Land-Use and Land-Cover Change in Semi-Arid Zone: The Case of Waro-Souloulou Area in Goulbi Maradi Watershed in the Republic of Niger

Goulbi Maradi valley is a temporary flow stream with a basin containing great agro-ecologic potentials. However, this potential is dwindling at a rate that corresponds with increase in the ecosystem’s vulnerability. This study is focused on a part of this basin, an area of about 2600km 2 . The aim of this study is to better understand land use/cover change through diachronic analysis by integrating remote sensing and GIS. Visual interpretation of satellites imagery (1972, 1986, and 2001), field works, technical and survey data were used to provide quantitative analysis of Land Use/Cover change information and its greatest drivers in the study area. The changes become more and more important under simultaneous influence of successive droughts (1973-1974 and 1983-1984) that have disrupted ecological balance, anthropogenic and animal impacts, ecosystems degradation and politico-institutional policies. In fact, the land use temporal dynamics are characterised by the continual degradation of vegetation, the complete state of land saturation (resulting in conflicts between farmer and herders), the narrowing of grazing areas, bare land expansion, the bank erosion of stream bed, the decline in flooded plain and precariousness of flooding surface of the study area.