APPLICATION OF REMOTE SENSING AND GIS IN LAND USE/LAND COVER
MAPPING AND CHANGE DETECTION IN SHASHA FOREST RESERVE, NIGERIA
O.S. Olokeogun
a,
*, O.F. Iyiola
b
, K. Iyiola
c
a
Federal College of Forestry, Forestry Technology Department, Nigeria – forester-fisher@hotmail.com
b
Federal School of Surveying, Surveying and Geoinformatics Department, Nigeria
c
Sustainabilities Limited, Nigeria- iyi.kolade@yahoo.com
Commission VIII, WG VI/4
KEY WORDS: Remote sensing, GIS techniques, LULC, change detection, forest ecosystem
ABSTRACT:
Mapping of LULC and change detection using remote sensing and GIS techniques is a cost effective method of obtaining a clear
understanding of the land cover alteration processes due to land use change and their consequences. This research focused on
assessing landscape transformation in Shasha Forest Reserve, over an 18 year period. LANDSAT Satellite imageries (of 30m
resolution) covering the area at two epochs were characterized into five classes (Water Body, Forest Reserve, Built up Area,
Vegetation, and Farmland) and classification performs with maximum likelihood algorithm, which resulted in the classes of each
land use.
The result of the comparison of the two classified images showed that vegetation (degraded forest) has increased by 30.96%,
farmland cover increased by 22.82% and built up area by 3.09%. Forest reserve however, has decreased significantly by 46.12%
during the period.
This research highlights the increasing rate of modification of forest ecosystem by anthropogebic activities and the need to
apprehend the situation to ensure sustainable forest management.
1. INTRODUCTION
Land use/land cover change is a key driver of global change
(Vitousek, 1992) and has significant implications for many
international policy issues (Nunes and Auge, 1999). In
particular, land use/land cover (LULC) changes in the tropical
regions are of major concern due to the widespread and rapid
changes in the distribution and characteristics of tropical forests
(Myers, 1993) and (Houghton, 1994). Changes in land cover
and in the way people use the land has become recognized over
the last 15 years as important global environmental changes in
their own right (Turner, 2002).
Forest clearing has been identified as one of the most significant
causes of deforestation in different parts of the world. Detailed
scientific studies illustrate the apparent effect of farming
activities resulting in modification of the original vegetation.
The rate of deforestation is alarming in West Africa due to rapid
population growth and land use (Myers, 1988). For example,
recent estimates indicate that over 350,000ha of forest and
natural vegetation are being lost annually due to farming
(NEST, 1991).
Ola Adams (1996) also lamented over 11,300 hectares of forest
being cleared annually in Omo Forest Reserve in Nigeria for the
establishment of monoculture plantation of indigenous and
exotic tree species. These evidences present a significant and
direct role of forest clearing for farming in forest loss. It has
been established that the highest rates of forest modification
have occurred in areas with heavy dependence on forest land for
subsistence and shifting agriculture largely found in developing
countries. (Allen and Barnes, 1985a).
To understand how LULC change affects and interact with
global earth systems, information is needed on what changes
occur, where and when they occur, the rate at which they occur,
and the social and physical forces that drive those changes
(Lambin, 1997a). The information needs for such a synthesis
are diverse. Remote sensing has an important contribution to
making and documenting the actual change in land use/land
cover in regional and global scales.
In Nigeria, despite ongoing research efforts on LULC patterns;
there remains a need for development of basic datasets
providing quantitative and spatial land use/land cover
information. In many states of Nigeria, relatively little natural
vegetation remains untouched by human hands. Rates of forest
loss are accelerating due to subsistence agriculture and shifting
cultivation. Already forest plantation establishment, bush
burning, shifting cultivation and other development features
have occurred in the reserve resulting in loss of biodiversity.
The global drive towards sustainable environments provides
critical need for studies on land use/land cover change within
forest vegetation to provide useful information to planners and
resource managers.
Moreover, there appears to be a gap in the available information
and national decision-making process and rational planning.
Therefore this paper seek to investigate (i.e. map out), identify
and quantify the changes in LULC over the years within Shasha
Forest Reserve in Osun State, Nigeria using remote sensing and
GIS technologies thus ascertaining the deriving factors behind
these changes and to model/predict possible future changes.
Geographic Information System (GIS) is an information
technology that has been used in public policy-making for
environmental and forest planning and decision-making over
The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Volume XL-8, 2014
ISPRS Technical Commission VIII Symposium, 09 – 12 December 2014, Hyderabad, India
This contribution has been peer-reviewed.
doi:10.5194/isprsarchives-XL-8-613-2014