In this area, the Cibodas Biosphere Reserve, West-Java, Indonesia, estates and annual rainfed dryland cultivation is practised in often steep sloping areas. Irrigated wetland rice and vegetables mainly occupies more flat land on lower elevation. Based on previous studies vegetable growing on the sloping land causes erosion. It means that sloping areas in the buffer- and transition zone can be categorised as fragile areas. In order to protect the Cibodas Biosphere Reserve from degradation in one hand and to anticipate a calamity down stream of the watershed areas on the other hand, the buffer- and transition zone should receive more attention.

For more information on this case study, contact:

A.G. Toxopeus
Department of Natural Resources,
International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC),
P.O. Box 6, 7500 AA Enschede, The Netherlands.
Tel: +31 53 4874485, Fax: +31 53 4874336, e-mail: toxopeus@itc.nl