*1Faith O. Ugwuegbulam, & 2Stanley I. Ogbuji (Authors)
1Department of Environmental Management, Federal College of Land Resources Technology, Owerri, Nigeria
*2Department of Geography & Environmental Management, Imo State University, Owerri, Nigeria
*Corresponding Author’s Email: sogbujiic@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT: The paper seeks to establish the land use and land cover change of Imo State in two epochs (2005-2025) and the extent of the changes using geospatial techniques, which is very vital in sustainable land use planning and environmental management. Two satellite imagery images were acquired, one for 2005 and another for 2025. The acquired images were analyzed, classified, and subjected to the change detection tool of ArcGIS to assess the change in land use and land cover patterns. To produce a land use land cover map, image processing and classification were used to establish the land use land cover of the state. Result: The result of the image output from the change detection analysis on the two Landsat images showed the extent of change that occurred in the various land use land cover classes in the state. The result revealed that thick forest decreased from 243839.61 in 2005 to 233839.61 hectares in 2025 while light forest degenerated from 88673.11 hectares in 2005 to 87673.13 hectares in 2025 likewise other land use classes except built up areas which rose from 50374.96 in 2005 to 52374.95 hectares in 2025. This shows that urbanization is one of the major drivers of land use and land cover change in the state. The study concluded that the environment is still threatened by land use and land cover change despite government efforts in ensuring a sustainable environment through planning laws and policies. Hence, the study recommends stricter compliance and regulation of economic and physical developments and land use activities in the state.
Keywords: Spatial-Temporal, Distribution, Land use/cover, Change, Imo State