to these function losses can be avoided by early recognition of coastal squeeze and early action. In this research we investigate how remote sensing imagery data can contribute to early recognition of coastal squeeze. The case study is the lower Ayeyarwady delta in Myanmar, a crucial agricultural zone nicknamed the ‘Ricebowl of Myanmar’ . The coastal zone in Myanmar is subject to climate change, urbanization, extreme weather conditions (cyclones), increase in agri- and aquaculture and (illegal) felling of mangrove. This has already led to large loss of biodiversity and increased flood risk. Remote sensing analysis based on LANDSAT imagery has been done in attempt to identify land use and coastline change.