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

Sisay Taye Gifawesen

doi:10.11648/j.ijrse.20190801.11

Abstract

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.

Highlights

Nature and more importantly, human beings are greatly influencing the environment including land use, land cover and forest cover which is dynamic in nature [1]
Impact on Human Resource Asset The current study revealed that, change in forest cover and entire land use system due to climate related factors and wood extraction are affecting human resources that are important to people’s livelihoods; including education, occupation and human labor (Table 5)
The present study revealed that land use land cover of the study area was at dynamic state and forests had undergone substantial changes as a result of many anthropogenic factors

Summary

Introduction

Human beings are greatly influencing the environment including land use, land cover and forest cover which is dynamic in nature [1]. The world’s natural forests decreased by 16.1 million hectares per year on average during the 1990s; that is a loss of 4.2% of the natural forest that existed in 1990 [3]. Forests cover slightly more than 4 billion ha (31% of the world’s total land area) and correspond to an average of 0.6 ha per capita [4]. About 13 million ha of forests was converted to other uses or disappeared as a result of natural phenomena each year during the past decade [4]

Methods

Results

Conclusion