Analysis of land use and land cover change in Nadowli District, Ghana

There is a growing environmental concern and interest in land at the Nadowli District, Ghana since the influx of legal and illegal miners in the area. Analysis of these concerns requires the assessment of the Land use and land cover dynamics of the area. Geographic information systems and satellite remote sensing information are latest technologies in land-cover change assessment. Their strengths lie in providing insights into land-cover change properties through the use of spatio-temporal and multi spectral data. Landsat satellite imageries of three different time periods, i.e., 1990, 2000 and 2014 were used to quantify the land use and land cover changes in the area. Supervised classification using Maximum Likelihood technique was used resulting in the classes: Water, Open Savannah and Closed savannah woodlands, Agricultural/Fallow Land, Settlement and bare lands. A post-classification change detection method was employed and a LULC change matrix obtained. The study shows that between the years 1991 and 2000 the changes in the LULC changes were not as significant as in the years between 2000 and 2014. There was a decrease in Water and closed Savannah woodlands although Open Savannah has increased marginally. The felling of trees for fuel wood is also depleting the closed Savannah wood lot. Agriculture has increased especially along the Black Volta River. Settlements/bare areas may have decreased probably due to the clamp down of illegal mining activities and easy access to markets along the North Eastern part close to the District Capital, Nadowli.