WETLAND DEPLETION FROM URBANIZATION: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF CHANCHAGA - MINNA, LANDZUN - BIDA AND KONTAGORA WETLANDS, NIGER STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Abstract - Wetland depletion from urbanization was investigated. The aim is to make a comparison interim of wetland depletion from urbanization activities in part of Niger State, specifically Chanchaga - Minna, Landzun - Bida and Kontagora wetlands. Four multi-date landsat satellite imageries; TM of 1988, 1998, ETM+ 2008 and OLI 2018 were utilized to generate data. The Normalized Difference Built up Index (NDBI) was used to extract built up features with indices ranging from -1 to 1. The results indicate that land use and cover distribution over Landzun - Bida exhibited more concentration of built up area on the wetland as compared to Chanchaga - Minna and Kontagora. In Landzun - Bida, the built up areas occupied 12.35km² while Chanchaga - Minna, it occupied 8.2km² and in Kontagora it is 7.8km². Wetland depletion shows that 3.1km² for Bida, 4.3km² for Minna and 4.2km² for Kontagora are what is lest as at 2018 indicating urbanization effects. The conclusion is that spatiotemporal change in wetland land use land cover showed that the wetlands changed into different land use and land cover types due to population increase, farmland cultivation and increase in built up areas.