Abstract
Long-term human impacts are considered to be the prime cause of unsustainable forest exploitation in Ethiopia. Yet there exist well-established systems and a wealth of local experience in maintaining and managing forests. This study explores the trends and driving forces of deforestation plus traditional practices regarding sustainable forest use and management in the Chencha and Arbaminch areas, Southern Ethiopia. Satellite image analysis (images from 1972, 1984 and 2006) combined with field surveys were used to detect and map changes in forest cover. Household interviews and group discussions with experienced and knowledgeable persons were also employed. The results show a 23 % decline in forest cover between 1972 and 2006 with the most significant change from 1986 to 2006. Change was greatest in the lowlands and remarkable episodic forest changes also occurred, suggesting nonlinear spatial and temporal forest cover dynamics. According to farmers, the main driver of deforestation is agricultural land expansion in response to local population increases and a decline in agricultural production. Growing local and regional fuel wood demand is another chief cause. Despite these issues, remarkable relicts of natural forests remain and trees on farmland, around homesteads and on fields in every village are basic elements of farm activities and social systems. This demonstrates the effect of cumulative traditional knowledge and long-term local experience with forest management and preservation. Therefore, these practices should be promoted and advanced through the integration of local knowledge and forest management practices in the design and implementation of sustainable environmental planning and management.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abate S (1994) Land use dynamics, soil degradation and potential for sustainable use in metu area, illubabor region, Ethiopia. African studies series A13, bern, Geographica Bernensia. University of Berne, Switzerland
Amsalu A (2006) Caring for the Land. Best practices in soil and water conservation in Beresa watershed, highlands of Ethiopia. Tropical resource management papers 76. Wageningen University, The Netherlands
Aregu L, Demeke F (2006) Socio-economic Survey of Arba-Minch Riverine Forest and Woodland. J dry lands 1:194–205
Arthur WK et al (2010) Fire on the mountain: dignity and prestige in the history and archaeology of the Borada highlands in southern Ethiopia. The SSA archaeological record. Mag Soc Am Archaeol 10:17–21
Belachew W (2002) Study of useful plants in and around home gardens in the vicinity Arbaminch, southern Ethiopia: ethnobotanic approach. Dissertation, Addis Ababa University
Bewket W (2003) Land cover dynamics since the 1950s in Chemoga watershed, Blue Nile basin, Ethiopia. Mt Res Dev 22:263–269
Bishaw B (2009) Deforestation and land degradation on the Ethiopian highlands: a strategy for physical recovery. Northeast Afr Stud 8:7–25
Butzer KW (1981) Rise and fall of Axum, Ethiopia: a geo-archaeological interpretation. Am Antiq 46:471–495
Cartledge D (1995) Taming the mountain: human ecology, indigenous knowledge, and sustainable resource management in the Doko Gamo society of Ethiopia. Dissertation, University of Florida
Cheng S et al (1998) Deforestation and degradation of natural resources in Ethiopia. Forest management implications from a case study in Belete—Gera forest. J For Res 3:199–204
Crummey D (1998) Deforestation in Wällo: process or illusion? J Ethiop Stud 31:1–42
Crummey D (2009) Exploring Landscape Change in Ethiopia: Evidence from Imaging and its Interpretation. In: Svein E, Harald A, Birhanu T, Shiferaw B (eds) Proceedings of the 16th International Conference of Ethiopian Studies, Trondheim pp 173–184
CSA, Central Statistical Authority (2002) Ethiopian agricultural sample enumeration, 2001/02. Results for southern nations nationalities and peoples region. Statistical report on area and production of crops. Addis Ababa
CSA, Central Statistical Authority (2006) Ethiopia statistical abstract. Addis Ababa
Dessie G, Carl C (2008) Forest decline and its causes in the south-central rift valley of Ethiopia: human impact over a one hundred year perspective. Ambio 37:263–271
Dessie G, John K (2007) Pattern and magnitude of deforestation in the south central rift valley region of Ethiopia. Mt Res Dev 27:162–168
EFAP (Ethiopian Forestry Action Program) (1993) Ethiopian forestry action program: the challenge for development, vol II. Ministry of Natural Resources Development and Environmental Protection, Addis Ababa
Freeman D (2009) Development and (Un)happiness: a case study from rural Ethiopia. In: Karma D, Dorji P (eds) Gross National Happiness: Practice and Measurement. Centre for Bhutan Studies, Thimphu, pp 241–257
Gatzweiler FW (2007) Deforestation of Ethiopia’s Afromontane rainforests. Reasons for Concern. Center for Development Research, Bonn ZEF Policy Brief No. 7
Hurni H (1993) Land degradation, famine, and land resource scenarios in Ethiopia. In: Pimentel D. (ed.) World Soil Erosion and Conservation, Cambridge, pp 27–61
IUCN (2006) International Union for Conservation of nature red list of threatened species
