TITLE:
Seasonal Changes in Vegetation and Land Use in Lassa-Fever-Prone Areas (Kenema and Kailahun Districts) in Eastern Sierra Leone
AUTHORS:
Alie Kamara, Bashiru Mohamed Koroma, Alhaji Brima Gogra
KEYWORDS:
Lassa Fever, Vegetation and Land Use Changes, Cropping Patterns, Eastern Sierra Leone
JOURNAL NAME:
Natural Resources,
Vol.6 No.7,
July
23,
2015
ABSTRACT: Lassa Fever is
endemic to the eastern region of Sierra Leone. It is a haemorrhagic disease
that is often transmitted from rats to humans and then human to humans.
Ecological disturbances such as changes in land use involving conversion of
natural ecosystems to agriculture, mining or for urban expansion are reported
to bring humans into close contact with animals such as the Mastomys rat that carries the Lassa
Fever virus thereby posing health problems.The nature and
extent of such ecological disturbances or land use changes within areas known
to be endemic to Lassa Fever are not clearly understood from a research context
in Sierra Leone. This study was therefore undertaken to identify the pattern of
changes in land use and cropping practices and their potential to bring humans
into close interactions with the Mastomys
rat that is the host for the Lassa Fever virus. Four communities were
chosen for the study, two rural (Lalehun and Majihun) and two urban (Lambayama
section in Kenema City and Largo Square section in Segbwema Town). Different
vegetation and land use/cropping practices were identified and observations
were made on the pattern of changes at different times in the cropping year.
There were four common vegetation and cropping practices found in all
communities: upland rice intercropping, old fallow, young fallow, and swamp
rice cultivation. The study revealed the variations in land use patterns and
cropping practices between urban and rural settlements. Agro-forestry practices
such as perennial cash crops cacao and rubber plantations were more common in
rural communities. The study also revealed that while fallow vegetation
persisted in rural areas there had been expansion of settlements into old
fallow vegetation indicating a greater threat to the persistence of natural
ecosystem in urban than in rural settlements. These disturbances resulted in
habitat fragmentation and increased the likelihood of contact between humans
and animal species (e.g. Mastomys rat) associated with various habitats.