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Identifying Priority Areas for Conservation in Mojo River Watershed of Ethiopia Using GIS-Based Erosion Risk Evaluation

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State of the Art in Ethiopian Church Forests and Restoration Options

Abstract

Identification of priority areas for the establishment of conservation measures is the first step in conservation planning. Resources may constrain launching of watershed management activities all over a watershed at the same time, hence methods to prioritize intervention are essential. Intensity of land degradation may be one of the key factors to consider in the process of prioritization. This study investigated prioritization of Micro-watersheds (MWs) using soil erosion risk and tested using Mojo River watershed as a case study area. The Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) and Multi-Criteria Evaluation (MCE) approaches were integrated in GIS environment using remotely sensed and other ancillary data. The analysis showed that RUSLE and MCE help to categorize landscape units into different levels of erosion risk and identify areas that require priority for conservation measures. Based on the RUSLE, MW-level average annual soil loss could be estimated, severity level assessed, and the area covered under various severity levels estimated to support planning. Based on the approach, MW-wise Composite Erosion Index (CEI) could be estimated. As a result, the critical MWs under very high and severe categories were recommended for immediate conservation intervention to reduce on-site and off-site soil loss effects.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by Horn of Africa regional environment program. The authors gratefully indebted to Dr. Lulseged Tamene and those organizations that support all kinds of resources in one way or another.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ministry of Agriculture, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

    Kiflu Gudeta

  2. Center for Environmental Science, College of Natural and Computational Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

    Mekuria Argaw

  3. TUM School of Life Sciences Weihenstephan, Institute of Forest Management, Technical University of Munich, Hans-Carl-von-Carlowitz-Platz 2, 85354, Freising, Germany

    Mengistie Kindu

Authors
  1. Kiflu Gudeta
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  2. Mekuria Argaw
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  3. Mengistie Kindu
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Technical University of Munich, Freising, Bayern, Germany

    Mengistie Kindu

  2. Technical University of Munich, Freising, Bayern, Germany

    Thomas Schneider

  3. Organization for Rehabilitation and Development, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

    Alemayehu Wassie

  4. Unique Forestry and Land Use GmbH, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

    Mulugeta Lemenih

  5. Department of Range and Forest Resources, Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Gaborone, Botswana

    Demel Teketay

  6. Fachgebiet für Waldinventur und nachhaltige Nutzung, Technische Universität München, Freising, Bayern, Germany

    Thomas Knoke

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Gudeta, K., Argaw, M., Kindu, M. (2022). Identifying Priority Areas for Conservation in Mojo River Watershed of Ethiopia Using GIS-Based Erosion Risk Evaluation. In: Kindu, M., Schneider, T., Wassie, A., Lemenih, M., Teketay, D., Knoke, T. (eds) State of the Art in Ethiopian Church Forests and Restoration Options. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-86626-6_14

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