Linking pattern to process: intensity analysis of land-change dynamics in Ghana as correlated to past socioeconomic and policy contexts

Spatio-temporal analysis of transitions in land cover is critical to understanding many ecological challenges, especially in environmentally vulnerable regions. For instance, in Sub-Saharan Africa, large-scale cropland expansion is expected due to the increasing demand for fuel, food, and fibre. Clearing land for cropland expansion is a driving factor in the degradation of natural ecosystems. We present a spatio-temporal analysis of land-cover change in Ghana’s Northern, Upper East, and Upper West provinces using Intensity Analysis on the periods from 1992 to 2003 and 2003 to 2015. The objectives of this study were to determine whether the intensity of land-use and land-cover (LULC) change is consistent between the two periods and to investigate the direction and extent of change for different LULC categories in northern Ghana. The methodology measures land-cover changes at the interval, category, and transition levels. The results suggest that the annual rate of land change was higher between 1992 and 2003 compared to that between 2003 and 2015. Furthermore, the category-level analysis reveals that the gains in the arable land and tree/forest-cover classes during both time intervals were higher than the uniform intensity. The transition-level analysis results indicate that most of the gains in arable land and tree/forest-cover came at the cost of semi-arid shrublands during both periods. There is also evidence of local increases in forest-cover, likely linked to afforestation policies established by the Ghanian government; however, overall, there has been a loss of natural habitat. The study provides data to improve our understanding of the magnitude and direction of land-cover change, essential for the development of policies designed to mitigate the impact of land-cover change on the livelihoods of local people and the environment at the national and sub-national levels

Public preferences for biodiversity conservation and climate-change mitigation: A choice experiment using ecosystem services indicators

Potential conflicts exist between biodiversity conservation and climate-change mitigation as trade-offs in multiple-use land management. This study aims to evaluate public preferences for biodiversity conservation and climate-change mitigation policy considering respondents’ uncertainty on their choice. We conducted a choice experiment using land-use scenarios in the rural Kushiro watershed in northern Japan. The results showed that the public strongly wish to avoid the extinction of endangered species in preference to climate-change mitigation in the form of carbon sequestration by increasing the area of managed forest. Knowledge of the site and the respondents’ awareness of the personal benefits associated with supporting and regulating services had a positive effect on their preference for conservation plans. Thus, decision-makers should be careful about how they provide ecological information for informed choices concerning ecosystem services tradeoffs. Suggesting targets with explicit indicators will affect public preferences, as well as the willingness of the public to pay for such measures. Furthermore, the elicited-choice probabilities approach is useful for revealing the distribution of relative preferences for incomplete scenarios, thus verifying the effectiveness of indicators introduced in the experiment

Ecosystem Service and Land-Use Changes in Asia: Implications for Regional Sustainability

This Special Issue focuses on qualitative and quantitative analyses of ecosystem services (ESs) specifically toward sustainability in Asia [...

Ecosystem Service and Land-Use Changes in Asia: Implications for Regional Sustainability

This Special Issue focuses on qualitative and quantitative analyses of ecosystem services (ESs) specifically toward sustainability in Asia [...

Linking pattern to process: intensity analysis of land change dynamics in Ghana correlate to past socioeconomic and policy contexts

Spatio-temporal analysis of transitions in land cover is critical to understanding many ecological challenges, especially in environmentally vulnerable regions. For instance, in Sub-Saharan Africa, large-scale cropland expansion is expected due to the increasing demand for fuel, food, and fibre. Clearing land for cropland expansion is a driving factor in the degradation of natural ecosystems. We present a spatio-temporal analysis of land cover change in Ghana's Northern, Upper East, and Upper West provinces using Intensity Analysis between 1992-2003 and 2003-2015. The objectives of this study were to determine whether the intensity of land use and land cover (LULC) change is consistent between the two periods and to investigate the direction and extent of change for different LULC categories in northern Ghana. The methodology measures land cover changes at the interval, category, and transition levels. The results suggest that the annual rate of land change was higher between 1992-2003 compared to 2003-2015. Furthermore, the category level analysis reveals that the gains in the arable land and tree/forest cover classes during both time intervals were higher than the uniform intensity. The transition level analysis results indicate that most of the gains in arable land and tree/forest cover came at the cost of semi-arid shrublands in both periods. There is also evidence of local increases in forest cover, likely linked to afforestation policies established by the Ghanian government; however, overall there is a loss of natural habitat. The study provides data to improve our understanding of the magnitude and direction of land cover change, essential for the development of policy at national and sub-national levels designers to mitigate the impact of land cover change on the livelihoods of local people and the environment

An indicator-based integrated assessment of ecosystem change and human-well-being: Selected case studies from Indonesia, China and Japan

The paper highlights the findings of a study from selected ecosystems in Indonesia, China and Japan. The study sought to trace changes to productive resources of ecosystems over a period of 50 years; and trace the dependence of well-being of local populations on the ecosystems for the same time period. Data was collected from land-use maps, records and participatory rapid/rural appraisal (PRA) surveys in multistakeholder forums. To illustrate the changes, an indicator-based assessment framework was developed that integrates data from biophysical and socio-economic parameters. We observed that the approach (1) provides a better representation of the preferences of different stakeholders of ecosystem services, (2) fosters validation of data between the different stakeholders and (3) enables a communication and planning process among the stakeholders to sustainably utilize and manage their ecosystems. The use of spatial maps validates the relevance and utility of diachronic observations of communities and other stakeholders directly dependent on ecosystems. At the same time, they can be used to strengthen local planning processes for the development of services in the ecosystem. Such research thereby also acts as a catalyst to a social process of coordinated action to address local issues of global relevance.Ecosystems Well-being Ecosystem assessment Resilience Indicators Assessment