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SWALIM Completes Preliminary Estimation of Land Cover in Northern Somalia
Sustainable management of land resources requires one to have accurate and up to date information on the major vegetation types and land uses. For Somalia, the existing information is old and requires to be updated. This need is urgent considering the widespread land degradation witnessed throughout the country. Requests are continuously being made to SWALIM by the government and development agencies for updated land cover and land use information for Somalia. In response to these requests,
SWALIM is working tirelessly to generate new land cover and land use information for all of Somalia.
SWALIM had adopted an approach that uses the USGS dot matrix land cover mapping technique that allows mapping of large areas accurately at a reasonable cost and time. Using this approach and working with over 290,000 km2 of satellite imagery, SWALIM has recently completed a new land cover map for the Northern part of Somalia. This work follows a similar exercise for Southern Somalia that was completed earlier this year and takes SWALIM a step forward towards providing a comprehensive land cover and land use dataset for Somalia.
For the new dataset, seven land cover types based on the FAO LCCS3 have been mapped. A preliminary land cover map for Northern Somalia shows interesting initial results. For example, compared to a study done in 2007, the new data shows an increase in agricultural land in the areas around Hargeisa, Gebiley and Borama from 1,589 to 2,401 Km2.
The next step in this process is to verify the preliminary land cover map and characterize associated land uses. SWALIM has trained staff of the Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Environment and Rural Development in Somaliland who are currently engaged in a field survey to collect data. This field work is expected to be completed in the next few weeks and the verification exercises will be extended to Puntland in the near future.
Once verified and completed, the new dataset will provide vital information to support agricultural interventions, land use management and planning and land and environment policy development among other uses. In the long run, SWALIM hopes to extend the mapping to areas that are not mapped in order to provide a complete land cover and land use dataset for the entire country.