dc.description.abstract | A research study on the implications of human population growth and rural development was undertaken on the Nyaruteme wetland in Itojo sub-county Ntungamo district of western Uganda. The objectives of the study were to identify the anthropogenic activities affecting Nyaruteme wetland, to examine the effects of population growth and rural development on Nyaruteme wetland, and to assess the spatial and temporal wetland land cover changes of Nyaruteme wetland between 1998, 2015, and 2020. The geographical scope of the study was limited to Nyaruteme wetland. Secondary data were collected through a review of relevant literature. The study employed qualitative methods for data collection, purposive sampling was used to draw a sample from households living in and around the wetland. Questionnaires (both open-ended and close-ended questions) were used to gather data, secondary data were collected through a review of relevant literature. Satellite images from 1999, 2015, and 2020 were obtained using the USGS and analyzed using Arc GIS software. Quantitative data were analyzed with aid of a statistical package for social scientists (SPSS) and Microsoft Excel. Simple descriptive statistics such as percentages and frequencies were used to determine the correlation of data variables. Results were presented in form of tables. Results showed that hunting, beekeeping, cultivation, washing bay, art, and craft material harvesting, burning, settlement, fish farming, brick making, and collection of firewood were the activities practiced around Nyaruteme wetland with firewood collection taking the lead with 24%. Removal of vegetation, changes in water levels, decrease in the size of the wetland, Pollution of the wetland, and flooding with the decrease in wetland size 40% and removal of vegetation 34% taking the lead. The study identified the LULC of Nyaruteme wetland for the two decades that is between 1999 and 2020. Burnt areas and agriculture activities were found to have caused significant spatial changes in the Nyaruteme wetland. | en_US |