scholarly journals Land Cover Change in the Blue Nile River Headwaters: Farmers’ Perceptions, Pressures, and Satellite-Based Mapping

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 68
Author(s):  
Alelgn Ewunetu ◽  
Belay Simane ◽  
Ermias Teferi ◽  
Benjamin F. Zaitchik
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Tenure ◽  
Common Property ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Nile River ◽  
Forest Land ◽  
Plantation Forest ◽  
Blue Nile ◽  
The Past ◽  
Bare Land

The headwaters of the Blue Nile River in Ethiopia contain fragile mountain ecosystems and are highly susceptible to land degradation that impacts water quality and flow dynamics in a major transboundary river system. This study evaluates the status of land use/cover (LULC) change and key drivers of change over the past 31 years through a combination of satellite remote sensing and surveying of the local understanding of LULC patterns and drivers. Seven major LULC types (forest land, plantation forest, grazing land, agriculture land, bush and shrub land, bare land, and water bodies) from Landsat images of 1986, 1994, 2007, and 2017 were mapped. Agriculture and plantation forest land use/cover types increased by 21.4% and 368.8%, respectively, while other land use/cover types showed a decreasing trend: water body by 50.0%, bare land by 7.9%, grassland by 41.7%, forest by 28.9%, and bush and shrubland by 38.4%. Overall, 34.6% of the landscape experienced at least one LULC transition over the past 31 years, with 15.3% representing the net change and 19.3% representing the swap change. The percentage change in plantation forest land increased with an increasing altitude and slope gradient during the study period. The mapped LULC changes are consistent with the pressures reported by local residents. They are also consistent with root causes that include population growth, land tenure and common property rights, persistent poverty, weak enforcement of rules and low levels of extension services, a lack of public awareness, and poor infrastructure. Hence, the drivers for LULC should be controlled, and sustainable resources use is required; otherwise, these resources will soon be lost and will no longer be able to play their role in socioeconomic development and environmental sustainability.

scholarly journals Evaluation of the status of land use/land cover change using remote sensing and GIS in Jewha Watershed, Northeastern Ethiopia

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dereje Gebrie Habte ◽  
Satishkumar Belliethathan ◽  
Tenalem Ayenew
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Change Detection ◽  
Catchment Area ◽  
Environmental Conservation ◽  
Land Use Land Cover ◽  
Cultivated Land ◽  
Plantation Forest ◽  
Bare Land

AbstractEvaluation of land use/land cover (LULC) status of watersheds is vital to environmental management. This study was carried out in Jewha watershed, which is found in the upper Awash River basin of central Ethiopia. The total catchment area is 502 km2. All climatic zones of Ethiopia, including lowland arid (‘Kola’), midland semi-arid (‘Woinadega’), humid highland (Dega) and afro alpine (‘Wurch’) can be found in the watershed. The study focused on LULC classification and change detection using GIS and remote sensing techniques by analyzing satellite images. The data preprocessing and post-process was done using multi-temporal spectral satellite data. The images were used to evaluate the temporal trends of the LULC class by considering the years 1984, 1995, 2005 and 2015. Accuracy assessment and change detection of the classification were undertaken by accounting these four years images. The land use types in the study area were categorized into six classes: natural forest, plantation forest, cultivated land, shrub land, grass land and bare land. The result shows the cover classes which has high environmental role such as forest and shrub has decreased dramatically through time with cultivated land increasing during the same period in the watershed. The forest cover in 1984 was about 6.5% of the total catchment area, and it had decreased to 4.2% in 2015. In contrast, cultivated land increased from 38.7% in 1984 to 51% in 2015. Shrub land decreased from 28 to 18% in the same period. Bare land increased due to high gully formation in the catchment. In 1984, it was 1.8% which turned to 0.6% in 1995 then increased in 2015 to 2.7%. Plantation forest was not detected in 1984. In 1995, it covers 1.5% which turned to be the same in 2015. The study clearly demonstrated that there are significant changes of land use and land cover in the catchment. The findings will allow making informed decision which will allow better land use management and environmental conservation interventions.

