Olaniyi, O. E et. al. (2017). Forest dynamism of a green space: a perspective from T.A. AFOLAYAN wildlife park, Akure, Ondo state, Nigeria. 12(1):x-xx Forest dynamism of a green space: a perspective from T.A. AFOLAYAN wildlife park, Akure, Ondo state, Nigeria Olaniyi, O. E. 1 , Esan, D. B. 1 and S. O. Akande, 2 . 1 Department of Ecotourism and Wildlife Management, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria, 2 Centre for Space Research and Applications, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria Abstract Poor physical planning had factually led to the destruction of valuable ecosystems in most academic institutions of developing countries such as Nigeria. This study aimed to detect the land cover change over time of T.A. Afolayan Wildlife Park, located at the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria for a period of twelve years using Ikonos and WorldView satellite imageries of the study area for two years time series (2001 and 2013), while supervised classification algorithm method was employed. Three land cover classes were compiled: non-forested vegetation, forested vegetation and bare surfaces (lands without shrubs and barren rocky areas). Non-Forested vegetations recorded a higher land cover area (44.86m 2 ), while bare surfaces had the lower land cover area (11.02m 2 ) in 2001. Forested vegetations recorded a higher land cover area (45.15m 2 ), while bare surfaces had the lower land cover area (12.26m 2 ) in 2013. It was observed that forested vegetation increased rapidly from 2001 to 2013 with percentage change (17.89%). Thus, the positive significant change substantiated the vegetation restorative capability and ecological stabilizing potential of a conservation area within the academic environment. However, if the steady growth in the forest land cover can be maintained, it will promote ecological sustainability and healthy environment. Keywords: Green spaces; Landcover change; Geographic Information System E-mail: olaniyitobby007@gmail.com. Received: Accepted: DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/njtr.v12i1.13 Introduction In modern times, it could be a two side coin in striking a balance between sprawl of academic infrastructures and establishment of natural scenic relaxation centers such as Wildlife Park in an academic environment. Inability to control infrastructural development due to poor physical planning and/or non-adherence to master plans had factually led to the destruction of valuable ecosystems in most academic institutions of developing countries such as Nigeria. Infrastructural development is one of the indicators of urbanization, which has many negative environmental impacts, such as reduced space for recreation. Green spaces are believed to counteract this impact (Kabischa and Haasea, 2013). Most green spaces in the master plan of these institutions, with great potential for the establishment of Wildlife Parks had been distorted and converted to meet the increasing needs of academic development. In this situation, the needs of relaxation, recreation and nature appreciation in such an academic setting had been put at risk. Although, a number of case studies report on different topical issues on various botanical and zoological gardens located on green spaces of few academic institutions in Nigeria, little is known about the extent of vegetation cover restoration by establishing Wildlife Parks on such green spaces. This makes the concept of examining vegetation restoration indispensable. It falls under a branch of ecology referred to as “Restoration ecology”. It is a relatively young science with steady growth in importance owing to both the worsening worldwide trends in habitat degradation and the increasing realization of the need to restore degraded areas for many reasons, including conservation of biodiversity (Suding, 2011). Moreso, ecosystem degradation has been and is predicted to continue to be most rapid in developing or relatively low income countries (Laurance, 2001). Of this concern, land cover change detection in quantifying the degree of ecosystem degradation is crucial. Land cover change is a dynamic phenomenon occurring within the interface between human activities and ecological systems (Manson, 2005). Moreover, ecological processes and human interventions had been facilitating ecosystem changes as a whole and land cover change in particular. Despite the importance of landscape conversion to fulfill basic needs of humankind, land cover change such as deforestation have been recognized as major problems in the world (Velazquez, 2003) which result in negative consequences for life on earth. Thus, land cover is the actual distribution of physical and biological features of the land surface, up-to-date information on the status of the land surface is crucial for environmental planning and management reasons (Melesse, 2004). The resource managers can superimpose the land cover map to existing management and