Development of Land Use Map of Eda Forest Reserve in Ekiti State, Nigeria 1* 2 2

• A.A. Alo

  Department of Forestry and Wood Technology, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria.

  Author

• S.O. Akindele

  Department of Forestry and Wood Technology, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria.

  Author

• J.C. Onyekwelu

  Department of Forestry and Wood Technology, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria.

  Author

Land use of Eda forest resereve was delineated with a view to determining the various sections that constitute the forest ecosystem. Satellite imageries and sketch map of Eda Forest Reserve were obtained from google earth and Ekiti State Department of Forestry respectively to produce a base map. Coordinates of some places within the forest reserve that could easily be identified both on the map and directly on the ground were also obtained using hand held global positioning system (GPS) receiver (Garmin GPS 76). Photographs of the forest reserve were taken for the purpose of hotlinking. The coordinates, satellite imageries, sketch maps and photographs obtained were loaded into Quatum GIS for analysis. The satellite imageries and sketch map were georeferenced using the coordinates obtained from the forest reserve. Map of the forest reserve was generated showing the various land use (natural forest, Terminalia superba, Gmelina arborea and Tectona grandis plantations) within the forest ecosystem, which involves vectorization of the raster data model, map production and image processing. Various forest types were represented with polygons of different colours and sizes, road was represented with line. The photographs obtained were used to hotlink various sections of the forest to the digital map produced. It was observed that the natural forest in Eda Forest Reserve occupied the larger portion of the reserve and it accounted for 57.7% of the total land cover while plantations of Gmelina arborea, Tectona grandis and Terminalia superba accounted for 15.5% of the total land cover of the forest reserve. The remaining 26.8% of the forest reserve has been lost to degradation.

1. A.A. Alo, Department of Forestry and Wood Technology, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria.

   Department of Forestry and Wood Technology, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria.

2. S.O. Akindele, Department of Forestry and Wood Technology, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria.

   Department of Forestry and Wood Technology, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria.

3. J.C. Onyekwelu, Department of Forestry and Wood Technology, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria.

   Department of Forestry and Wood Technology, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria.

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