Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Romanian Journal of Geography, cilt.63, sa.1, ss.105-119, 2019 (Scopus)
© 2019, Editura Academiei Romane. All Rights Reserved.The use of natural resources is important in terms of sustainability. The larger residential areas, more agricultural products and more raw-materials are needed due to an increased population. Unfortunately, the increasing people’s demands and the development of world resources are not at the same level. This situation puts pressure on natural resources to increase in parallel with the population increase. Due to the pressure of population, settlements, different economic activities and the food needs have expanded. Therefore, to determine land-use suitability according to sustainable development criteria is the most meaningful way. For that reason, it is necessary to make “Land-Use Suitability Analysis” and to form land-use plans on these conditions. This study, on Ulubey Canyon (Usak – Turkey) and its surroundings is analyzed in terms of land-use suitability. Resorting to Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), the study-area is approached in terms of three land-use categories: Agriculture, pasture and forest. For this analysis, topographic conditions, soil properties, climate types and lithological properties are evaluated. The data obtained are compared with the current land-use situation, the suitability of agriculture, pastureland and forestland is determined and the results evaluated. Finally, as a result of the AHP analysis of Land-Use Categories, such as agriculture, forest and meadow-pasture, suitability ratios are as follows: 54% agricultural lands, 39% forest lands and 7% pasture lands. These ratios evidence that the use of land for agricultural purposes is more prevalent and that agricultural areas are more dominant than meadow-rangeland and forest areas.