Land Use and Land Cover Changes in Awash National Park, Ethiopia: Impact of Decentralization on the Use and Management of Resources

Belay, Solomon; Amsalu, Aklilu; Abebe, Eyualem

doi:10.4236/oje.2014.415079

Cited by 34 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…They reported that forest lands have declined over 50 years [36] in Borena wereda of South Wello highlands also showed that grass lands reduced in size between 1972 and 1985 with a rate of 73 ha/year. But, the result of this study is inconsistent to the findings of Belay [37]. They reported that during the three-decade time period , there was an expansion of grasslands in Awash National Park, Ethiopia.…”

Section: Forest Landscontrasting

confidence: 57%

The implications of land use and land cover changes for rural household food insecurity in the Northeastern highlands of Ethiopia: the case of the Teleyayen sub-watershed

Agidew

Singh

2017

Agric & Food Secur

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Background: Ethiopia has tremendous agricultural potential with vast areas of fertile land. However, agriculture remains underdeveloped and poverty persists, especially in rural areas. Therefore, this study examined the implications of land use and land cover changes on rural household food insecurity in the Teleyayen sub-watershed, which covers an area of 152 km 2 .Methods: Landsat satellite images of 1973, 1986 and 2015 were used to analyze the spatial and temporal changes. LU-LC changes of the study area were detected from a time series of such satellite images using Remote Sensing (ERDAS Imagine 9.2) and GIS (ArcMap 10.3) software. Additional data were collected through Global Positioning System, key informant interviews, focus group discussions and field observations. Results and discussion:The results of the study showed that forest lands declined from 3.8% in 1973 to 0.2% in 2015. The total forest lands cleared between 1973 and 2015 amounts to 552 ha. This is 95% of the forest cover that existed in 1973. Similarly, shrub lands declined from 28.4% in 1973 to 24.9% in 2015. Meanwhile, crop lands and rural settlements increased from 38.6% in 1973 to 44.1% in 1986 and 54.4% in 2015. The greatest expansion of crop lands and rural settlements occurred between 1986 and 2015 (81%). This kind of conversion could be at the expense of grass lands, shrub lands, marginal lands and forest lands. The major driving forces were found to be population growth, shortage of farm lands and shortage of rainfall, which in turn exacerbated the food security problems. Land degradation, rural-urban migration, farm land fragmentation, climate change, crop yield reduction and soil erosion are also identified as major implications of land use and land cover changes. Conclusions:The observed land use and land cover changes are caused by population pressure as well as expansion of agricultural lands through unplanned and inappropriate land management practices in order to meet the food demands of the rapidly growing population. Therefore, it is worthwhile to link food security policies with sustainable land management policies because both are closely interrelated with each other. It is also advisable to decentralize responsibilities and financial resources to local farmers and local administrative bodies so as to improve their food security status. This decentralization could help lead to adequate access to information on agricultural inputs, land management and food security services.

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Section: Forest Landscontrasting

confidence: 57%

The implications of land use and land cover changes for rural household food insecurity in the Northeastern highlands of Ethiopia: the case of the Teleyayen sub-watershed

Agidew

Singh

2017

Agric & Food Secur

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“…In general, the woodland cover was decreased at a rate of 33.82% annually during the study period (Table 2). The results of this study are in line with several studies that documented a decline in wood vegetation cover in Ethiopian rangelands (Tsegaye et al, 2010;Belay et al, 2014;Yonas et al, 2016).…”

Section: Magnitude Of Lulc Changessupporting

confidence: 81%

“…This government policy and weakening of the local institutions are also intensifying factors for expansion of cultivation (Belay et al, 2014;Abate and Angassa, 2016).…”

Section: Magnitude Of Lulc Changesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Land use/cover change analysis and local community perception towards land cover change in the lowland of Bale rangelands, Southeast Ethiopia

Mussa¹,

Teka²,

Mesfin³

2017

Int. J. Biodivers. Conserv.

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Changes in ecosystem functions can be analyzed through changes in land use land cover (LULC) systems. This study was carried out to analyze the LULC changes and perception of local community towards land cover change in the lowlands of Bale, Southeast Ethiopia using remote sensing data, field observations and perception of local people. The results showed that cultivated land, settlement, bush land and bare land expanded by 13.81, 14.30, 12.62 and 22.3% respectively, between 1986 and 2016, whereas wood land, grassland and shrubby grassland declined by 33.82, 24.4 and 3.36% respectively. Local communities' perceptions indicate that climatic, demographic and anthropogenic factors as well as implementation of inappropriate government policy and development interventions were major driving forces of LULC dynamics. Environmental and local livelihoods implications such as rangeland degradation, bush encroachment, soil degradation, livestock loss, biodiversity loss and poverty increase resulted from these changes. Cumulative effects contribute to rangeland degradation and poverty. Therefore, to halt the impact of LULC disturbance and its implication on the likelihood of the pastoralist, appropriate management measures and government policies have to be implemented.

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“…Several researches were reported that demographic related factors like: population growth and density were the major factors causing forest cover and LULC change. Accordingly, the reports from [37] in the Awash national park says most respondents (74%) agree that population growth was a potential driver of the land use land cover change. Moreover, an increase in the immigration of the local people of the pastoralists also increases the competition on natural resource like trees for house construction, fuel wood and pasture land/grass land.…”

Section: Policy and Institutional Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of the Key Drivers of Forest Cover Change and Its Associated Livelihood Impacts in Yabello District, Borana Zone, Ethiopia

Gifawesen¹

2019

IJSGE

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Land-use/land-cover change is a significant cause, or forcing function of global change and the medium through which many human responses to global change will occur. Analyzing the key drivers of forest and land use land cover change (LULC) is an effective way of assessing the impacts of land use/land cover (LULC) changes in ecosystem function. A study was conducted to assess the key drivers of forest cover change and land use land cover change (LULCC) and its associated impacts on the livelihoods of the study area. About 128 respondents were interviewed to assess possible causes of the forest cover change and LULCC. The result of survey assessment indicated that recurrent drought (100%), wood extraction (100%), increased in human population size (99.2%), infrastructural expansion (settlement expansion and road construction) (81.3%), policy and institutional factors (70.3%), economic factors (64.9) and expansion of cultivation (32.1%) and social-cultural factors (26.6%) were largely responsible for the observed LULC changes in the study area. Consequently, change in forest cover and land use, land cover were affected different livelihood strategies of the communities like; human resources, forest production, crop and livestock production, financial and their social capital resources. Thus, collaborative forest management arrangements with the local communities and improved law enforcement strategies were essential to ease the present human influence on the natural forest and enhance sustainable management.

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Land Use and Land Cover Changes in Awash National Park, Ethiopia: Impact of Decentralization on the Use and Management of Resources

Cited by 34 publications

References 18 publications

The implications of land use and land cover changes for rural household food insecurity in the Northeastern highlands of Ethiopia: the case of the Teleyayen sub-watershed

The implications of land use and land cover changes for rural household food insecurity in the Northeastern highlands of Ethiopia: the case of the Teleyayen sub-watershed

Land use/cover change analysis and local community perception towards land cover change in the lowland of Bale rangelands, Southeast Ethiopia

Assessment of the Key Drivers of Forest Cover Change and Its Associated Livelihood Impacts in Yabello District, Borana Zone, Ethiopia

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