Jackson RT (1972) Land use and settlement in Gamu Gofa, Ethiopia. Department of Geography, Makerere University Kampala, Occasional Paper No. 17, Kampala, Uganda
Jackson RT, Rulvaney TR, Forster J (1969) Report of the Oxford university expedition to the Gamu highlands of southern Ethiopia. Oxford University, Oxford
Mekonen A (1998) Rural Energy and Afforestation: Case studies from Ethiopia. Dissertation, Handelshogskolan Vid Gotebergs Universitet, Sweden
Melaku B (2003) Forest property rights, the role of the state, and institutional exigency: the Ethiopian experience. Dissertation, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Upsala
Olmstead J (1975) Agricultural land and social stratification in the Gamu highlands of southern Ethiopia. In: Marcus HF (ed) Proceedings of the first U.S. conference on Ethiopian studies, African studies center. Michigan State University, East Lansing, pp 223–234
Pankhurst R (1995) The history of deforestation and afforestation in Ethiopia prior to World War I. Northeast Afr Stud 2:119–133
Pankhurst A (2003) Conflict management over contested natural resources: a case study of pasture, forest and irrigation in south Wello, Ethiopia. In: FAO, Castro A, Nielsen E (eds) Natural resource conflict management case studies: an analysis of power, participation and protected areas. FAO, Rome, pp 59–80
Reid RS et al (2000) Land-use and land-cover dynamics in response to changes in climatic, biological and socio-political forces: the case of south western Ethiopia. Landsc Ecol 15:339–355
Reusing M (1998) Monitoring of natural high forest resources in Ethiopia. Ministry of Agriculture, Addis Ababa
Sahilu H (2003) Population, environment and development. In: Gedion (ed) Environment and environmental changes in Ethiopia. A. consultation papers on environment No. 3. Forum for Social Studies, Addis Ababa, pp 16–22
Samberg L, Shennan C, Zavaleta SE (2010) Human and environmental factors affect patterns of crop diversity in an Ethiopian highland agroecosystem. Prof Geogr 62:1–13
Shiberu S (2009) Contribution of sacred forests for biodiversity conservations—a case study of Negassa, Chencha Wereda, Ethiopia. Proceedings of workshop on status potentials and challenges of bio-cultural conservation in SNNPR, Ethiopia. Arbaminch University, Arbaminch, pp 21–26
Sonneveld BGJS (2002) Land under pressure: the impact of water erosion on food production in Ethiopia. Shaker Publishing, Maastricht
Sormessa T, Teketay D, Demissew S (2004) Ecological study of the vegetation in Gamo Gofa zone, southern Ethiopia. Trop Ecol 45:209–221
South Nation Nationality and People Region of Ethiopia, SNNPR (2005) A report on regional livelihoods baseline study by United States international developments
Tadesse G (2001) Land degradation: a challenge to Ethiopia. Environ Manag 27:815–824
Tegene B (2002) Land-cover/land-use changes in the Derekolli Catchment of the south Welo Zone of Amhare Region, Ethiopia. East Afr Soc Sci Res Rev 18:1–20
Teketay D (1992) Human impact on a natural montane forest in south eastern Ethiopia. Mt Res Dev 12:393–400
Tekle K (1999) Land degradation problems and their implications for food shortage in south Wello, Ethiopia. Environ Manag 23:419–427
Tekle K, Hedlund L (2000) Land cover changes between 1958 and 1986 in Kalu district, southern Wello, Ethiopia. Mt Res Dev 20:42–51
Vletter JDE (1991) Forest genetic resources of Ethiopia. In: Engels JM, Hawkes JG, Melaku W (eds) Plant genetic resources of Ethiopia. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 82–100
Wassie A, Teketay D, Powell N (2005) Church forests in north Gondor administrative zone, northern Ethiopia. For, Trees Livelihood 15:349–374
Wøien H (1995) Deforestation, information and citations: a comment on environmental degradation in Highland Ethiopia. GeoJournal 37:501–512
Woldetsadik M (1994) Population Pressure, Land Use Change and Patterns of Agricultural Productivity in Ezan Wollene and Cheha Wereda’s Sabat-bet Guragheland. Dissertation, Addis Ababa University
Zeleke G, Hurni H (2000) Implications of land use and land cover dynamics for mountain resource degradation in the north western Ethiopian highlands. Mt Res Dev 22:184–191
Zewde B (1998) Forests and forest management in Wällo in historical perspective. J Ethiop Stud 31:87–122
Acknowledgments
We are very grateful to all farmers and the enumerators who took part in the research. We would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their constructive suggestions to the improvement of the manuscript. We are very grateful to the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Graduate School 'Human Development in Landscapes' of Kiel University, Germany, for financial support to the study. Thanks are also due to Eileen Kuecuekkaraca and Nicole Taylor for proof reading the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Assefa, E., Bork, HR. Deforestation and Forest Management in Southern Ethiopia: Investigations in the Chencha and Arbaminch Areas. Environmental Management 53, 284–299 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-013-0182-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-013-0182-x