Implications of land use and cover changes on wetland ecosystem in Mahyoro sub county

Abstract

Wetlands are among the eco-systems suffering greatest transformations worldwide. More than half of the wetlands globally have been lost and degraded beyond restoration measures. Studies focusing on land use land cover changes have been carried out across different areas on the globe. Studies focusing on wetland cover changes especially in the western region of Uganda are not prevalent. The current study therefore aimed at analyzing the land use land cover changes on the wetlands aimed at their protection and sustainable management in Kitagwenda district, Mahyoro sub-county. The study further assessed the implications of wetland degradation on community livelihoods. A descriptive study using mixed approaches that is qualitative and quantitative methods where simple random sampling was employed in selection of 50 households and 5 key informants. Data was collected through field surveys, interviews and direct field observations; and then analyzed using thematic content analysis where descriptive statistics (percentages and frequencies) were generated in Microsoft excel spread sheets and then presented inform of tables, pie charts and bar graphs. The study findings revealed that from the period of 2000 to 2020, the area experienced a decline in the wetland coverage changed by 74.35%, from 4.10sqkm to1.05sqkm. This was in contrast by an increase in coverage in crop land by 169.26% from 1.70sqkm to 4.57sqkm and grass land by 42.73%from 0.40sqkm to 0.57sqkm. The study further revealed that wetland degradation has had serious impacts on the livelihoods of the communities and these include increased flooding (67%), Water contamination (45%), Soil erosion (53%), and forceful evictions (34%) among others. There is therefore need to put in place strong policy mechanisms against the encroachers and sensitize the communities against the challenges that may arise out of wetland destruction