Land use change and carbon stock dynamics in Tuban, East Java, Indonesia

The changes in land cover is one of the causes of CO₂ rising levels in our atmosphere, it also causes a reduction in the ecosystem carbon stocks. The purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of changes in land use towards the dynamics of carbon stocks in Tuban. This study was conducted on December 2015 to February 2016 in the administrative regions of Tuban which consists of 4 sub-districts as follows: Jenu, Tambakboyo, Merakurak and Kerek. Land use change and Carbon Stock dynamics were investigated by the combined use of satellite remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS), and vegetation index transformation (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index). The results indicated that there has been a notable agricultural and residential growth and a tremendous loss in shrub area between 2010 and 2015. Agricultural and residential areas increased 18.34% and 37.62% respectively, while shrub area has disappeared. Carbon stock declined from 369,910 tons in 2010 to 310,640 tons in 2015. Land conversion into agriculture and residential led to the degradation of carbon sequestration and carbon stock.