scholarly journals Dynamics of forage and land cover changes in Teltele district of Borana rangelands, southern Ethiopia: using geospatial and field survey data

BMC Ecology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yeneayehu Fenetahun ◽  
Wang Yong-dong ◽  
Yuan You ◽  
Xu Xinwen
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Biomass Production ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Southern Ethiopia ◽  
Forest Land ◽  
Lulc Change ◽  
Grass Land ◽  
Land Use Types ◽  
Bare Land

Abstract Background The gradual conversion of rangelands into other land use types is one of the main challenges affecting the sustainable management of rangelands in Teltele. This study aimed to examine the changes, drivers, trends in land use and land cover (LULC), to determine the link between the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and forage biomass and the associated impacts of forage biomass production dynamics on the Teltele rangelands in Southern Ethiopia. A Combination of remote sensing data, field interviews, discussion and observations data were used to examine the dynamics of LULC between 1992 and 2019 and forage biomass production. Results The result indicate that there is a marked increase in farm land (35.3%), bare land (13.8%) and shrub land (4.8%), while the reduction found in grass land (54.5%), wet land (69.3%) and forest land (10.5%). The larger change in land observed in both grassland and wetland part was observed during the period from 1995–2000 and 2015–2019, this is due to climate change impact (El-Niño) happened in Teltele rangeland during the year 1999 and 2016 respectively. The quantity of forage in different land use/cover types, grass land had the highest average amount of forage biomass of 2092.3 kg/ha, followed by wetland with 1231 kg/ha, forest land with 1191.3 kg/ha, shrub land with 180 kg/ha, agricultural land with 139.5 kg/ha and bare land with 58.1 kg/ha. Conclusions The significant linkage observed between NDVI and LULC change types (when a high NDVI value, the LULC changes also shows positive value or an increasing trend). In addition, NDVI value directly related to the greenness status of vegetation occurred on each LULC change types and its value directly linkage forage biomass production pattern with grassland land use types. 64.8% (grass land), 43.3% (agricultural land), 75.1% (forest land), 50.6% (shrub land), 80.5% (bare land) and 75.5% (wet land) more or higher dry biomass production in the wet season compared to the dry season.

scholarly journals Determinants of forest land use decisions among rural farm households in south-western Nigeria

2018 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 83-91
Author(s):  
Ayoade Matthew Adetoye ◽  
Samuel Ayodele Adewuyi ◽  
Dare Akerele
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Tenure ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Sustainable Land Use ◽  
Farm Households ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Forest Land ◽  
Land Use Decisions ◽  
Choice Proportion ◽  
Multistage Sampling

Abstract The study examined factors determining forest land use decisions among rural farm households in south-western Nigeria. Primary data on socio-economic and community characteristics as well as land use systems were obtained from 300 farm households using a structured questionnaire through a multistage sampling technique. The study revealed that marital status (P < 0.01), gender (P < 0.01), land tenure security (P < 0.01), dominant crop type (P < 0.05), and preference for tree on farm land (P < 0.01) are factors influencing forest land use decision in either agroforestry, pure cultivation or in both practices. Land use choice proportion estimation shows that 63 % are still willing to retain their existing land use practice (pure cultivation). A total of 32 % are willing to shift completely from their existing land use practice while 4 % of the respondents are willing to practice both “agroforestry and pure cultivation” simultaneously. The study therefore suggests the need for a change in forest land use policy, particularly, with a view influence the pattern of use, limitation on type of crop that can be grown, and compliance to sustainable land use practice. This would go a long way in driving forest land use towards agroforestry – a practice identified as a means of ensuring food security while ensuring safe environment.

