Land Use Change and Wildlife Habitat Fragmentation in Anambra State

Land use change driven by agricultural expansion, urbanization, and infrastructure development is a leading cause of wildlife habitat fragmentation across Nigeria's densely populated South East geopolitical zone. This study investigates patterns of land use change and their implications for wildlife habitat connectivity in Anambra State between 2015 and 2023, using multi-temporal remote sensing analysis. Landsat 8 and Sentinel-2 imagery were processed using supervised maximum likelihood classification to generate land cover maps for the study period. The resulting maps were analyzed using landscape metrics, including patch size, shape index, and connectivity indices, calculated with FRAGSTATS software. Results show a 28 percent reduction in intact forest patches and a 35 percent increase in agricultural land and built-up areas over the eight-year period. Wildlife movement corridors between the remaining forest fragments have been significantly narrowed, particularly in the central agricultural belt of the state. Field verification surveys confirmed the presence of declining populations of Maxwell's duiker and African civet in the most fragmented areas. The study proposes a landscape-level conservation approach involving the identification and legal protection of critical wildlife corridors, engagement of oil palm and cassava farmers in biodiversity-friendly land management, and integration of wildlife corridors into state land use planning instruments. These findings are intended to support the Anambra State Environmental Protection Agency in updating its biodiversity action plan. Keywords: land use change, habitat fragmentation, wildlife corridors, South East Nigeria, landscape ecology