Impact of land use and land cover changes on landscape structure in the dry lands of Southern Africa: a case of the Zambezi Region, Namibia
2022
Kamwi, J. M. | Mbidzo, M.
The study evaluated patterns of land use and land cover (LULC) change in the Zambezi Region, Namibia between 1984 and 2010 using geospatial tools. Spatio-temporal dynamics of LULC changes were quantified using the post classification change detection method. The images were classified into five land use and land cover classes: forest land, shrub land, bare land, crop/grass land and other land. Landscape metrics were calculated using Fragstats to understand the landscape patterns and structural integrity of the landscape. The results showed that political transition (before and after independence) has resulted in dramatic decreases in patch density and increases in the interspersion and juxtaposition index values. The general pattern of LULC showed that the communal area compared to protected area became structurally diverse and ecologically more fragmented from 1984 to 2010. This study provides a foundation and baseline data demonstrating LULC alteration and landscape context suitable for monitoring future changes of protected and communal areas. Our approach is a novel way to assess the drivers and patterns of LULC under different land tenure types for natural resources conservation and sustainable land management in the dry lands of Southern Africa.
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