Abstract
The conversion of forested areas to non-forest land was a series problem in study area of Goba district. The objectives of this study were to assess the trends, causes and effects of deforestation in Goba district, Bale zone, Ethiopia. Descriptive research method was employed to achieve these stated objectives. Satellite image of the three times and socio-economic survey were the main data sources for this study. ERDAS imagine 9.2 and ArcGIS 10 tools were applied for land use and land cover type classification, and analysis and mapping. These land use land and over change data were obtained from USGS. Socio-economic data collected through questionnaires, focus group discussions and interviews on the causes and impacts of land use and land cover change were analyzed quantitatively using SPSS software and content analysis for qualitative data. These analyzed data were expressed in percent and in words. The result shows that there was variation in the extent of land use and land cover change among different categories/classes at different study periods. Open area and Bush land showed decreasing change during first period of comparison and increasing change in the second period of comparison. In contrast, agricultural area, Bale temperate vegetation and built up area showed increasing. Built up area, agricultural area and Bale temperate vegetation increased by 80.05, 15.84, and 7.40 percent respectively, however, open area, grassland, forest land and bush land decreased by 1.58, 1.21, 0.97, and 0.28 percent per year for the last 29 years respectively. In general, in study district forest cover was 50.87% of the total area in 1986 and decreased to 36.57% in 2015 whereas agricultural area was increased from 3.45% to 19.28% respectively. This implies an increasing agricultural area at the expense of other land use cover categories, particularly natural forest. The study indicated that increasing population, forest fire and fuel wood consumption, overgrazing, and agriculture and settlement expansion and road construction caused forest cover change in the district. A decrease in livelihood incomes, volume of the surface water and in contrary increase in rain fall and temperature variability and forest product costs were among the major observed effects of deforestation in study area. Based on these findings, the study recommends the need to introduce and develop agricultural extension services, alternative energy sources and awareness raising services to the study area.
Highlights
The world’s forests provide a great service and benefits to our ecosystems
Satellite images were used to assess trends and extent of land use and land cover changes whereas socio-economic data were collected from selected households, elders, experts of land administration and environmental protection office and agriculture and rural development offices and members of the community of district to identify the driving forces and its subsequent socio-economic and environmental effects of deforestation (Table 1)
The land use land cover classification for 1986 from TM satellite image (Figure 2(a)) showed that majority of the study area was under forest land and open area accounting for 77,019.573 ha (51.558%) and 23,440.098 ha (15.691%) respectively, while agriculture area, Bale temperate vegetation, bush land and grass land amounted to about 4815.134 ha (3.223%), 6191.952 ha (4.145%), 19,367.166 ha (12.965%), and 18,549.560 ha (12.417%) respectively (Table 7)
Summary
The world’s forests provide a great service and benefits to our ecosystems. It provides foundations for life on earth through ecological functions by regulating the climate, water and soil resources and by serving as habitats for plants and animals [1]. It provides a variety of essential goods for domestic and export markets [2]. [6] pointed out that about 11.4 million hectares of tropical forests were disappeared annually in the 1980s and 17.20 million hectares per year in the 1990s According to [5] about 16 million hectares of world forest were deforested in 1990s and about 13 million hectares of the world’s forest were lost due to deforestation per annum from 2000 to 2010. [4] report indicated that global forest coverage from 1990 to 2000 decreased by 0.22% and from 2000 to 2005 decreased by 0.18% per year. [6] pointed out that about 11.4 million hectares of tropical forests were disappeared annually in the 1980s and 17.20 million hectares per year in the 1990s
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