Use of SPOT data in evaluating the interrelationships between human settlements and forest resources in Namanga area of Kenya.

Abstract

A map of forest cover types and human settlements was generated from SPOT data of the Namanga area in arid SW Kenya. Forest cover was compared with that on aerial photographs taken in 1961. The island forest had areas of dense natural forest and of shrub-dominated land that had increased since 1961, while the area with scattered trees and shrubs had declined. The island forest was surrounded by traditional settlements of semi-nomadic pastoralists. Occupied, recently-abandoned and former settlements could be identified on the SPOT map. It is concluded that forest cover types directly associated with human settlements and the dynamic behaviour of these settlements can be identified from SPOT data. The SPOT data can be used in the integrated planning of a sound settlement pattern in relation to the forests.