Abstract
The management of living resources and space requires continuous assessments in order to adjust deviations as necessary for sustainable use. It is in this context that the present study was conducted and aims on the one hand to assess the dynamics of land use in the basin of the five-finger lagoons and on the other hand to assess the degree of their vulnerability to organic pollution. Thus, the satellite images were collected in free access on the site http://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/ of the USGS (US Geological Survey) of NASA. Image correction was performed with ENVI 5.1 software and classification was performed with ArcGIS 10.8 software. The degree of vulnerability was evaluated through the weighting of different parameters (slope, land use, type of pass, runoff, and density of the hydrobiological network) by the multi-criteria method of Saaty (Analytic Hierarchy Process Methods) and the application of mapping. It is found that for the dynamics of land use, forests, savannahs and plantations have experienced a significant reduction in their area (respectively 98.9%, 99.60% and 77.10%) between 1990 and 2020. As for settlements, water bodies and swamps, they have increased in area to different proportions. The soils are more denuded (Tc = 1264%). This makes the living space vulnerable and therefore facilitates the transfer of pollutants to the aquatic environment. The evaluation of the degree of vulnerability to pollution of the lagoons of the basin showed that the Toho-and Todougba lagoons are under a very high degree of vulnerability (73% - 100%) and do not augur well for the living resources. The other lagoons, notably the Dathi and Djonou lagoons, are also under stress from the pressures of surrounding activities. It is therefore important to assess the level of pollution of the Toho and Todougba lagoons through pollution indices in order to make decisions that will allow their sustainable use, especially for aquaculture.
Highlights
Wetlands are ecosystems that provide various economic, social and ecological functions directly or indirectly for humanity
The management of living resources and space requires continuous assessments in order to adjust deviations as necessary for sustainable use. It is in this context that the present study was conducted and aims on the one hand to assess the dynamics of land use in the basin of the five-finger lagoons and on the other hand to assess the degree of their vulnerability to organic pollution
With population growth and the vital needs of humans, this dynamic has a significant effect on the degree of vulnerability to pollution of the lagoons in the basin
Summary
Wetlands are ecosystems that provide various economic, social and ecological functions directly or indirectly for humanity. In Benin, the basin of the complex of ancient lagoons still called the five-finger lagoon (including the Toho and Todougba lagoons) is the object of a growing attraction for various activities, such as fish farming in cages, agriculture, tourism (for its ornithological richness) with the development of hotels, places of rest and recreation, and crafts. These activities are likely to create modifications in the functioning of the basin in this case of the aquatic ecosystems which are the final receptacles of the whole drainage network. These susceptibilities may be exacerbated by the extent of greenhouse gas production in wetlands (Deemer et al, 2016)
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