Mapping of Wetlands and Ecological Corridors in the Niger Delta Using High-Resolution Satellite Imagery

The Niger Delta contains one of the most ecologically diverse wetland ecosystems in Africa, yet decades of oil industry activity, agricultural encroachment, and unregulated settlement have severely degraded its ecological integrity. This study maps wetland extents and identifies remnant ecological corridors in three states of the Niger Delta, namely Bayelsa, Delta, and Rivers, using high-resolution Sentinel-2 and PlanetScope imagery. A maximum likelihood supervised classification scheme incorporating eight spectral classes, including freshwater swamp, mangrove, seasonal wetland, degraded wetland, open water, agriculture, built-up, and bare surface, is applied. Accuracy assessment using a stratified random sample of 400 validation points yields an overall accuracy of 85.6 percent and a kappa coefficient of 0.82. Landscape connectivity analysis is performed using Circuitscape software to identify functional ecological corridors between core wetland patches. Results reveal that continuous mangrove cover has declined by 28.4 percent since 2015, with the most severe fragmentation occurring along crude oil pipeline corridors in Bayelsa. Seven critical ecological corridors are identified as priorities for restoration. The study provides spatial data to the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency and the Niger Delta Development Commission for inclusion in the Niger Delta Regional Development Master Plan. Keywords: wetland mapping, ecological corridor, Niger Delta, Sentinel-2, mangroves.