ESTABLISHING THE RATES OF DEFORESTATION USING GIS AND REMOTE SENSING TOOLS IN SHENDAM DISTRICT, PLATEAU STATE, NIGERIA

This study presents an estimate of deforestation rates in Shendam district, geographically located at latitude 8º53′43.88″N and longitude 9º27′13.41″S, in Shendam Local Government Area of Plateau State, Nigeria. The study was carried out using Geographic Information System (GIS) tools/ Remote Sensing Applications and field observation to establish the rates and extend of forest resources depletion within the study area. The Center for Remote Sensing, Jos, Plateau State, generated the Land use Cover Data for the years, 1994, 2004, 2014,using Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) at 30m Resolution. The results from (1994-2014) shows 173.3 hectares of forest lost and (2004-2014) shows 128.3 hectares of forest cover lost annually. In1994, the vegetation cover of the study area was characterized by forest (39.3%), shrubs (31.9%), farmlands (20.8%) and built-up area had (8.0%) which implies that there was less farming activity in the study area at that time. In 2014, however, forest cover decreased to 11.2%, shrubs reduced to 25.6% farmlands increased to 38.1%, while built-up area rose to 25.1%. This indicates an increase in human settlement and farming activities in shendam district. The following recommendations were offered: Afforestation policy should be reviewed to strengthened forest management and Social investment programmes should be introduced to empower the less privileged. The policy of cut one-plant five trees initiative should be embraced for the purpose of environmental sustainability in Shendam District.