Reverse Landscaping – A proposal for reconstructing the disappearing landscapes through a multi-disciplinary approach

<p>The fifteenth SDG of the United Nations focuses on halting and reversing land degradations and promoting the sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems on land. Land degradation is an important environmental crisis of the world. Anthropogenic activities are, directly or indirectly, the critical controlling factor of the geomorphic processes that cause land degradation. This paper suggests the methods to reconstruct or protect the endangered landscapes of the vulnerable environment. Diagnosing the geomorphic processes involved in the evolution of the endangered landscape will help to identify the external factors that redefined the geomorphic processes of the critical land area, including anthropogenic activities and environmental parameters. After recognizing the sole parameters of land degradation, proper natural remedies to reverse the current geomorphic dynamics were suggested. The word 'Reverse Landscaping' is suggested for indicating the whole processes of appreciation of past and present geomorphic processes, diagnosis and interpretation of the factors that redefined the geomorphic activities and suggesting and formulating an environmental management plan for reconstructing the endangered landscape. The authors came up with a pilot study of a subsiding estuarine island ecosystem in this paper. The Munroe Island, a group of brackish islands and islets located in the conjunction of <em>Kallada </em>River and <em>Ashtamudi </em>Backwater of Kerala along the SW coast of India, has been experiencing severe environmental degradations such as land subsidence, severe tidal/ monsoon flooding, the subsidence of build-ups and a severe decay of agricultural productivity. The study found that anthropogenic activities such as choking the freshwater discharges and sediment supply due to the construction of the <em>Thenmala</em> reservoir dam in the <em>Kallada</em> river and uncontrolled sand mining are the key factors of Munroe Island’s environmental degradation. The saline water trapped in the sand mining trenches, the tidal dynamics due to the bathymetric changes in the estuary, and changes in the agricultural and constructional practice of the inhabitants also attribute to the land degradation of the region. The temporal bathymetric surveys, salinity measurements, borehole data logs and the electrical resistivity meter surveys of the affected region were incorporated, along with the questionnaire surveys and focus group discussions, to the findings on the geomorphic processes for interpreting the sustainability of the region. The paper describes the role and co-linkages of anthropo-geomorphic and hydrodynamic interventions of the <em>Kallada </em>river basin and <em>Ashtamudi </em>backwater systems in charge of environmental degradation and land subsidence crisis of a deltaic backwater island. Finally, the paper came up with proper management plans to retreat the land neutrality in this estuarine island landscape. The management proposals include ways to decrease the river depth and to increase the freshwater flow as and when required by regulating the sediment supply and freshwater flow from the reservoir. It also suggested reducing the soil erosion within the affected area and increasing the agricultural productivity of the soil by supplying additional artificial sedimentation. The Reverse Landscaping plan of Munroe islands comprises the proposals for reducing the land degradation scenario, socio-environmental well-being, and the region's economic growth in a sustainable manner.</p>