Assessment of the impact of urbanization on forest resources in Otukpo Local Government Area Benue State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study was conducted to determine the impact of urbanization on forest resources in Otukpo Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria with a view to assessing the present status of forest resources and the extent to which forest is depleting due to urbanization. Landsat satellite images were used. The study covered a period of 35 years; from 1985 to 2020. Four multi-date images made up of Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM), Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM+) were acquired for 1985, 2000, 2010 and Landsat Operational Land Imager (OLI) was used for 2020. The images were sourced from United States Geological Surveys (USGS) earth explorer. The images were processed and a supervised classification using maximum likelihood classifier in Idrisi Selva was used. The classification resulted in five land use and land cover classes of built-up areas, forest cover, grassland, agricultural land and water body. The results of the study showed that agricultural land decreased by -70.2 km² representing a change of (11.18%), forest cover decreased by -243.9 km² representing (38.84%), built up area increased by 252.31 km² representing (40.18%) having the highest rate of total change for the period. The period witnessed an increase in built up area, grassland and water body. The land use and land cover changed from forested area to other land use categories which indicates that, expansion in built up areas and other developmental activities have greatly reduced forest resources resulting to the loss of natural vegetation. The study recommends constant monitoring, planning and controlled urban development.