Analysis of the Impact of Built Environment on Coastline Ecosystem Services and Values

The degradation of any ecosystem services (ES) and the benefits human being enjoy from nature freely involve multifaceted processes such as those in built environment. The ecological security and multiple functions of the coastal zone of Dar es Salaam is of paramount importance to the sustainability of its natural and anthropogenic systems. Therefore, permanent/temporary conversion of a piece of land for construction space provisions profoundly affects the functionality and connectedness of nature–anthropogenic ecosystem. This study quantified land use landcover changes from Landsat satellite imageries, then evaluated the changes using recognizable coefficients for ecosystem services values (ESV). Applying Geographical Information System (GIS) techniques, the impacts of built environment on ESV were analysed using land use landcover change (LULCC) transfer matrix, carbon stock dynamics and soil erosion influence on soil fauna. The results revealed expansive BE from 10.6 percent in 1995 to 22.8 percent in 2016. Loss of forest by 64.5 percent in the study period explained the declining total ESV by 56.1 percent and per capita recreation potential by 2.3 percent. Similarly, decreasing forest cover led to high carbon dioxide emission, notably, the 353.24 t CO2 ha-1 yr-1 in the period between 1995 and 2005. Furthermore, in 1995 bushland experienced high soil erosion while in 2016 built environment displayed a similar trend as the rest of the land use landcover (LULC) classes. From geospatial analysis, the southern area displayed significant vegetation cover change as compared to the built environment dominant in the northern section of Dar es Salaam coastline. Initiative to reducing built environment by 1 percent saves forest loss by 5.28 percent and carbon sequestration at a tune of 28.95 t CO2 ha-1 yr-1; hence improves ecological services values by 4.60 percent.