Appraisal of GIS and Remote Sensing Applications in Land and Environmental Management in Nigeria

Abstract

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) are now central tools forland resource mapping, administration and environmental management worldwide. InNigeria - a country with diverse ecosystems ranging from coastal mangroves and the NigerDelta to Sahelian drylands — GIS/RS applications have been increasingly used tomonitorland-use/land-cover (LULC) change, coastal erosion and shoreline dynamics, flood riskanddisaster mapping, desertification, wetland and biodiversity assessment, pollution (includingoil-spill) monitoring, and urban expansion. This paper appraises the state of GIS/RSapplications in Nigerian environmental management: surveying key uses, recent advances, technical and institutional constraints, case-study evidence, and policy and researchrecommendations. We synthesize published studies and institutional capabilities (notablyNASRDA and university research) to identify strengths (availability of multi-temporal satellite data, growing national capacity) and gaps (data-sharing, integration with decision-making, funding, and ground truthing). Finally, we propose a prioritized roadmaptostrengthen GIS/RS contributions to sustainable land and environmental governanceinNigeria.