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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Environ. Sci.
Sec. Freshwater Science
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2024.1451394

Assessment of Wetland Loss through Industrialization and Community Expansion: A Case Study of The Greater Amanzule Wetland in the Ellembelle District of Ghana

Provisionally accepted
Dawuda Usman Kaku Dawuda Usman Kaku 1,2Cao Yonghong Cao Yonghong 1,2*Al-Masnay A. Yousef Al-Masnay A. Yousef 1,2*Nizeyimana Jean Claude) Nizeyimana Jean Claude) 1,2*Ali R. Al_Aizari Ali R. Al_Aizari 1,2Zhang Yue Zhang Yue 1,2*
  • 1 Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China
  • 2 School of Environment, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, Hebei Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Wetland ecosystems provide numerous services to humanity and the biosphere at large. However, these services are constantly dwindling due to the massive wetland loss caused by urbanization. Urbanization-induced wetland loss is a global problem, with most developing countries experiencing it currently. Several studies on wetland loss have been conducted. However, there is a dearth of studies integrating GIS and other ecological models to estimate the periodic deterioration of wetlands in rural settings in underdeveloped nations. As a result, this study aims to determine wetland loss in a developing country's countryside, using the Greater Amanzule Wetland in the Ellembelle District of Ghana as a case study. The study used the GIS and Remote Sensing dataset, the Normalization Difference Vegetation Index, and the InVEST-Habitat Quality model to analyze the spatial pattern of wetland loss and habitat quality variations caused by industrialization and community expansions between 2000 and 2020. Our results indicate that, from 2000 to 2015, community built-up and industrial land areas grew from 25.19ha to 84.21ha and 0 to 4.71ha respectively, causing a wetland loss of -39.64ha (-31.10%). Between 2015 and 2020, community built-up land grew to 78.65ha while industrial land slightly reduced to 2.54ha, leading to the wetland degradation of approximately -69.06ha (-42.53%). Wetland habitat quality steadily declined, from 0.97 in 2000 to 0.93 in 2015 and 0.93 in 2020. The study findings led to policy recommendations to reduce wetland encroachment and enhance sustainability.These recommendations included conducting effective land-use plan inspections before issuing permits, coordinating effective management, and promoting the recovery of natural and artificial vegetation to sustain the wetland.

    Keywords: Wetland loss, GIS & Remote sensing, land-use land-cover, Normalization Difference Vegetation Index, Industrialization, Invest-Habitat Quality model

    Received: 20 Jun 2024; Accepted: 25 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Usman Kaku, Yonghong, Yousef, Jean Claude), Al_Aizari and Yue. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Cao Yonghong, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China
    Al-Masnay A. Yousef, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China
    Nizeyimana Jean Claude), Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China
    Zhang Yue, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.