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The coastal wetland zones of Lake Wamala are experiencing a noticeable shoreline retreat leading to loss of its resources and ecological services. This henceforth, calls for sustainable wetland resource management by clearly dissecting and understanding the prime cause of such losses. The study employed community-based participatory approach to capture stakeholder perceptions and knowledge on wetland resources in six villages namely; Mityana Town, Naama, Nkonya, Buzibazi, Mpongo and Lusalira. The study sought to find out the causes of wetlands degradation, impacts and mitigation strategies, needed to avert loss of such resources. Temperature data from Mubende Meteorological Station were compared using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) and the average change in temperature was determined using SAS JMP 10 Software. Variability in rainfall was determined using the coefficient of variation (CV) calculated as a ratio to the mean and expressed as a percentage. Findings attributed climate induced factors as key bottlenecks to wetland resource loss. Findings further highlight increase in human population among other human-induced factors as cause of destruction and alteration of resources in the area. Results prove the derailing nature of wetland resources around Lake Wamala significantly affected livelihoods. In order to avert this trend, prudent measures such as formulation of feasible policy framework to govern and regulate activities in the area, co-management through local community and government partnership, capacity-building programs among relevant stakeholders to enhance awareness about wetlands and its ecological benefits in our quest to improve human welfare in the face of the changing climate.

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Addressing undesirable changes associated with the driving forces of land use cover change are critical to sustainable land management, and the future modeling of land use systems in developing countries. The study accentuates local drivers of land use cover change in Southwestern Ghana using a mixed-method approach. The approach aided in identifying key land-use drivers, using different research strategies for comparisons through confidence level analysis and Analytic Hierarchy Process. We used expert interviews, existing literature and geostatistical tools to ascertain the driving forces triggering such unprecedented changes. Landsat imagery 5 MSS, 4 and 5 TM, 7 ETM + and 8 OLI/TIRS were acquired from the United States Geological Survey’s website. Land-use analysis revealed a decline in forests (− 82.41%) and areas covered by waterbodies (− 27.39%). A fundamental drift in built-up (+ 1288.36%) and farmlands/shrubs (+ 369.81%) areas were also observed. The contribution rate of change analysis revealed built-environment and increasing population contributed the most to surface temperature and land-use change. A steady increase in surface temperature can be attributed to the undesirable changes associated with land-use systems over the past 50 years. Socio-economic development in Southwestern Ghana is fuelling interest in studies related to land use cover change. Biophysical, cultural and technological factors are considered key drivers despite the “medium-to-very low confidence” in results generated. They could potentially impact climate-sensitive sectors that significantly modify land-use systems from the pessimists’ and optimists’ perspectives. Standpoints established through this study will enrich basic datasets for further studies at the continental level. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12665-022-10481-y.