Use of WLC (Weighted Linear Combination) to Determine Land Priorities for Development of Paddy Fields in Gorontalo Regency, Indonesia

Gorontalo Regency has the largest paddy field area in Gorontalo province. The increase in population and the high demand for land for the construction of residential areas, trade areas and services, and the construction of accessibility will put great pressure on paddy fields. Uncontrolled conversion of paddy fields causes a decrease in paddy fields. Paddy fields as a rice-producing container should be maintained and protected so that the paddy needs in Gorontalo Regency are still fulfilled. Optimization of paddy fields needs to be done by the Gorontalo Regency government as an effort to increase the area of paddy fields. This study aims to determine priority lands for the development of paddy fields in Gorontalo Regency. Determination of priority land for growing wetland uses using the Weighted Linear Combination (WLC) method based on geographic information systems (GIS). The parameters used consist of driving factors and inhibiting factors. Types of land use that have land rent are forests, shrubs and moor. The criteria that influence the development of paddy field use are the distance from the paddy fields, the distance from the bush, the distance from the moor, the distance from the river and the distance from the small road. Land that has a high priority for the development of paddy land use is 6,656 ha (3.01%), medium priority land is 4,721 ha (2.16%), low priority land is 4,671 ha (2.14%) and very low priority land for development in paddy field use is 202,155 ha (92.68%).