A leasehold tenure system for publicly owned forest land

2010 ◽  
Vol 86 (5) ◽  
pp. 597-600
Author(s):  
Tony Rotherham
Keyword(s):  
Land Tenure ◽  
Forest Products ◽  
Contract Law ◽  
Land Ownership ◽  
Forest Products Industry ◽  
Forest Land ◽  
New Approach ◽  
The Past ◽  
Tenure System

The forest products industry is in a period of profound transition. Several provinces are reviewing forest land tenure systems. Perhaps a new approach can be tried, but we must not forget the lessons of the past 30 years during which the delivery of forest management has improved based on clear lines of responsibility and accountability. A leasehold tenure system based on contract law providing security of tenure and designed to accommodate both SFM Certification and Forest Carbon Projects might be worth consideration. Key words: forest land ownership, tenure, leasehold, long-term planning, forest crop planning

scholarly journals SPATIAL ASSESSMENT OF BUILT-UP AND RECREATION EXPANSION USING GEO-INFORMATIC TECHNIQUE IN KOH CHANG ISLAND, THAILAND

2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (4 supplement) ◽  
pp. 1501-1506
Author(s):  
Pranita JUNGPANICH ◽  
◽  
Katawut WAIYASUSRI ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Use Change ◽  
Spatial Data ◽  
Forest Land ◽  
Land Use Patterns ◽  
Spatial Assessment ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
The Past ◽  
Recreation Areas ◽  
Recreation Area

Land-use change for examining the expansion of built-up and recreation, required effective techniques of spatial assessment, especially in areas with limited space such as Koh Chang island in Thailand which needed to be emphasized. The research objectives were to study land-use patterns in Koh Chang area in Trat province from 2000-2020, and study land-use change, especially the expansion of buildings and recreation area during that period, using geo-informatic technique. The study found that most of Koh Chang is forest land, up to 80% of the island, but the trend is declining. On the other hand, the area that has increased in number is built-up and recreation, which has increased from 7.22 km2 to 18.28 km2 and up to 253.19% in the past 20 years. The efficiency of geo-informatic technology can extract useful information, especially spatial data on land-use change. Therefore, it is known from which areas built-up and recreation areas are transformed in order to bring such information into a spatial database system for supporting decision-making in directing, monitoring and controlling areas for further expansion of tourism business in order not to create an impact on the environment.

scholarly journals Analysis and Prediction of Land Use/land Cover Changes and Driving Forces by Using GIS and Remote Sensing in the Coka Watershed, Southern Ethiopia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tadele Buraka ◽  
Eyasu Elias ◽  
Alemu Lelago
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Water Body ◽  
Landscape Planning ◽  
Rural Settlement ◽  
Annual Rate ◽  
Southern Ethiopia ◽  
Forest Land ◽  
Lulc Changes ◽  
Bare Land

Abstract Land use and land cover (LULC) is among fundamental environmental and ecological factors for monitoring, resource management, police making, planning and facilitating the development of strategies to balance conservation, development pressures, and conflicting uses. This study aimed at analyzing LULC changes that have occurred during 1988–2018 and its prediction for 2040–2060 period in Coka watershed, southern Ethiopia. LULC changes were analyzed using geographic information system and predicted by CA-Markov model. Cultivated and rural settlement land, bare land, built up area and water body have increased at an annual rate of 23.1, 2.2, 0.8 and 1.1 ha/year but forest land, bushland and grassland have decreased at an annual rate of 14.4, 4.1 and 8.7 ha/year, respectively. It is projected that cultivated and rural settlement land, bare land, built up area and water body will expand but forest land, grassland and bushland will decrease. Expansion of agriculture and deforestation showed increasing trend on both previous and predicted LULC changes with upcoming expansion of bare land and eucalyptus tree plantation due to major driving factor of population growth. This study highlights the need for well integrated landscape planning, reliable predictions for future LULC and to reduce the deterioration of environment.

scholarly journals Relating the Land-Use Changes to the Invasion of Pneumatopteris afra in Nigeria Using Remote Sensing

