TITLE:
Migration and Spatiotemporal Land Cover Change: A Case of Bosomtwe Lake Basin, Ghana
AUTHORS:
Richard Kwabena Adams, Lingling Zhang, Zongzhi Wang
KEYWORDS:
Land Cover Change, Supervised Classification, Migration, Landsat Imagery, Environmental Sustainability
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Remote Sensing,
Vol.13 No.1,
March
29,
2024
ABSTRACT: Internal migration is highly valued due to its increasingly acknowledged potential for social and economic development. However, despite its significant contribution to the development of towns and cities, it has led to the deterioration of many ecosystems globally. Lake Bosomtwe, a natural Lake in Ghana and one of the six major meteoritic lakes in the world is affected by land cover changes caused by the rising effects of migration, population expansion, and urbanization, owing to the development of tourist facilities on the lakeshore. This study investigated land cover change trajectories using a post-classification comparison approach and identified the factors influencing alteration in the Lake Bosomtwe Basin. Using Landsat imagery, an integrated approach of remote sensing, geographical information systems (GIS), and statistical analysis was successfully employed to analyze the land cover change of the basin. The findings show that over the 17 years, the basin’s forest cover decreased significantly by 16.02%, indicating that population expansion significantly affects changes in land cover. Ultimately, this study will raise the awareness of stakeholders, decision-makers, policy-makers, government, and non-governmental agencies to evaluate land use development patterns, optimize land use structures, and provide a reference for the formulation of sustainable development policies to promote the sustainable development of the ecological environment.