Effects of Post Eviction Resettlement on Land-Use and Cover Change in Uganda’s Oil Exploration Areas

Abstract

Evaluation of the changes in land use and land cover change (LULCC) in respect to oil exploration across the Albertine region in Uganda has been focused around the exploration areas and protected areas, with no attention to the potential impacts of evictees' activities on resettled areas. This study used LANDSAT images to analyze the land use and land cover changes (LULCC) among the period before eviction (2002 and 2005) at the climax of eviction and resettlements (2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011), and during the post-resettlement period (2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015) to quantify the impacts of resettlements on the environment. LANDSAT images were processed using ERDAS IMAGINE software and analyzed using ArcGIS 10.1 to determine LULCC in relation to post-eviction resettlement in the study area. Results from the study indicate. The results of the study indicate that vegetation reduced by 33.08 percent, woodland were converted into settlements by 48 percent while farmlands increased by 18.3 percent. Non vegetated areas increased during resettlements however they reduced five years after eviction which indicated the ability of the ecosystem to stabilize. The study proved that post eviction induced resettlements can yield potential environmental effects to resettled areas. It is important therefore to plan and implement other means of additional source of income and construction materials for evictees to abate vegetation clearance and hence rescue the woodland. The study also recommends maintenance of an optimum population and well-planned pre eviction resettlement schemes.