Research On The Present Situation Of Land Use And Development Intensity In Coastal Zone Of Kenya

Coastal land use is a footprint of human exploitations of marine and coastal resources,which reflects the degree of that exploitation as well as the disturbance of coastal ecosystem by human activities.Studying present situation of land use and exploitative intensity in coastal regions and its driving forces would encourage people to make use of coastal land resources properly,urge people to protect coastal environment,and promote the sustainable development of marine environment.As the technologies of remote sensing(RS),geographic information system(GIS)and global positioning system(GPS)developed,they have been widely used in land use research to describe the land use condition faster and more accurately and study the exploitative intensity.Bordering to the Indian Ocean in the east,Kenya has a unique geographical environment and rich marine resources in its coastal zone.The development of the coastal zone directly affects the entire Kenya's economy development,tourism benefit and ascension of international image,Research on the present situation of land use and exploitative intensity in coastal zone of Kenya is of great significance.Taking the terrestrial part of a 20km buffer zone of coastline as the study area in this paper,we analyzed the structures,spatial patterns and intensive characters of land uses in coastal zones of Kenya.The main results are as follows:(1)Woodland and grassland is the main type of land in Kenya's coastal zone,cultivated land and construction land are respectively more important land type in Kwale and Mombasa.Land use diversity is the highest in Mombasa,the land use type is complex.The second is in Kwale,Kilifi and Tana River county,the land use diversity in Lamu is low.(2)Land development intensity in Kenyan coastal zone show space aggregati on state,forming the Mombasa centered high gathering area,and development i ntensity in other parts of coastal zone is low.According to the degree of develop ment level,the proportion decreases,more than 50%of the area is of low deve lopment,spatial variability is remarkable.The zone 2-10km away from the coastl ines has the most prominent significance,the inland areas and to the sea,intens ive degree is gradually reduced.In consideration of the specific situation of Ken yan coastal zone,land development intensity is mainly controlled by demograph ic and economic factors.(3)Countermeasures and suggestions sustainable land use in coastal zone:Strengthen the protection of ecological environment and natural resources of coastal zone,especially in the coral reef coast and mangroves coast;Optimize the land use structure,strengthen the development of farmland in coastal zone,which contributes to help solving local food security problem;Enhance the sustainable development of fishery and coastal tourism,promote the cooperation between China and Kenya in coastal zone land development.