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. |
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Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Forests, Forest Resources, Forest Loss, Conservation, Land Use
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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
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
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
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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}
}
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 -
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