ASSESSING THE CHANGE OF LAND USE AND LAND COVER IN THE GAMBIA

Biological annihilation has been influenced by human activities and this has led to changes in land use and land cover, pressure on the ecosystem, biodiversity loss and contribution to global warming. This study assesses the changes in land use and land cover in The Gambia. Satellite images for the period from 2015 to 2019 from Copernicus were obtained and used for the study. ArcGIS Software and Microsoft packages were used for data analysis. Change analysis showed that between the years 2015 to 2019, there was a percentage increase for water bodies, herbaceous wetlands and built-up areas with 23.68%, 8.97% and 0.5% respectively. There was a percentage decline in forest, shrubland, herbaceous vegetation, bare/sparse land and cropland during this period. About 7.86 Km2 of Gambia became bare/sparse land as a result of climate change. Article visualizations