Monitoring and evaluation of the state of deforestation of forest cover in Nwoya district.

Abstract

The changes in Land use and land cover forestry greatly influences the functioning of ecosystems which contribute immensely to the global warming that in turn affects the biodiversity (Lambin et al., 2003). The key factor in global environment and biodiversity research is therefore understanding the dynamics through monitoring the changes in land use and land cover forestry (Geist and Lambin, 2001). Forests provide a large number of important goods and services (Ghazoul and Evans,2001), including habitat for species, homeland for indigenous peoples, recreational areas, food, medicines, and environmental services such as soil stabilisation. Deforestation is taking place at a fast pace in Uganda which results into severe and catastrophic consequences. As the trees absorb carbon dioxide when growing and then release it when they decay, deforestation implies a higher level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. For this reason, it is considered to be one of the main contributors to climate change and also enhanced greenhouse effect. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changes fourth assessment report 2007, deforestation in tropic areas accounts for up to one third of total anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions.