Land-use change and its implication on the university of Dar es salaam natural ecosystem

Ecosystem alteration and biodiversity loss have been a common phenomenon resulting from the increasing land use/cover changes worldwide. Various factors have been reported to influence the changes happening on land. So far human activities have been reported as the leading cause of the prevailing changes. This study aimed at studying land-use/cover change and its implication on the UDSM Natural ecosystem. The study set out to address the following main objectives: i) to identify the land use/cover change at the UDSM main campus since its establishment, ii) to assess the trends of land use and cover changes at UDSM, iii) to identify the major drivers of ecosystem change at the campus area and iv) to establish potential threats and opportunities for the remaining natural ecosystem. Research tools employed for data collection were; household questionnaires, focus group discussion, direct field observation and key informant interviews. Land-use/cover changes were assessed using Landsat images from 1970-1986, 1986-2002 and 2002-2018. A total of 80 respondents were selected using simple random sampling technique. During focused group discussion, a total of nine individuals participated, six from the university residents and three former university students. Data were analyzed using SPSS, content analysis, and GIS techniques. Results of the study have shown that, construction activities have been increasing cumulatively from 1970 (3.458%) to 2018 (6.977%). Cumulative increase in construction activities has resulted to a net decrease of 77.9% of the area covered by forest, which was proven statistically to be significant (r (1)=0.9, p˂0.03). Field observations and discussions with interviewed individuals indicated that, transportation within UDSM is another factor that contributes to increased wildlife mortality on the campus area. Of the wildlife known to reside at the UDSM, velvet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) are the most affected by the ongoing activities. According to group discussants and key informants’ interviews, the number of wild animals at the UDSM campus has been declining. During house hold interviews about 13.8% of the respondents said that, animals are highly affected by the ongoing activities in the campus area. Some informants indicated that, most of the construction activities on campus have been undertaken against the UDSM master plan thus threatening the natural ecosystem. Apart from human induced factors such as construction and population increase, natural factors such as tree fall due to aging and heavy rains was observed to contribute to the observed changes. It is recommended that, the UDSM management should enforce the adherence to the Master Plan and put more focus on environmental impact studies before implementation of any further construction and development activities on the campus.