Land Use and Land Cover Transformations and their Implications for Conservation: A Study in Mukumbura (Ward 2), Mt Darwin, Zimbabwe, 2002-2022

Land use and land cover (LULC) change is a complex and dynamic process influenced by social, economic, and biophysical factors that can cause significant impacts on ecological processes and biodiversity conservation. Understanding trends of land use land cover (LULC) changes is important for biodiversity monitoring and conservation planning, identifying the areas affected by change and designing sustainable solutions to reduce the changes. The study aims to evaluate and quantify the historical changes in land use and land cover in Mukumbura (Ward 2), Mt Darwin, Zimbabwe, from 2002 to 2022. The objective of the study was to analyze the LULC changes in Ward 2 (Mukumbura), Mt Darwin, Northern Zimbabwe, for a period of 20 years using geospatial techniques. Landsat satellite images were processed using Google Earth Engine (GEE) and the supervised classification with maximum likelihood algorithm was employed to generate LULC maps between 2002 and 2022 with a five (5) year interval, investigating the following variables, forest cover, barren land, water cover and the fields. Findings revealed a substantial reduction in forest cover by 38.8%, water bodies (wetlands, ponds, and rivers) declined by 55.6%, whilst fields (crop/agricultural fields) increased by 93.3% and the barren land cover increased by 26.3% from 2002 to 2022. These findings point to substantial changes in LULC over the observed years. LULC changes have resulted in habitat fragmentation, reduced biodiversity, and the disruption of ecosystem functions. The study concludes that if these deforestation trends, cultivation, and settlement land expansion continue, the ward will have limited indigenous fruit trees. Therefore, the causes for LULC changes must be controlled, sustainable forest resources use practiced, hence the need to domesticate the Indigenous fruit trees in Arborloo toilets. Detailed research of the links between land-cover classes that increased in hectares and those that declined is recommended to establish the real drivers of LULC changes in the study area.