scholarly journals Impact of Land Use Changes on Wildlife Population in Nairobi National Park and Kitengela Dispersal Areas in Kenya

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (8) ◽  
pp. 462-465 ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. p41
Author(s):  
John K.M. Wandaka ◽  
Kabii M. Francis

Nairobi National Park (NNP) in Kenya was established in 1946 to conserve the abundance and diversity of wildlife in the Kitengela-Athi-Kaputei plains, from excessive exploitation. It is currently fenced except on the Kitengela side across the Mbagathi River due to the sub-division of the group ranches, which commenced in the 1980s, limiting access of wildlife to the migratory corridor and dispersal areas. This paper is based on a study conducted to assess the impacts of the resultant land use changes in the Kitengela dispersal area/ migratory corridor on the migratory fauna of NNP, and to identify appropriate mitigation measures. The findings indicated that increased human settlement, led to changes in land uses which resulted into multiple negative impacts on the migratory wildlife of Nairobi National Park, mainly due to loss of dispersal area and blockage of migratory routes, leading to wildlife confinement, decreased wildlife tolerance and increased incidences of human wildlife conflicts. Data analysis indicated decline in migratory wildlife population thus negative effect (F=, 6.066, p<0.05). The findings also indicated that loss of migratory routes/dispersal area and reduced vegetation cover was regarded by 55% of the local community respondents as one of the main consequences of the land use changes resulting from the subdivision of the group ranches leading to decreased wildlife tolerance (β = 0.246) and wildlife confinement (β = 0.371) in NNP (p= 0.021, < 0.05, F= 2.678; R=0.179, R2= 0.032). The paper also discusses the mitigation measures for the longtime sustainability of the park, the dispersal area and migratory corridor, including holistic implementation of the Kitengela-Isinya-Kipeto Local Physical Development Plan, mapping and protection of the vital wildlife areas within the migratory range, including the wildebeest calving area in North Kaputiei.


2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (No. 1) ◽  
pp. 10-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Wijitkosum

Soil erosion has been considered as the primary cause of soil degradation since soil erosion leads to the loss of topsoil and soil organic matters which are essential for the growing of plants. Land use, which relates to land cover, is one of the influential factors that affect soil erosion. In this study, impacts of land use changes on soil erosion in Pa Deng sub-district, adjacent area of Kaeng Krachan National Park, Thailand, were investigated by applying remote sensing technique, geographical information system (GIS) and the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE). The study results revealed that land use changes in terms of area size and pattern influenced the soil erosion risk in Pa Deng in the 1990&ndash;2010 period. The area with smaller land cover obviously showed the high risk of soil erosion than the larger land cover did.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 1570 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mads Christensen ◽  
Jamal Jokar Arsanjani

The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) presents a roadmap and a concerted platform of action towards achieving sustainable and inclusive development, leaving no one behind, while preventing environmental degradation and loss of natural resources. However, population growth, increased urbanisation, deforestation, and rapid economic development has decidedly modified the surface of the earth, resulting in dramatic land cover changes, which continue to cause significant degradation of environmental attributes. In order to reshape policies and management frameworks conforming to the objectives of the SDG’s, it is paramount to understand the driving mechanisms of land use changes and determine future patterns of change. This study aims to assess and quantify future land cover changes in Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo by simulating a future landscape for the SDG target year of 2030 in order to provide evidence to support data-driven decision-making processes conforming to the requirements of the SDG’s. The study follows six sequential steps: (a) creation of three land cover maps from 2010, 2015 and 2019 derived from satellite images; (b) land change analysis by cross-tabulation of land cover maps; (c) submodel creation and identification of explanatory variables and dataset creation for each variable; (d) calculation of transition potentials of major transitions within the case study area using machine learning algorithms; (e) change quantification and prediction using Markov chain analysis; and (f) prediction of a 2030 land cover. The model was successfully able to simulate future land cover and land use changes and the dynamics conclude that agricultural expansion and urban development is expected to significantly reduce Virunga’s forest and open land areas in the next 11 years. Accessibility in terms of landscape topography and proximity to existing human activities are concluded to be primary drivers of these changes. Drawing on these conclusions, the discussion provides recommendations and reflections on how the predicted future land cover changes can be used to support and underpin policy frameworks towards achieving the SDG’s and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.


