Assessment of Coastal Land Use Changes and Their Implications for Planning in Bonny Island, Rivers State

Bonny Island in Rivers State occupies a unique coastal geography shaped by oil and gas industry operations, fishing communities, and growing urbanization pressures, creating complex planning challenges at the intersection of land use management and environmental vulnerability. This study assesses coastal land use changes on Bonny Island from 2015 to 2023 and examines their implications for planning and community livelihoods. A descriptive research design combining satellite imagery change detection analysis with a household survey of 170 residents drawn from fishing, oil industry, and general residential communities was employed. The change detection analysis quantified gains in industrial land use, residential expansion, and losses of mangrove and wetland areas. The survey captured community perceptions of land use change, threats to fishing livelihoods, flood risk, and adequacy of planning authority presence on the island. Interviews with Rivers State Urban Development Board representatives and Shell Petroleum Development Company community relations officials provided institutional perspectives. Findings are expected to reveal significant mangrove loss, encroachment on coastal buffer zones, and growing flood exposure of residential areas due to combined effects of land use change and sea level dynamics. Recommendations address mandatory coastal setback enforcement, mangrove restoration programs integrated with planning policy, participatory land use planning processes involving fishing communities, and environmental impact assessment requirements for all new coastal developments. Keywords: Coastal land use, Bonny Island, Mangrove loss, Planning, Environmental vulnerability.