Effects of Anthropogenic Activities on Nworie and Otamiri River

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2019 in the subject Environmental Sciences, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, course: Environmental Technology, language: English, abstract: This research work seeks to study the effects of anthropogenic activities on the Nworie and Otamiri river morphology in Imo State Nigeria. Using land use/ land cover change analysis to evaluate the degree of the effect anthropogenic activities have on the morphology of the river and the major human divers causing this geomorphic change to the catchment. GIS was a major tool for the analysis of aerial photographs gotten from Landsat 5, 7 and 8 satellites. The images from years 1986, 2000 and 2016 were all analysed and land use/ land cover were classified into 5 classes namely water body, light forest, thick forest, bare surface and built up area. Questionnaire was used to retrieve data during the field work. 100 respondent answers were analysed to gain information about observed human activities around the study area. The combined results from the analysed images and questionnaires formed the basis of the research findings. The findings of the research suggest morphological change to the Nworie and Otamiri River. This is primarily as a result of human activities such as farming, dumping of refuse, building of structures like roads, sand mining and dredging. This activities cause the widening and narrowing of the River banks. In order to protect the river morphology, strict government policies that protect environmental landforms from degradation must be implemented and stringent penalties should be awarded to defaulters.