Implication of Urban Sprawl on Land Use and Forested Areas in Calabar Municipality, Cross River State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined the impact of urban sprawl on land use and forested Areas in Calabar Municipality, Cross River State. The main objective was to assess the rate of change in urban expansion between the period of 2000 and 2019. Data on land use cover change between 2000 and 2019 was gotten from Erdas imagine. The result proved that in the year 2000 built-up area was 132 sqkm and in the year 2019 built-up area was 232 sqkm, in the year 2000, water bodies covered an area of 14.7 sqkm and in the year 2019, water bodies covered an area 15.7 sqkm. Cultivated area as of 2000 was 112.3sqkm and reduced to 97.3sqkm in 2019, forested area was 147sqkm as at 2000 and reduced to 61.1sqkm. This showed that there was a drastic change between the year 2000 and 2019 with forested areas reserved as carbon sink being reduced drastically and thus implying that urban expansion has negative impact on land use particularly ecologically protected areas. The study recommends that government should strictly enforce its sustainable urban policies so as to control rapid urbanization to mitigate the impact of land use on ecologically protected zones in Calabar Municipality.