Abstract:
Globally, the alarming rate of deforestation and land use land cover changes are among the
most significant drivers of environmental degradation and biodiversity loss. The study area has
been influenced by rapid population growth, agricultural land expansion, deforestation, and
poor management practices. This research aimed to assess the impact of land use and land cover
changes on woody species diversity within the area. The study utilizing the cross-sectional
research design. The study corporate both primary and secondary data including satellite
imagery from 1983,1993,2003,2013 and 2023 sourced from USGS.A multi stage random
sampling techniques was employed. The accuracy of LULC maps demonstrated a categorization
accuracy between 85% and 93% with kappa coefficient exceeding 0.8, indicating strong
agreement with the ground truth data.
