Land use/cover change and transormations in Upper Runde Sub-catchment area in Zimbabwe

Oshneck Mupepi; Rumbidzai  Chinyemba

doi:10.59400/jps.v1i1.285

Land use/cover change and transormations in Upper Runde Sub-catchment area in Zimbabwe

Oshneck Mupepi Department of Geography, Environmental Sustainability and Resilience Building, Midlands State University, Gweru 9055, Zimbabwe
Rumbidzai Chinyemba Department of Geography, Environmental Sustainability and Resilience Building, Midlands State University, Gweru 9055, Zimbabwe

Ariticle ID: 285

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.59400/jps.v1i1.285

Keywords: land use/cover; drivers; land cover change; catchment; resources

Abstract

The study assessed land use/cover changes in the Upper Runnde sub-catchment in Zimbabwe between 2000 and 2020 using GIS and remote sensing techniques with the support of interviews and field observations. Faster land use/cover changes were experienced within the 2000–2010 decade when compared to the 2010–2020 decade; for instance, bare land increased by 92.1% between 2000–2010 compared to 16.5% between 2010–2020. Major land cover transformations included change from forest land to bare land, grassland and shrub land, and change from grassland to bare and shrub land to grassland. The results confirmed conversion of forests to agricultural lands and settlements following the fast-track land reform program in 2000, and livestock increase induced overgrazing as major human activities driving land cover changes. There is a need for serious attention from resource management stakeholders before depletion of critical resources like water and woodlands. Therefore, the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, and Rural Resettlement and the Zimbabwe National Water Authority may consider strict auditing of land uses and water resource use in catchment areas to guard against encroachment of agriculture and other land uses in protected lands and fragile ecosystems like water bodies and wetlands.

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Published

2023-12-25

How to Cite

Mupepi, O., & Chinyemba , R. (2023). Land use/cover change and transormations in Upper Runde Sub-catchment area in Zimbabwe . Journal of Policy and Society, 1(1), 285. https://doi.org/10.59400/jps.v1i1.285

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Vol. 1 No. 1 (2023)

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The study assessed land use/cover changes in Upper Runnde sub-catchment in Zimbabwe between 2000 and 2020 using GIS and remote sensing techniques with the support of interviews and field observations. Faster land use/cover changes were experienced within the 2000–2010 decade when compared to the 2010–2020 decade for instance bare land increased by 92.1% between 2000–2010 compared to 16.5% between 2010–2020. Major land cover transformations included change from forest land to bare land, grassland and shrub land, change from grassland to bare and shrub land to grassland. The results confirmed conversion of forests to agricultural lands and settlements following the fast track land reform program in 2000 and livestock increase induced overgrazing as major human activities driving land cover changes. There is a need for serious attention from resource management stakeholders before depletion of critical resources like water and woodlands. Therefore, The Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement and the Zimbabwe National Water Authority may consider strict auditing of land uses and water resource use in catchment areas to guard against encroachment of agriculture and other land uses in protected lands and fragile ecosystems like water bodies and wetlands.

Land use/cover change and transormations in Upper Runde Sub-catchment area in Zimbabwe

Abstract

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