Changing human–landscape interactions after development of tourism in the northern Vietnamese Highlands Huong Thi Thu Hoang a,b,d, *, Veerle Vanacker a , Anton Van Rompaey b , Kim Chi Vu c , An Thinh Nguyen d a Earth and Life Institute, Georges Lemaıˆtre Center for Earth and Climate Research, Universite ´ Catholique de Louvain, Place L. Pasteur 3, Bte L4.03.08, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium b Division of Geography, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, K.U. Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200 E, bus 2409, B-3001 Heverlee, Belgium c Institute of Vietnamese studies and Development sciences, VNU, 336 Nguyen Trai street, Thanh Xuan district, Hanoi, Viet Nam d Faculty of Geography, Hanoi University of Sciences, VNU, 334 Nguyen Trai street, Thanh Xuan district, Hanoi, Viet Nam Introduction Many tropical areas worldwide are characterized by high rates of deforestation. According to Lambin and Geist (2003), one-third of the humid forest in Southeast Asia was cleared between the beginning of the twentieth century and World War II. The decline in forest cover continued after the 1950s. Presently, forests cover 46–48% of the land surface in Southeast Asia, but less than 10% of the primary tropical rainforest is preserved (FAO, 2010; Dong et al., 2012). Recent deforestation rates for this region are assessed at 1.5% per year (FAO, 2006; Grainger, 2008). Nevertheless, forest dynamics are diverse. In some countries, such as the Philippines or Cambodia, the deforestation rate is much higher than the Southeast Asian average; while in other countries, such as Vietnam, the start of a forest transition is reported (FAO, 2006; Meyfroidt and Lambin, 2008b). Forest transition is defined by a reversal of the trend of deforestation so that net reforestation occurs (Meyfroidt and Lambin, 2008b). Causes of tropical deforestation and forest transition are still poorly understood, and are the scope of ongoing research programmes. Deforestation and reforestation patterns are linked to multiple biophysical and socio-economic variables such as ethnicity (Castella et al., 2005; Vu et al., 2013), land tenure (Mottet et al., 2006), increasing demand for food production (Zhang, 2000; Geist and Lambin, 2001; Casse et al., 2004; Meyfroidt and Lambin, 2008a), poverty (Hobbs, 2001; Adams et al., 2004; Dasgupta et al., 2005; Robinson, 2006; Zwane, 2007), soil fertility (Szillassi et al., 2010; Vanacker et al., 2014), and accessibility (Koning, 2000; Castella et al., 2005; Etter et al., 2006; Van Dessel et al., 2008). Anthropocene xxx (2014) xxx–xxx A R T I C L E I N F O Article history: Received 16 January 2014 Received in revised form 7 August 2014 Accepted 27 August 2014 Available online xxx Keywords: Coupled human–environmental changes Tourism development Ethnicity Land use pressure Forest transition Northern Vietnam A B S T R A C T In developing countries in tropical regions, the poorest segments of the rural population often rely on forests for survival. The creation of off-farm jobs in the tourism sector, construction or manufacturing has been suggested as a potential way to alleviate pressure on tropical forests. Using Sa Pa district as a case study, we evaluated the coupling of human and forest dynamics. The district was opened for international tourism in 1993, which had a large impact on daily life in Sa Pa town and its surrounding communities. Analysis of land cover change for the period 1993–2014, using high-resolution satellite images from three timeperiods and an analysis of covariance, detected possible associations between forest cover change and socio-economic, cultural and biophysical variables at the village level. Between 1993 and 2006, Sa Pa district experienced a net decrease of forest in favour of arable land, while this trend was reversed in the period 2006–2014. However, trends at district level mask substantial heterogeneity at village level. Results show that deforestation is considerably lower in villages that are strongly involved in tourism activities. Marginal agricultural fields with low productivity are also preferentially abandoned. Because of diversification in alternative economic activities, rural households may become less dependent on natural resources and agricultural products for their survival. These results suggest that the creation of off-farm income sources activities can be a driver of shifts in human– environment interactions, as new livelihood strategies can offset the pressure on forested land. ß 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. * Corresponding author at: Earth and Life Institute, Georges Lemaı ˆtre Center for Earth and Climate Research, Universite ´ Catholique de Louvain, Place L. Pasteur 3, Bte L4.03.08, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. Tel.: +32 494694385; fax: +32 16322980. E-mail addresses: thi.th.hoang@student.uclouvain.be, huonghoangbg@yahoo.com (H.T.T. Hoang). G Model ANCENE-50; No. of Pages 10 Please cite this article in press as: Hoang, H.T.T., et al., Changing human–landscape interactions after development of tourism in the northern Vietnamese Highlands. Anthropocene (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ancene.2014.08.003 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Anthropocene jo ur n al ho m epag e: ww w.els evier .c om /lo cat e/an c en e http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ancene.2014.08.003 2213-3054/ß 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.