Forest landuse planning for Thano range, Dehradun forest division, Uttaranchal

Remote Sensing and Geographical Information System (GIS) are essential tools for regional planning and ecological studies. Remote sensing promises to bridge the gap between intensive ecological research and better planning and management of landscapes. In the present study, by combining spatial and non spatial database using remote sensing and GIS techniques, it has been quite possible to categorize the forested land into different forestry landuse and subsequent planning for the better sustainable management of these forest land for good return and fulfilling the day to day needs of society. The study highlights maximum area under community forestry followed by protection forestry, homestead forestry, agroforestry, commercial forestry I, commercial forestry II and silvipasture. However, the farm forestry shows lowest area extent. These results indicate the maximum interference by human within the surrounding forest areas. The study highlights. that Remote sensing and GIS techniques as the effective tools for suitability analysis of the different forestry land use and their respective land utilization planning.