Abstract:
Human activities influence heavily on soil erosion in Sri Lanka. Soil erosion
in rural areas is high, due to various human activities. Wewere GND is selected
for this study as there was high consumption of land for agriculture in Kandy
district. The main objective of this study is to identify the human activities
which accelerate the natural process of soil erosion and provide the solution
to conserve soil erosion. The methodology of the research was a mixedmethod
under the holistic approach. Hence to achieve the target, Wewere
GND was divided into 7 land units according to the types of human activities
in the area and obtained 1 kg of soil from each land unit through the simple
random sampling method. Further, experiments were conducted in the
laboratory and the final results were analyzed. The results were represented
with maps using Arc GIS and charts, graphs, tables using MS Excel. 100g of
soil from each soil samples were taken, 2mm sieved each sample and obtained
2 fractions to determine their particle sizes. The fraction which is more than
2mm (+2mm) is selected as the results of each sample. Sub forest represented
4.82 %, crop cultivation represented 41.36% of soil particles(+2mm). The
result substantiated high soil erosion was represented in crop cultivation
(41.36%) due to the human activity and less was represented in sub forest (4.82
%). The mismanagement of land, proper soil conservation measures are not
being adopted to the villagers, improper land use and less knowledge are the
causes of accelerated soil erosion in Wewere GND. Vegetative methods,
structural methods, management practices, and awareness programs should be
executed to the conservation of soil erosion in the research area. The
management of agricultural systems must be carried on the sustainable
approach and related authorities should pay attention to minimize soil erosion.
