Land use/land cover change dynamics of moist evergreen afromontane forest, Southern Ethiopia: Implications for conservation

Improving the understanding of land use and land cover dynamics can lead to forecasting future land use and land cover changes and applying more appropriate policy interventions to achieve better land management. This study was conducted in Bore-Anferara-Wadera forest, southern Ethiopia, to analyze the land use and land cover change dynamics and its major driving factors in the study area. Three periods landsat images (1986 TM, 2000 ETM+ and 2014 OLI/TIRS) downloaded from GLCF were analyzed by using remote sensing and GIS technologies to generate information on the temporal changes in land use and land cover types. In addition, focus group discussion (FDG) and field observations were made to identify the drivers of LULC changes. The results of land sat image analysis revealed that agricultural land and built up area are expanding rapidly at the expense of other land use and land cover types. Forest and shrub land areas have declined drastically over the last 28 years. Population pressure, deforestation, land tenure system, and forest fire were the main driving forces responsible for the change in land use and land cover types in the study area. Therefore, a joint management and conservation measures should be taken by the government, local people and other stakeholders in order to reduce and/or stop the fast rate of vegetation cover declining and sustainable utilization of the forest resources in the study area.