| Peer-Reviewed

An Assessment of Forest Loss Using Remote Sensing in Akpaka Forest Reserve Onitsha North L.G.A. of Anambra State, Nigeria

Received: 16 October 2021     Accepted: 4 November 2021     Published: 12 November 2021
Views:       Downloads:
Abstract

Akpaka community in Onitsha North Local Government Area, Anambra State of Nigeria emerged from the ancient city of Onitsha. Population rise and economic/urban growth in Onitsha city forced housing development to extend into Akpaka Forest Reserve (AFR). However, there is no up to date information on forest resources loss in Akpaka Forest Reserve. Investigations at the Local Government Administrative Head Quarters revealed that there are no statistics on spatial extent of forest loss in the reserve for planning, policy formation, re-formation and further decision making. Hence, this study assessed the spatial extent of forest loss in Akpaka Forest Reserve (AFR), Onitsha North Local Government Area of Anambra State Nigeria to cover that gap. The study used Remote Sensing to map and determine the spatial extent of forest loss in AFR from year 2000-2020. To map forest loss in Akpaka forest Reserve between 2000 and 2020, four Landsat images (Landsat 5 thematic mapper, Landsat 7 enhanced thematic mapper, Landsat 8 operational, and imager covering years 2000-2005, 2005-2010, 2010-2015, 2015-2020, were downloaded from www.earthexplorer.usgs.gov. Image pre-processing was done to correct for atmospheric errors and to correct for scan line error in the Landsat 7 enhanced thematic mapper for 2005 and 2010 using focal statistics. To effectively map the Landcover/Landuse distribution in Akpaka forest reserve, a classification scheme level I was developed for the study due to resolution of images and to ensure that the features are discriminated adequately. The next process was to identify the class features on the scene before going for a familiarization visit to the site. Thus, open forest, water body and built up area were identified and defined according to level I classification scheme. Result showed a continuous decline in forest cover, increase in built up area and slight decline in water body for the period studied. For year 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2020 forest cover showed 49.19%, 45.78%, 43.81%, 41.97% and 37.05% respectively. Built up area showed 37.77%, 40.90%, 42.80%, 44.60%, and 49.53% for year 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2020 respectively. This study made recommendations which include- use of advanced technology for monitoring and evaluation, community participation, institutional strengthening, public awareness and re-afforestation programmes.

Published in International Journal of Energy and Environmental Science (Volume 6, Issue 6)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijees.20210606.11
Page(s) 143-150
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Forests, Forest Resources, Forest Loss, Conservation, Land Use

