Abstract
The study assessed the loss of vegetation and wetland resources in Kuje Area Council (KAC), Federal Capital Territory (FCT), due to increasing population which put much pressure on the resources for agricultural and other developmental purposes. It is aimed at detailed mapping of the vegetal cover and wetland characteristics of KAC. This was pursued by evaluating the spatio-temporal changes in the area extent of vegetal cover and wetlands of KAC, map out the vegetation and wetlands, and classify the vegetation and wetlands in the study area from 1987 to 2011. Satellite images and other ancillary datasets of different epochs and sources within the study period were obtained. The study used geo-informatics technique to analyse and map the vegetation and wetland resources in KAC, FCT, Abuja, to determine the situation of wetland and vegetation before and after Abuja became the Federal Capital Territory. The analysis within the last epoch showed pronounced reduction in wetland and vegetation of the area. Built up Areas and Farming activities increased within the study period. The Digital Terrain Model (DTM) and the 3D surface analysis of the study area showed that the woodlands are restricted to the inaccessible mountainous (hilly) areas that are above 550m elevation. It was also discovered from the Normalise Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) analysis that there is no dense vegetation in the study area in the last epoch. Both vegetation and wetland resources reduced due to anthropogenic activities.
Key Words: Vegetation, Wetland, Anthropogenic, Geo-informatic, DTM, NDVI, Mapping, Satellite Image
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