1989 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roderick P. Neumann ◽  
Gary E. Machlis

The ecological consequences of contemporary land-use in the neotropics have important influences on national park management in the region. Historical patterns suggest that major land-use changes have occurred regularly, and that these patterns have recently intensified. Is there a relationship between specific land-uses and specific threats to protected areas? Can this relationship be detected in a population of parks?In a survey of managers of 183 national parks, 122 returned questionnaires from 19 countries in the neotropics. We found that a range of land-uses, from livestock grazing to quarrying, are occurring in and around the parks. The results of our statistical analysis indicate that many of these activities are associated with specific threats to park resources: for example, poaching for subsistence was statistically associated with each of the ten most-reported threats.We offer two suggestions for improving our understanding of environmental degradation within parks. First, that research and park management be expanded to acquire a regional focus, namely that the land-transforming activities which threaten park resources can best be understood by incorporating the regional-social and political-economic contexts in the analysis. Second, that the influences of the global economic system be increasingly considered in conceptual frameworks of conservation biology.


2009 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jodi N. Price ◽  
John W. Morgan

The history of land-use was examined in Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh. woodland in the Victoria Valley of the Grampians National Park, south-eastern Australia, to help interpret changes in vegetation there during the last 50 years. We used aerial photography and dendrochronological data to quantify the amount of, and the rate of change in, the woody-vegetation cover between 1948 and 1997, and historical data to document land-use changes during this time. Aerial photographs indicated that in 1948, 56% of study area had <50% cover of woody plants. By 1997, 90% of the study area had >50% woody-plant cover. The native shrub Leptospermum scoparium J.R. Forst & G. Forst (Myrtaceae) was predominantly responsible for the increases in cover. Demographic analyses indicated that recruitment has been ongoing rather than episodic; large numbers of shrubs, however, have recruited since 1994. We hypothesise that the vegetation changes observed are likely a response to changes in land-use that have occurred since European occupation. Increased woody-plant cover followed the removal of sheep grazing in the long-term absence of fire. It is very likely that the long history of stock grazing, coupled with selective logging and associated soil disturbance, initiated a change in understorey vegetation by reducing competitive native tussock grasses and fuel loads to carry fires and this reduction was initially responsible for the encroachment of shrubs into the woodland. Recruitment has been ongoing in the absence of any recent land-use changes (most utilisation ceasing after the declaration of National Park status in 1984) and hence, this transformation from species-rich herbaceous woodland to shrubby woodland is expected to continue in the future.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 1-1
Author(s):  
Jaturong Som-ard ◽  
Savittri Ratanopad Suwanlee ◽  
Worawit Jitsukka ◽  
Komin Cheunbanyen

Abstract. The Royal Forest Department of Thailand has permitted people to use the resources in national parks since 2005. It leads to a decrease in forest areas. This study aims to monitor and predict forest land change in Phu Phan National Park using Landsat 5 TM images in 1998 and 2008, and Sentinel-2 MSI image in 2018. The atmosphere correction was conducted for satellite images. Land use changes were classified by object base image analysis (OBIA), include forest, agriculture, built-up, water and miscellaneous. The land use maps were measured, and then the CA-Markov model was applied to predict the forest change in a year of 2028. The results demonstrate that overall accuracy (OA) of land use maps is 85.6%, 88%, and 89.6% in 1998, 2008 and 2018, respectively. The land use map in 2018 is more accurate than others because the high-resolution image and current data input. Moreover, the use of reference data nowadays has high potential and reality for classification. During 1998 to 2008, forest and built-up extended 45.35% and 5.07%, respectively. Meanwhile, miscellaneous, agriculture, and water decreased by 41.38%, 21.92%, and 3.45%. During 2008 to 2018, agriculture, miscellaneous, and built-up slightly increased by 21.92%, 14.75%, and 12.26%, respectively while forest and water decreased by 48.82% and 2.24%, respectively. The predicted forest change in 2028 is a decrease by 10.49% due to land use change to miscellaneous, agriculture, built-up, and water area, as forest is likely to be trespassed for built-up and agriculture areas as a result of local population growth. The results of the study can be useful for planning and managing the national park in the future.


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