A geo-spatial database about the eco-environment and its key issues in South Asia

Abstract

The South Asia has high variability ingeographical features, climate,and landscapes. With the rapid economic development and populationgrowth, the increased pressure on natural resources, land degradation,water crisis, and climate change become the common concerns for thecountries in the region. To get a deep and general idea about the landand water natural resources and environment in South Asia, a knowl-edge database was constructed based on the climatic condition, landuse/cover, water resources, water disasters, and geohazards. The resultspresented a scientific insight regarding the spatio-temporal changingpattern of the eco-environmental components in this region. Riskassessments were performed for thefloods, droughts, and geohazardswhich occurred with a high frequency. In general, the big knowledgedatabase established in this study would be helpful to aid the devel-opment of future policies and programs (like the Belt and RoadInitiative) for environmental issues adaptation in the region, includinginitiatives for regional cooperation and capacity building in naturalresources and environment management