Land use/Land cover changes and their causes in Libokemkem District of South Gonder, Ethiopia

Abstract

This study analyzed land use/land cover (LULC) changes and their causes for the last 42 years from 1973 to 2015 covering an areas of about 265km2 in South Gonder Zone of Ethiopia, where area closures and/or forest conservations have been practiced since the late 1970s. Five sets of Landsat images (1973, 1985, 1995, 2003 and 2015) were the main input data from which five LULC maps were produced by employing pixel-based supervised image classification and changes of four periods were analyzed in GIS. Key informants interview and focus group discussion methods were used to identify the causes linked to the changes. The change results showed continuous decline of forest lands throughout the first (1973–1985), second (1985–1995), third (1995–2003) and fourth (2003–2015) periods by 37.6%, 43.2%, 26.9% and 31.5% respectively. Grasslands also decreased in all the four periods by 4.6%, 13.6%, 19.5% and 11.4% respectively. On the other hand, agricultural lands increased by 28.2% in the first, 23% in the second, 20.7% in third and 11.7% in the fourth periods. All in all, about 60.1% of the land experienced changes in LULC in 42 years. The identified causes were population pressure and associated demands (e.g increasing wood extraction for fuel), regime changes, interventions and programs implemented in the area. We conclude that previously introduced strategies could not stop the decline of vegetation (e.g. forests and grasslands) in the study area. We suggest sustainable land use planning and management, proper implementation of different strategies together with local communities and further studies to explore alternative strategies.