Abstract
The study characterized the status and trend of land cover transformation in Kirisia forest ecosystem between 1973 and 2015 using remote sensing and GIS. The dominant land cover types consisted of indigenous forest followed by shrub land and bush land. The findings showed a major increase in the built environment by 55.4% and an overall reduction in forest cover by 21.3%. Up to 83.9 km2 of the original indigenous forest was lost between 1973 and 1986 due to severe fires. Thereafter, 23.7 km2 of the remaining indigenous forest was lost between 1986 and 2000 mainly through charcoal burning, illegal timber logging and livestock forage harvesting. A slight recovery occurred between 2000 and 2015 with a 5% increase in indigenous forest cover mostly through natural succession by shrub land and bush land in the burnt forest areas especially following the 1998 El Nino period. The land cover change in the forest ecosystem was not exceptional in Kenya but mirrors similar changes that have been documented in other valued dry land watershed ecosystems in the country including the national water towers. The continued loss of forest cover is likely to affect the water recharge capacity in the watershed thereby creating severe water scarcity for the people in Mararal town as well as nearly 142,954 other individuals in the Kirisia region. Appropriate interventions are therefore needed to mitigate the negative land cover change in Kirisia forest and restore its hydrological functions and water recharge capacity.
Highlights
Forest ecosystems have historically played a key role in supporting the livelihoods of many communities especially in developing countries
The Government of Kenya has recognized the forest ecosystems in mountain areas as “Water Towers” whose management has recently been entrusted to the Kenya Water Towers Agency (KWTA) whose principal task is to oversee their management with a view of sustaining social-economic development in the country
Land cover ground truth inspection in the northern section showed that the Lpartuk area was previously dominated by a dense Juniperus-Olea evergreen forest but this had been converted into human settlements and farmlands
Summary
Forest ecosystems have historically played a key role in supporting the livelihoods of many communities especially in developing countries. Kenya’s forest ecosystems are considered as valued assets because of their resource provisioning and ecosystem services [5]-[7] They provide direct and indirect livelihood opportunities for society and contribute significantly towards economic development [6]-[9]. Traditional economic valuation of forests has tended to concentrate on their consumptive benefits such as the extraction of timber products [6]-[8] This consideration has encouraged agricultural and logging activities instead of the more sustainable non-consumptive and indirect benefits thereby leading to widespread deforestation and huge losses of valued forest ecosystem services [10] [11]. The Government of Kenya has recognized the forest ecosystems in mountain areas as “Water Towers” whose management has recently been entrusted to the Kenya Water Towers Agency (KWTA) whose principal task is to oversee their management with a view of sustaining social-economic development in the country
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