ABSTRACT
This research analyses current and future dynamics under pessimistic and optimistic hypotheses of land use in the Oti catchment in Benin. The IDRISI SELVA and Arc GIS mapping software enabled the processing of satellite images with field reference data to study changes in vegetation cover over ~25 years. Field work allowed to obtain data relating to land use units, and particularly the impacts of sustainable management strategies for the near future (2050). The results indicate a strong change in land use and vegetation cover by anthropogenic pressure between 1988 and 2015. The average annual change rates of land cover (‘landscape/vegetation dynamics’) were estimated at –0.25% decline for the first period (1988-2000), and at –0.8% per year during the second period (2000-2015). In 2050 the fragmentation of the landscape will have negative consequences on biodiversity, the hydrological cycle and soil quality.
