A Geospatial Assessment of Deforestation of Sokponba and Ehor Forest Reserves in Edo State

Abstract

The study assesses the state of Sokponba and Ehor forest reserves in Edo state, with Landsat images of 1987, 2002 and 2018 using ENVI and ArcGIS software. Questionnaire was also administered to elicit information from respondents. The study reveals that within the period of 31 years under study Sokponba forest reserve has reduced from 28,913.63 ha in 1987 to 1,578.15 ha in 2018 while plantation and farmland increased from 15,357.96 ha in 1987 to 43,494.21 in 2018. Ehor reserve also reduced from 11,128.86 ha in 1987 to 3,242.28 in 2018. In the same vein, plantation and farmland increased from 1,424.97 ha in 1,987 to 9,323.28 ha in 2018. The deliberate government policies of allocating compartment to timber contractors for logging, conversion of reserves to oil palm plantation and farmland were identified as the major drivers responsible for the depletion of the forest reserves. Considering the consequential effects arising from deforestation such as carbon sequence, greenhouse effect (global warming) and flooding the study recommends reforestation and taungya farming system for sustainable environment.