The Impact of Climate Change and Planning Policies on Future Coastal Landscape Dynamics in Southwestern Ghana

The study focuses on the impact of climate change and spatial planning policies on coastal landscape dynamics. We examine the present and future coastal land use/land cover (LULC) change for southwestern Ghana under the coastal resilience (CR) scenario and coastal planning (CP) scenario. It employs an integrated approach of a review of literature and satellite imagery analysis to map coastal land use/land cover (LULC) change, from 2010 to 2020, to predict future landscape transitions under a coastal resilience approach and then contrast it with a scenario where development of the coast continues. The results show a continual decline in wetlands, from 1882.43 ha in 2010 to 1743.49 ha in 2020. Increased development would dominate the landscape under a scenario where coastal planning continues to expand, whereas cultivated, agricultural lands and vegetation are likely to increase under a coastal resilience scenario in 2035 and 2057. This study recommends that government and other stakeholders should consider coastal landscape restoration plans and programmes towards landscape sustainability for Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 11 and 13.