SPATIAL-TEMPORAL LAND USE LAND COVER CHANGE AND ITS IMPACT ON YAYU FOREST IN ILLUBABORA ZONE, OROMIA, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Forests are important sources of livelihood for millions of people and contribute to the national economic development of many countries service. Yayu forest is the largest and most important forest for the conservation of the coffee genetic resources in the World. However, there is an accelerated reduction in its faunal and flora diversity including woody plant species as a result of man-made pressure and activities, such as uncontrolled hunting, habitat destruction for agricultural expansion, pressure by domestic animals and heavy encroachment by a human being. Thus, aim of this study was to detect the forest cover change analysis using GIS and Remote Sensing techniques over the last 29 years (between 1992 and 2021) and the software used for this study were Arc GIS 10, ERDAS IMAGINE 15 and SPSS 20. The methodology followed for this study were acquisition of Landsat image of 1992, 2002 and 2021, DEM 2014 data extracted and investigation of local community perception by using open and closed-ended questioners. The main sources of the data in this study were both primary and secondary sources to obtain information on forest cover change were collected. The major land use/land cover types in the study area have been identified as: forest land, farm land, grassland, and settlement. The study made use of Landsat images of the year 1992, 2002 and 2021 to know land-use/land cover change and the forest cover changes and rate of forest cover and loss during the different periods and the type of land cover to which the forest is changed to. The result of change detection analysis revealed that the area had remarkable land-use/land cover changes in general and forest cover change in particular. Specifically, the forest cover land increased from 59,174.60 ha in 1992 to 63,254.20 ha in 2002 and further dropped to 59,553.6 ha in the year 2021 in the study area. When compared the year1992-2002 with the 2002-2021 forest cover condition with a deforestation rate of 194.79 ha per annum were observed during the period 2002-2021. The local community perception on forest conservation strategies indicated that 42.8% of the respondents perceived conservation management was done by the residents whereas, 28.9% was conserved with a collaboration of all stakeholders. Hence, this study has provided the first useful ecological information on the problem of forest cover change is directly linked with the activity of man such as population pressure, and the socioeconomic factors like expansion of agricultural activities, demand of fuel wood and construction materials, as well as resources for income. In order to hold back the problem of forest cover change and its impact, corrective measures was suggested.