Land use and cover reconstruction: A case of kakuuto and bunha counties in uganda

Agriculture, grazing and burning are major land use activities that have transformed forest, Ihicket and woodlands to cropland and barelands over years. The cummulative effect of these transformaticns may have corttributed to extensive land degradation now experienced by farmers. Understanding the histcrical evolution of land use in the lake basin may assist in developing more appropriate farming systems better able to sustain dense human populatiens, alleviate deforestation and regenerate degraded land. Available histcrical Larid useJcover maps involved mapping of natural vegetation and land use separately. The natural vegetation map does not cater for certain aspects of land cover like bareland, built up areas and water bodies. We reconstructed land useJcover based on the interpretatien of panchromatic aerial photographs, development of a photo - key and field ground truthing exercise resulted into land use I cover maps 1:50,000 of two pilot agro - ecological zones within the Lake Victoria catchment. These outcomes were strengthened by informal interviews, identificatien of renmant vegetation and use of topographic map which were compiled using aerial photographs shot in 1954. A modified system of land useJcover classification was developed and used to describe and classify elements in this study. Emphasis was put on land useJcover - soil relationships; easy inteqretability using aerial photographs and satellite images and a clear distinction between land use and land cover. Based en this classification, eleven land cover types existed then (1954) and !hese include: Savanna, Aquatic grassland, cropland, swamp forest, bushland and thicket, bareland, ForesVsavanna mosaic, bWlled overland, built up areas. Related land uses include: mixed agriculture, rough grazing, food gathering, hunting and fishing, cortservation, forestry sanctuary, transport, and communication and settlement. Barelands may have existed for a century or beyond. The major causative factor then seems to be uncorttrolled grass fires that have cootrolled the dynamism of ecological succession. An understanding of the ecological and secoodary vegetation succession would greatly corttribute to development of feasible land management intervention technologies. This documentation can be used to study temporal and ipatial dynamism in land useJcover with associated changes in soil characteristics and quality as a result of human interventions through agriculture and grazing.