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gbenga Festus Akomolafe ◽  
Zakaria Rahmad
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
Forest Products ◽  
Classification Systems ◽  
The Past ◽  
Classification Technique ◽  
Bare Land ◽  
Landsat Satellite ◽  
Broad Classification

The study aimed at using satellite remote sensing in identifying the land-use changes that have occurred in Lafia, Nigeria within the past 35 years, especially in relation to the current and the predicted future invasion of a fern (Pneumatopteris afra). Landsat satellite images OLI/TIRS, ETM+ and TM within the interval of 15 years from 1985 to 2020 were used for the extraction of land-use. Six broad classification systems were used to classify the land-use changes by employing a supervised classification technique. In 1985, the bare land dominated the land-use having an area of 69156 ha while the wetland was the least having an area of 3412 ha. However, in 2020, the built-up area has dominated the land-use of Lafia with an area of 144645 ha (52.21%) while the wetland still remained the least with area of 1477 ha. This is obviously due to the geometric increase in the urbanization of this city. There was a consistent loss of the forests from 1985 to 2020 with an annual rate of loss of 0.46%. This resulted in a loss of 44329 ha of forests in 2020 out of the 47643 ha in 1985. This approximately leads to a total loss of 172,732,045 USD of forest products. The current invasion of Pneumatopteris afra in Lafia was found to fall within the shrub and grasses land-use class. This indicates that the landsat satellite could not detect the wetlands where the plant dominated due to its massive covering. This study calls for immediate conservation of the remaining forests and wetlands in Lafia to prevent further encroachments and invasion by plants.

scholarly journals Hunting territories and land use overlap in sedentarised Baka Pygmy communities in southeastern Cameroon

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia E. Fa ◽  
Guillermo Ros Brull ◽  
Eva Ávila Martin ◽  
Robert Okale ◽  
François Fouda ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Forest Products ◽  
Land Use Policy ◽  
Home Ranges ◽  
Land Uses ◽  
Forest Land ◽  
The Past ◽  
Wild Meat ◽  
Policy And Planning ◽  
Utilization Distributions

AbstractA significant number of Baka Pygmies in Cameroon have been sedentarised in roadside villages, in contrast to their nomadic hunter-gatherer existence of the past. Although this change in lifestyle has had important consequences on health, most Baka villages still supplement their diets from forest products, especially wild meat. We used a combination of participatory methods and monitoring of individual hunters to map hunting territories in 10 Baka villages in southeastern Cameroon. From these, we determined whether wild meat extraction levels per village were related to the size of hunting territories, measured habitat use by hunters and finally defined the overlap between hunting territories and extractive industries in the region. Mapped village hunting areas averaged 205.2 ± 108.7 km2 (range 76.8–352.0 km2); all villages used a total of 2052 km2. From 295 tracks of 51 hunters, we showed that hunters travelled an average of 16.5 ± 13.5 km (range 0.9–89.8 km) from each village. Home ranges, derived from kernel utilization distributions, were correlated with village offtake levels, but hunter offtake and distance travelled were not significantly related, suggesting that enough prey was available even close to the villages. Hunters in all village areas exhibited a clear bias towards certain habitats, as indicated by positive Ivlev’s index of selectivity values. We also showed that all village hunting territories and hunter home ranges fall within mining and logging concessions. Our results are important for local understanding of forest land uses and to reconcile these with the other land uses in the region to better inform decisions concerning land use policy and planning.

scholarly journals Effect of Land tenure change on Land use in Machakos County, Kenya

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 1-3
Author(s):  
Mary Wamuyu Baaru ◽  
Charles K. K. Gachene
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Change Detection ◽  
Land Tenure ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Water Bodies ◽  
Cultivated Land ◽  
Land Use Patterns ◽  
Development Agenda ◽  
Bare Land

