Lesotho: Land cover atlas 2017–2023

The Lesotho Next Generation Land Cover Database (NextGen-LCDB) and Atlas (NextGen-Atlas) have been prepared in support of ReNOKA, the national programme for Integrated Catchment Management in Lesotho, through the Action “Support to Integrated Catchment Management in Lesotho”, co-financed by the EU and BMZ, and implemented by GIZ. The NextGen-LCDB was developed in close collaboration with the ICM management Unit, the ICM Data Reference Group, and the Lesotho Governmental Institutions including the Bureau of Statistics (BOS), Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (MAFS), Ministry of Forestry, Range and Soil Conservation (MFRSC). The Lesotho Government supported the construction of the NextGen-Atlas by supporting the development of the legend, revising the methodology, and participating actively in the field survey campaign. The MFRSC played a key role in the survey design and in the definition of environmental indicators for rangelands and wetlands. The ICM Data Reference Group and the Bureau of Statistics (BOS) played a decisive role in the validation of the land cover methodology and the NextGen-LCDB. The NextGen-Atlas of Lesotho provides information on the land cover distribution at multiple geographical levels and across the time frame 2017-2022: at the national level, at the district level, at the municipality level, at the main catchment area level, and by six selected Sub-Catchment areas under ICM priority interventions. The development of the NextGen-Atlas involved the use of ancillary datasets provided by the Ministry of Forestry, Range and Soil Conservation (MFRSC), Ministry of Local Government and Chieftainship Affairs (MLGCA), Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (MAFS), Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Culture (MTEC), Ministry of Water Affairs (MWA) and Lesotho Land Administration Authority (LAA).