Soil Erosion and Composite Land Degradation Using USLE Model and Geomatics Approaches for Soil Conservation of Mount Data National Park

Brent Greg Espiritu Gomuad

doi:10.36948/ijfmr.2026.v08i03.72663

Soil Erosion and Composite Land Degradation Using USLE Model and Geomatics Approaches for Soil Conservation of Mount Data National Park

Author(s)	Mr. Brent Greg Espiritu Gomuad
Country	Philippines
Abstract	Geographically, the study area entirely lies within the Municipalities of Sabangan, Tadian, and Bauko, in Mountain Province, Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR). It is situated between 16°52'41" north latitude and 120°50'18" east longitude (Figure 6). The plateau section covers a portion of the Mount Data National Park. It has an approximate area of 3,502.10 hectares based on the generated area from the DENR, CENRO Sabangan report (2019). This study examines land use and land cover changes within Mount Data Plateau over a specified time period, analyzing the transition between land cover types like forest, agriculture, shrub and grassland, and built-up areas using remote sensing and GIS. In addition, identifying the underlying driving forces of LULC changes using key informant interviews, topic lists, and information related to LULC's Drivers, Pressures, State, Impacts, and Responses (DPSIR) reported in a different location in the country. The study's general findings show that though it would be difficult to measure all the complex aspects of land degradation, some of the parameters considered in this study revealed the overall land use and land cover changes of Mount Data Plateau. The results show that, from 1992 to 2022, the agricultural land increased by 1,267.99 ha and 1,774.73 ha, respectively. The shrub and grassland increased by 549.37 ha and 600.08 ha, respectively, while the forest cover decreased from 1,374.61 ha in 1990 to 941.91 ha in 2022. The build-up area also decreased from 307.10 ha in 1990 to 181.42 ha in 2022. When the LULC of 2022 was compared to the percentage of area covered in the predicted 2030 LULC, forest cover, and build-up area had decreased by 73.68 ha (2.13%) and 61.99 ha (1.78%), respectively. A percentage increase was observed for agricultural land and shrub and grassland by 87.82 ha (2.47%) and 50.71 ha (1.44%), respectively. The threat is manifested in a decline in natural vegetation, insufficient and poor-quality water, increase in soil erosion, loss of soil fertility, change in local climate, loss of terrestrial biodiversity, domestic wastes and water pollution, and impacts on local livelihoods, e.g., high farm input costs and low-quality vegetable produce. The results show that anthropogenic pressures lead to the conversion of forest land and other land categories into agricultural land, along with shrub and grass areas. Despite some encouraging signs of progress in conserving the Mount Data Plateau, the study concludes that land conversion remains a problem. This calls for strenuous efforts to promote and assist the wide-scale adoption of sustainable land management practices that address the localized land conversion problem and achieve land degradation neutrality for the plateau. Even though this study found changes in land use and land cover, it also suggested that the Sanguniang Panlalawigan and the offices of the Congressmen of the affected provinces should look into this suggestion and pass a resolution to set up a committee (working with PAMB) to make changes to or suggest new policies for the sustainable management of land on the Mount Data Plateau.
Keywords	Land degradation, Soil erosion, USLE, SLM, Composite Land Degradation Index (CLDI), Mount Data National Park
Published In	Volume 8, Issue 3, May-June 2026
Published On	2026-06-03
DOI	https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2026.v08i03.72663

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Soil Erosion and Composite Land Degradation Using USLE Model and Geomatics Approaches for Soil Conservation of Mount Data National Park

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