The Sahel, the semi-arid fringe south of the Saharan desert, is one of the most endangered zones worldwide, as are the sensible semi arid regions in Sub-Saharan Africa in general. The extent of annual flooding of the vast plains of the Niger Inland Delta during September to December depends on the amount of rainfall in the catchment areas of the Niger-Bani river system. The interaction among pre-flood, flood and post-flood conditions strongly affect land use patterns in and around the delta. Assessing and mapping dynamics of land use are made possible by the systematic application of remote sensing and image analysis. This paper presents results of an application of Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) for monitoring spatio-temporal patterns of land cover and land cover change in Sub Saharan wetlands. The MERIS instrument operates with a 15 band setting in the visible and near infrared part of the electromagnetic spectra (EMS). It acquires data with spatial resolution of 300 m (full resolution mode), aloowing for analyses at regional to global scale. Main focus of this paper is laid upon the vegetation cover dynamics at the Niger Inland Delta and the neighbouring Plateau du Bandiagara by appliing the Meris Global Vegetation Index (MGVI). Js: land cover change, sparse vegetation7 MGVI.