Assessing the Ecological Effect of Petroleum Mining and Operation on Land Cover and Land Use of (Paloch Oil Field Block 3&7) Melut County- Upper Nile State – South Sudan.

Abstract

This study was conducted during period between 2015 -2018 in Paloch Oilfield Block 3 & & 7 Melut County in Northern Upper Nile State – South Sudan; the main objective was to study the ecological effect of petroleum mining and operations upon the natural environment, land use systems as well as effect upon the socio-economic systems of local community, also to assess the effect of these activities on the health of human and domestic animals, and biodiversity in the area for the period 2000- 2105. The study used Landsat satellite for the years 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015 landsat imagery were downloaded, processed and digitally classified using supervised and unsupervised classification .The classification and analysis result showed that, the changes on vegetation cover during first period 2000 - 2005 were significant in its reduction from 41 – 37% of total area, bare land (clay soil) increase from 14 - 20% of total area. The reduction in vegetation and increase in bare land resulted from extensive oil exploration activities within the natural forest where part of them removed for roads, wells, oil produced water ponds and settlement areas, but these effects change it trend during the period between 2010 – 2015 where the changes in percentage is not significant, vegetation cover change from 39 - 40% and sand soil land changed from 12 – 16% during all period 2000 - 2015. This change was due to reduction in oil exploration activities and reduction of the population in the area during this period because of insecurity resulted from unjust war of 2013 – 2015. Some wild animal’s species disturbed and disappeared from the area, except few animals such as rabbits, monkeys which had adapted to the human interventions into the forests. Others animals’ species migrate and displaced to safe areas and other neighbor countries. The study recommended that the destructed natural forest and other land use systems should be rehabilitated and restorated by replanting trees, conserving the remain natural forest, organizing the oil production activities through involving the local communities in oil production program in addition to conducting more researches on oil production and mitigating the environmental effect in this area.