INVESTIGATION OF SOIL EROSION IN AGRO-TOURISM AREA: GUIDELINE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION PLANNING

Most agro-tourism areas are located in the upstream area of the watershed, in the highlands, steep slopes, and the air temperature is peaceful and calm. One of them is in the tourism area in the Penet upstream watershed, Bali, Indonesia. Agro-tourism, in addition to providing economic benefits to agricultural products, also from tourist visits to the panorama and landscape of agricultural land. Land use that is not wise and not following conservation rules can cause erosion. This study aims to investigate soil erosion rate and plans for environmental-based conservation. The method used to quantify erosion uses Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) with a geographic information system (GIS) approach. This research integrates field surveys and soil analysis in the laboratory. The result showed that the erosion rate in agro-tourism areas ranges from 0.32 t ha-1 yr-1 (very light) to 1,535.34 t ha-1 yr-1 (very heavy). The agro-tourism areas affected by erosion with heavy to very heavy categories are the villages of Antapan, Bangli, Apuan, Angseri, and Candikuning. Conservation actions can be taken, including improving plant management factors with dense vegetation, increasing land management actions by constructing bench terraces, and planting parallel to contour lines. It is recommended for further researchers to model erosion by integrating remote sensing data and geographic information systems in order to complement data that cannot be obtained in the field or the laboratory.