Author(s)

Joseph S. Makero¹, Japhet J. Kashaigili^2*

¹Forestry Training Institute, Arusha, Tanzania.
²Department of Forest Resources Assessment and Management, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania.

Assessing land cover changes from the 1991 to 2011 for Itigi thicket is imperative for determining changes between land cover types and understanding anthropogenic impact during this period. Remote sensing (RS) data, Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques and forest inventory data were used. ILWIS 3.3 Academic software was used to analyze the satellite imageries to determine the land use, land cover change; while data on anthropogenic activities were analysed in MS Excel software. The results showed that between 1991/2000 and 2000/2011, the areas of thicket declined by 6.23% while non-thicket areas increased by 3.92%. The decline in thicket areas was attributed to increase in anthropogenic activities such as wood extraction, clearing for agriculture, livestock grazing and fires. The study highlights the importance of integrating remote sensing and forest inventory in understanding the thicket resources dynamics and generating information that could be used to overcome the Itigi thicket problems for the sustainability of this unique vegetation.

Itigi Thicket, Land Cover Change, Remote Sensing, GIS

S. Makero, J. and J. Kashaigili, J. (2016) Analysis of Land-Cover Changes and Anthropogenic Activities in Itigi Thicket, Tanzania. Advances in Remote Sensing, 5, 269-283. doi: 10.4236/ars.2016.54021.