References
[1] Ndukwe O. U. (2002): Elements of Nigerian Environmental Law, University of Calabar Press.
[2] Bryant, D. N. (2018): The Last Frontier Forests Ecosystems and Economics on the Edge. World Resource Institute Washington DC.
[3] Anderson S. and Gabler K. E. (2007): Restoring the Cultural Meaning of Forestry Extension. Tropical Forests 2 (3): 26-27.
[4] United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (2021): World Economic situation and Prospects: available at https://www.un.org/development/idesa.
[5] FAO 2020: Global Forest Reserve Assessment 2020: key findings. Rome available at https//doi.org/10.4060/ca87en.
[6] Hillbrand, A, Borelli, S., Conigliaro, M and Oliver, A, (2020) Agroforestry for landscape restoration, Exploring the potential of agrofivestry to enhance the sustainability and resilience of degraded landscapes p5 accessible at https://www.fao.org/3/17374epdf.
[7] Shahbandeh, H (2018): Employment in the forestry products Industry in the US. Available at https://www.statistic.com.
[8] UN Forum on forest 2021: Inter-Agency Task force on financing for Development issues brief series, Forest Finance, available at https://www.un.org/esallffed/wp-content.
[9] Castren, T., Katila, M., Lindroos, K and Salmi, J. (2019): Private Financing for Sustainable Forest Management and Forest Products in Developing Countries-Irends and Drives. P127.
[10] World Bank Group (2021): Forest Law Enforcement and Governance available at https//www.worldbank.org/er/topic.
[11] Worldbank group (2021): Illegal Logging Fishing and Wildlife Trade the Coats and how to Combat it. Available at https//documwnts.worldbank.org.
[12] Barnett, H. J and Morse, C. (2018): Environmental imbalances caused by Man in journal of Environmental Engineering Vol II 8 (32).
[13] Federal Department of Forestry (FDF) (2020): Nigeria Forest Resource Hand book FDF Abuja.
[14] Aron M. I. (2020): Sustained Productivity in Intensively Managed Forest Plantain for ecol manage 138: 189-202.
[15] Liv Yang and Yan Ren (2020): Property Rights, Village Democracy and Household Forestry Income: Evidence from Chuna’a Collective Tenure Reform in Journal of Forest Research Vol 26 issue 1 2020.
[16] Peter B, Fabian S, Hans, P (2021) A Fuzzy Logic Based Approach for Evaluating Ecosystem Service Provision and Biodiversity Applied to a Case Study Landscape in Southern Germany in European Journal of Forest Research Vol 140 issue 5 Oct 2021.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Uzoamaka Rita Onyeizugbe, Valerie Chinedu Nnodu. (2021). An Assessment of Forest Loss Using Remote Sensing in Akpaka Forest Reserve Onitsha North L.G.A. of Anambra State, Nigeria. International Journal of Energy and Environmental Science, 6(6), 143-150. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijees.20210606.11

    Copy | Download

    ACS Style

    Uzoamaka Rita Onyeizugbe; Valerie Chinedu Nnodu. An Assessment of Forest Loss Using Remote Sensing in Akpaka Forest Reserve Onitsha North L.G.A. of Anambra State, Nigeria. Int. J. Energy Environ. Sci. 2021, 6(6), 143-150. doi: 10.11648/j.ijees.20210606.11

    Copy | Download

    AMA Style

    Uzoamaka Rita Onyeizugbe, Valerie Chinedu Nnodu. An Assessment of Forest Loss Using Remote Sensing in Akpaka Forest Reserve Onitsha North L.G.A. of Anambra State, Nigeria. Int J Energy Environ Sci. 2021;6(6):143-150. doi: 10.11648/j.ijees.20210606.11

    Copy | Download

  • @article{10.11648/j.ijees.20210606.11,
      author = {Uzoamaka Rita Onyeizugbe and Valerie Chinedu Nnodu},
      title = {An Assessment of Forest Loss Using Remote Sensing in Akpaka Forest Reserve Onitsha North L.G.A. of Anambra State, Nigeria},
      journal = {International Journal of Energy and Environmental Science},
      volume = {6},
      number = {6},
      pages = {143-150},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijees.20210606.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijees.20210606.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijees.20210606.11},
      abstract = {Akpaka community in Onitsha North Local Government Area, Anambra State of Nigeria emerged from the ancient city of Onitsha. Population rise and economic/urban growth in Onitsha city forced housing development to extend into Akpaka Forest Reserve (AFR). However, there is no up to date information on forest resources loss in Akpaka Forest Reserve. Investigations at the Local Government Administrative Head Quarters revealed that there are no statistics on spatial extent of forest loss in the reserve for planning, policy formation, re-formation and further decision making. Hence, this study assessed the spatial extent of forest loss in Akpaka Forest Reserve (AFR), Onitsha North Local Government Area of Anambra State Nigeria to cover that gap. The study used Remote Sensing to map and determine the spatial extent of forest loss in AFR from year 2000-2020. To map forest loss in Akpaka forest Reserve between 2000 and 2020, four Landsat images (Landsat 5 thematic mapper, Landsat 7 enhanced thematic mapper, Landsat 8 operational, and imager covering years 2000-2005, 2005-2010, 2010-2015, 2015-2020, were downloaded from www.earthexplorer.usgs.gov. Image pre-processing was done to correct for atmospheric errors and to correct for scan line error in the Landsat 7 enhanced thematic mapper for 2005 and 2010 using focal statistics. To effectively map the Landcover/Landuse distribution in Akpaka forest reserve, a classification scheme level I was developed for the study due to resolution of images and to ensure that the features are discriminated adequately. The next process was to identify the class features on the scene before going for a familiarization visit to the site. Thus, open forest, water body and built up area were identified and defined according to level I classification scheme. Result showed a continuous decline in forest cover, increase in built up area and slight decline in water body for the period studied. For year 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2020 forest cover showed 49.19%, 45.78%, 43.81%, 41.97% and 37.05% respectively. Built up area showed 37.77%, 40.90%, 42.80%, 44.60%, and 49.53% for year 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2020 respectively. This study made recommendations which include- use of advanced technology for monitoring and evaluation, community participation, institutional strengthening, public awareness and re-afforestation programmes.},
     year = {2021}
    }
    

    Copy | Download

  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - An Assessment of Forest Loss Using Remote Sensing in Akpaka Forest Reserve Onitsha North L.G.A. of Anambra State, Nigeria
    AU  - Uzoamaka Rita Onyeizugbe
    AU  - Valerie Chinedu Nnodu
    Y1  - 2021/11/12
    PY  - 2021
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijees.20210606.11
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijees.20210606.11
    T2  - International Journal of Energy and Environmental Science
    JF  - International Journal of Energy and Environmental Science
    JO  - International Journal of Energy and Environmental Science
    SP  - 143
    EP  - 150
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2578-9546
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijees.20210606.11
    AB  - Akpaka community in Onitsha North Local Government Area, Anambra State of Nigeria emerged from the ancient city of Onitsha. Population rise and economic/urban growth in Onitsha city forced housing development to extend into Akpaka Forest Reserve (AFR). However, there is no up to date information on forest resources loss in Akpaka Forest Reserve. Investigations at the Local Government Administrative Head Quarters revealed that there are no statistics on spatial extent of forest loss in the reserve for planning, policy formation, re-formation and further decision making. Hence, this study assessed the spatial extent of forest loss in Akpaka Forest Reserve (AFR), Onitsha North Local Government Area of Anambra State Nigeria to cover that gap. The study used Remote Sensing to map and determine the spatial extent of forest loss in AFR from year 2000-2020. To map forest loss in Akpaka forest Reserve between 2000 and 2020, four Landsat images (Landsat 5 thematic mapper, Landsat 7 enhanced thematic mapper, Landsat 8 operational, and imager covering years 2000-2005, 2005-2010, 2010-2015, 2015-2020, were downloaded from www.earthexplorer.usgs.gov. Image pre-processing was done to correct for atmospheric errors and to correct for scan line error in the Landsat 7 enhanced thematic mapper for 2005 and 2010 using focal statistics. To effectively map the Landcover/Landuse distribution in Akpaka forest reserve, a classification scheme level I was developed for the study due to resolution of images and to ensure that the features are discriminated adequately. The next process was to identify the class features on the scene before going for a familiarization visit to the site. Thus, open forest, water body and built up area were identified and defined according to level I classification scheme. Result showed a continuous decline in forest cover, increase in built up area and slight decline in water body for the period studied. For year 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2020 forest cover showed 49.19%, 45.78%, 43.81%, 41.97% and 37.05% respectively. Built up area showed 37.77%, 40.90%, 42.80%, 44.60%, and 49.53% for year 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2020 respectively. This study made recommendations which include- use of advanced technology for monitoring and evaluation, community participation, institutional strengthening, public awareness and re-afforestation programmes.
    VL  - 6
    IS  - 6
    ER  - 

    Copy | Download

Author Information
  • Department of Environmental Management, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria

  • Department of Environmental Management, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria

  • Sections