Exploring the nexus between urban growth trend and wetland loss in port harcourt municipality

Although Wetlands naturally serve phenomenal roles as natural flood control basins, habitats and breeding grounds for species, ecotourism sites, and biodiversity they have, over time, been depleted to meet man’s increasing demand for land space. This study is a longitudinal survey that looked at the nexus between urban growth and wetland loss in Port Harcourt municipality. Primary and secondary data were used. Primary data were obtained from field observations and ground-trotting. Satellite imageries for four epochs: 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2020 were acquired using Google Earth imageries. Data were analysed using the Geographic Information System (GIS) ArcGis10.4.1 software. The shape file of the study area boundary was generated using ArcGIS 10.4.1 and was used to clip the geo-referenced Google earth images for each year (1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020). The reclassified images were converted to polygons and edited. The area of each classification (land uses) was calculated in square meters using the Spatial Query Module in ArcGIS 10.4.1. Data presentation was done using maps, tables, and charts. Results of analysis revealed that there exists spatio-temporal variation in wetland loss in the study area between the years under review with wetland decreasing form 34633511.38m2 in 1990 to 30945235.9m2 in 2000, and to 23297313.11m2 in 2010 to 18688909.45m2 in year 2020. A very high positive correlation coefficient (Rs) of 0.99 obtained expresses the strong relationship between urban growth and wetland loss in the study area. The study recommends that government and its relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) should embark on wetland creation, development, and conservation to ensure the continuity in the services, functions, and value of wetland ecosystems in the study area.