Influence of socio-economic factors on land use and vegetation cover changes in and around Kagoma forest reserve in Tanzania

Abstract

The Miombo woodland ecosystem has been and continues to face conservation threats. We assessed the socio-economic drivers of land use and vegetation cover changes and the extent of land use/cover change in and around Kagoma Forest Reserve (KFR), Tanzania. Household survey, field observations and focus group discussions were used to obtain socio-economic data that influence land use and vegetation cover changes and logistic regression model was used to establish the relationship between socio-economic drivers and land cover change. Remote sensing and GIS
techniques were used to analyze land use and vegetation cover changes over the past 23 years. Landsat imagery of 1988, 1999 and 2010 were used in this study. The perceived drivers for the changes include; overgrazing, demand for forest products, shifting cultivation, agricultural
expansion, increasing crop prices and lack of land tenure. It was revealed that there has been significant land use and vegetation cover transformation from one class to another. In the period of 12 years (1988-1999) woodland, cultivated land and settlements increased by 5.8%, 5.9% and 0.52% respectively, while forests decreased by 5.64%. During 1999-2010 period woodland decreased by 22.97% and forest by 2.5%, while cultivated land increased by 6.07% and settlements by 9.14%.
Enforcement of different laws and regulations relating to natural resources and land use planning to improve land tenure and resource use in villages bordering the forest can substantially reduce the problem of land degradation.

Key words: Land use, vegetation, cover changes, Kagoma Forest Reserve, Tanzania