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> Land tenure is considered an important issue of development agenda and this has led to land allocation and titling in developing countries across continents. As a result, a massive transfer of land rights. Land tenure has been considered as one of the key factors that define patterns and changes in land use system. Due to challenges in collective ownership, Kenya has embraced this idea shifted away to individual land tenure system. This paper examines how land tenure change has influenced land use patterns in Katheka-kai Location, Machakos County for 21 years (1988- 2009), Kenya.</p><p> The study area was until 1995 a ranching scheme but transformed to individual farms, providing a niche in studying land use change. Six classes identified as forests, cultivated land, savannah grassland, water bodies, built-up land, rocky areas, and bare land was used for change detection. Thematic change detection for Landsat TM and Landsat ETM+ was established using ENVI EX. This was done by selecting two images of the same scene, with same number of classes and same names at different times.</p><p> During the period of 1988&amp;ndash;2009, the major land use/cover was savannah grassland, bare land, rocky areas, and forest. Cultivated land, built-up areas, and water bodies had the least land cover. The land use/cover change has been dynamic with about 68.6% land changing from one land use to another between 1988 and 2009 (Figure 1 and 2).</p><p> The 24.4% increase recorded in savanna grassland was at the expense of rocky areas, forest cover, bare land and water bodies that lost 18.7, 2.9, 2.1 and 0.7% respectively (Table 1). Despite the loss, forest cover still recorded 2.7% increase between 1988 and 2009 mostly from rocky areas (1.6%) and bare land (1.2%). Apart from becoming savanna grassland, most of the bare land was converted to rocky areas (7.6%), cultivated land (1.8%) and forests (1.2%) and this explains the 7.4% decrease in area under bare land. Cultivated land witnessed a 1.8% increase between 1988 and 2009 and was due to conversion of bare land (1.8%) and forest cover (0.6%) into cultivated land. Increase in percentage area under built-up areas (0.5%) was as result of conversion of bare land (0.2%), rocky areas (0.2%) and savanna grassland (0.1%). Water bodies changed to become savanna grassland (0.7%) and rocky areas (0.4%) and this led to 0.5% decline in land under water bodies.</p><p> Savanna grassland, bare land and rocky areas are the dominating land uses/justified by the fact that the area is a rangeland initially hosting a range of wildlife animals. Increased population leads to high demand for food and housing and this explains the increase cultivation land and built-up areas. A study carried out by Gathaara et. al. (2010) in the same area reported that most of the farmers resulted in agricultural activities to meet increasing food demand as well as for economic gains. Similarly, Mundia and Muranyan (2009) reported that changing land tenure policy resulted in expansion of agricultural land. Furthermore, after subdivision and issuance of title deeds to individual members, the owner gets the rights to make land use decisions based on benefits.</p></p>

Land use in the Uists since 1800

1979 ◽  
Vol 77 ◽  
pp. 505-526 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. B. Caird
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Tenure ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
Labour Force ◽  
Government Policies ◽  
The Past ◽  
Agricultural Revolution ◽  
Intensive Use ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
Large Farms

SynopsisLand use and land tenure in the Uists has evolved over the past two centuries fashioned by the possibilities offered by the varying qualities of soils and terrain and by economic circumstances, estate and government policies. At the end of the 18th century, estate surveys and plans provide a detailed account of the patterns of tenure and land use. The crofting system, created between 1814 and 1818, with the aim of improving agricultural standards and as a means of maintaining a labour force to manufacture kelp, led to an expansion of the cultivated area. In the middle of the 19th century, large farms displaced much of the population and resulted in congestion in the remaining crofting townships and very intensive use of the available land. Government intervention led to the settlement of crofters on the majority of the farms after 1890. Since the ‘agricultural revolution’ of the 1950s, if the number of active crofters and croft units and the area of cropped land has declined, the size of the effective croft units and their cattle stocks has increased, particularly in the more recently formed townships. Cereal cropping is now virtually confined to the machairs and most of the crofts are under permanent grass.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document