Landuse and landcover changes in Gonarezhou National Park and its environs from 1990 to 2010

This paper investigates landuse and landcover changes that occurred in Gonarezhou National Park and its environs from 1990 to 2010. The status of the landuse and landcover for the study area was established using Google Earth Quickbird image, and the changes which occurred from 1990 to 2010 were revealed using 3 Landsat TM satellite images (1991, 2000 and 2007) and image classification, differencing and change detection were employed. The significance of the changes was established using Chi-Squared Tests whilst Focus Group Discussions and field observations were also used to establish causes of the changes in landuse and landcover. Results obtained spectacles significant changes in landcover from 1990 to 2010, as pristine land significantly declined by 33% (p>0.05), bare land significantly increased 31% (p>0.05), water surfaces significantly reduced (p>0.05) and the area under cultivation was significantly increased by 3% (p>0.05). Landuse was modified from the initial wildlife conservation to include cultivation which encroached from Chizvirizvi communal area and the resettlement of Chitsa people inside the park. The major drivers of the changes among others were established to be droughts, fires and settlement encroachment. The paper concluded that the changes which occurred in all classes (water, pristine land, bare land and cultivated land) from 1990 to 2010 were quite significant. The paper proposes further studies which would correlate the changes in landuse and landcover to biodiversity changes in the park