EXTENT OF URBANIZATION IMPACT ON FOREST RESOURCES IN OJU LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, BENUE STATE, NIGERIA

Several researches have been carried out on urbanization especially urban areas in Nigeria and globally, but were mostly centred on major cities and little has been done on the growth of smaller towns. This study was carry out to determine the impact of urbanization on forest resources of Oju local Government Areas of Benue State, Nigeria.. Specifically the study determined the extent and growth rate of urban areas and their impacts on forest resources in Oju local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria. Remotely sensed images of Landsat TM and ETM+ were acquired for 1998 and 2008 while Operational Landsat Imager (OLI) was used for 2018 respectively. The images were subjected to various image processing techniques and a supervised classification using Maximum Likelihood Classifier was performed in Integrated Land and Water Information System (ILWIS) software. The classification resulted in five classes of Land use and Land cover (LULC) of forested areas, farmland, vegetation, built-up areas and water. The results shows that between 1998 and 2018 forest decreased by -231.5.km2 (63.24%) representing an annual rate of -3.16%. The built-up area increased by 150.45km2 (108.99%) at an annual rate of change of 5.45% Farmland area decreased by -30.56 km2 (-6.5%) at an annual growth rate of 0.32%. The study revealed that, loss of naturally vegetated areas was mainly as a results of urban growth and expansion, farming and logging activities with commercial activities. The study recommends awareness creation against deforestation and encouragement of community and urban forestry.