Land Cover and Land Use Dynamics of Semi Arid Wetlands: A Case of Rumuruti (Kenya) and Malinda (Tanzania)

Abstract

In sub-saharan Africa, wetlands particularly those located in dry areas are intensively used and have caused significant loss of the wetlands and their riparian areas. The uses are intensified because of climate variability and the demand to feed the ever growing population. This paper presents results of assessment of land cover and use change in semi arid floodplains of Rumuruti and Malinda in Kenya and Tanzania respectively. Field survey, unsupervised classification and change vector analysis were used to map the uses and assess the changes. Results show that the wetlands are diversely used, agriculture is one of the main land uses (24-35%); other uses and cover include grazing and shrubs (11-39%), built up area (14%, in Rumuruti), burnt area (7%, in Malinda), forest and natural wetland vegetation (5%) and open water (3%). Significant part of natural vegetation (47.76% in Malinda and 72.60% in Rumuruti) has been converted into farms and other uses and as a consequence some parts of the wetlands have been abandoned due to over use. Anthropogenic factors are the main drivers of the changes. The data generated in this study is seen to contribute in monitoring and management of the particular wetlands. Keywords: