Spatial and temporal changes in land use/land cover and their driving forces in Kahe Forest, Northern Tanzania

Abstract

Deforestation is one of the major changes in terrestrial landscapes that affect the environment. It is caused by anthropogenic activities and a myriad of natural factors which cause a global loss of natural biodiversity and alteration of ecological processes and services across different ecosystems. An analysis of the spatial temporal changes in land use and land cover was done in Kahe Forest. Moderate resolution land satellite images were downloaded from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) archives and analyzed using the random forest (RF) algorithm and mapped in ArcGIS 10 software to ascertain the changes that took place in land use and land cover in Kahe Forest from 1998 to 2018. A questionnaire and key informant interviews were used to collect data. Findings show that, agricultural land and grassland increased by 7% and 14%while the forest area decreased from 85% to 51%due in the same period caused by escalation of human activities. The underlying causes of the changes include rapid population growth, wild fires, climate change and variability as well as human activities. It is recommended that adoption of sustainable forest-management strategies such as enforcement of the existing conservation laws and regulations and of alternative environment-friendly sources of livelihoods mainly community based forest management should be enhanced all stakeholders including the government and the community.