Land use and land cover change in Mugoye sub-county, Bugala island, Kalangala District, Uganda.

Abstract

The study analyzed two decades of land use and land cover (LULC) change in Mugoye Sub-County on Bugala island, Kalangala District, central Uganda. The drivers of such LULC change were also investigated. The specific objectives were to determine; land use practices undertaken in Mugoye sub-county by the year 2022, the driving factors of land use/land cover change, the spatial pattern and extent of LULC change over 20 years. A further attempt was made to determine LULC conversions among the major classes. The researcher combined both the questionnaire and remote sensing data collection methods to analyze LULC change as well as its causative factors in the study area between the years 2002 and 2022. The questionnaire and key informant interviews were used to capture people‘s perceptions on land use practices, land use/cover change and its driving forces while remote sensing method was used to obtain data on spatial pattern and extent of LULC change over the past two decades. Questionnaire data analysis was done using the statistical package for social scientists (SPSS) while the remote sensing data was analyzed in ArcGIS software. The land use practices were; subsistence farming and human settlement (built up area) in 2002. By 2012 commercial oil palm cultivation was introduced in the study area and this increased in acreage throughout the remaining period of the study. Whereas the commercial farmland increased exponentially from 0% to 39.6%, the tropical high forest decreased, in almost equal but opposite measure, from 68.7% to 31.1%. The driving factors of LULC change included: population pressure, increased social amenities, income from oil palm, Uganda government incentives for oil palm farming, land availability, Investor‘s interest in oil palm dividends, soil quality, land tenure, culture and markets for food crops. Agricultural expansion had the greatest influence on land use/land cover change in Mugoye Sub-County. The study recommended that: The ministry of Agriculture in collaboration with other stakeholders should develop and implement a land use plan that will ensure that the remaining natural forests and wetlands are protected and people have adequate land for crop farming and food security; On farm tree planting and woodlot establishment should be promoted to reduce public pressure on the remaining natural forests as a source of fuel wood and timber or poles for construction; The District in collaboration with NFA and development partners should promote energy saving technologies to reduce on fuel wood consumption and destruction on the natural forest cover; Government should strengthen the capacity of NFA staff to effectively protect the remaining natural forest by strengthening law enforcement, marking and protecting the forest boundary and restoring degraded areas.