Impacts of Derived Tin Mining Activities on Landuse/Landcover in Bukuru, Plateau State, Nigeria

Abstract

Tin mining activity which was a predominant activity around the Jos Plateau has caused considerable erosion damages to landuse/landcover. Uncontrolled effects through monitored activities do not protect future environmental security. This paper therefore, assesses impact of derived mining activities on landuse/ landcover in Bukuru area in Jos south of Nigeria to determine the extent of degraded mine lands. A time series analysis of Landsat MSS satellite image November 1975, Landsat TM satellite image acquired in 1989, and Landsat ETM acquired October 2005 of the study area were used. Landuse/ landcover were classified from the images using a hybrid manual and spectral based approach. The result shows that out of the 1,574.13sq.km total size of the study area, the degraded area/land, Built-up area, and water bodies increased by 24.58%, 18.51% and 7.57% respectively. Whereas Arable land (farm and grazing land) and forest reserve has decreased by 106.60sq.km (14.16%), and 264.89sq. (35.18%) respectively. It was recommended that comprehensive mitigation studies against these damages should be performed, and regular inspections should be executed to keep these activities of tin mining under control. Modern technologies should be used to obtain more effective results from these studies.