Analyses of LULC dynamics in a socio-ecological system of the Bale Mountains Eco Region of Southeast Ethiopia.

Analysis of land use and land cover (LULC) change and its drivers and impacts in the biodiversity hotspot of Bale Mountain's socio-ecological system is crucial for formulating plausible policies and strategies that can enhance sustainable development. The study aimed to analyze spatio-temporal LULC changes and their trends, extents, drives, and impacts over the last 48 years in the Bale Mountain social-ecological system. Landsat imagery data from the years 1973, 1986, 1996, 2014, and 2021 together with qualitative data were used.

The role and interplay of institutions in water governance in the Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia.

Background: Institutions can play a key role in coordinating how natural resources are effectively managed and used without over-exploitation. Institutions are laws, policies, and organizational arrangements that permit, forbid or regulate human action. This study aimed to look into the roles of formal and informal institutions, and their interactions in water resources governance in the Central Rift Valley (CRV), Ethiopia.

Understanding Water Governance in the Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia: Governance Framework, Coherence and Practices.

Water governance demands multi-sector participation beyond the state; and, appropriate laws, policies, regulations, and institutions need to be developed and put in place for sustainable use of water resources. A good water policy, a critical and integral instrument of water governance, guides water use schemes and ensures equitable water distribution among users. The Ethiopian Central Rift Valley (CRV) is rich in water resources, but these water resources are currently under severe strain owing to an imbalance in human-water interactions.

Analysis of land use/ land cover changes and landscape fragmentation in the Baro-Akobo Basin, Southwestern Ethiopia.

This study investigated the relationship between land use/land cover (LULC) changes and forested landscape fragmentation in the southwestern region of Ethiopia. Satellite images from 1986, 2002 and 2019 were collected and analyzed using standard procedures in ERDAS 2015 software. Fragstat 4.

Enteric methane emission factors of smallholder dairy farming systems across intensification gradients in the central highlands of Ethiopia.

Background: Following global pledges to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 30% by 2030 compared to the baseline level of 2020, improved quantification of GHG emissions from developing countries has become crucial. However, national GHG inventories in most Sub-Saharan African countries use default (Tier I) emission factors (EF) generated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to estimate enteric CH emissions from animal agriculture. The present study provides an improved enteric CH emission estimate (Tier II) based on animal energy requirements derived from animal characteristics and performance data collected from about 2500 cattle in 480 households from three smallholder farming systems to represent the common dairy farming in the central highlands of Ethiopia.

Analyze of spatial extent and current condition of land use land cover dynamics for the period 1990-2020 Wayu-Tuka district, western Ethiopia.

LULC variation has increased in many parts of the world recent years. Analyzing LULC is valuable to ability to grasp for spatial extent, patterns and impacts of the dynamics. This research examines the magnitudes and trends of LULC dynamics of Wayu-Tuka District, Western Ethiopia for a period of 1990-2020.

The spatial distribution and expansion of in its hotspots: Implications on agricultural landscapes.

Fast coppicing plantations like Eucalyptus are becoming an ever increasingly important land use system globally, including the Eucalyptus hotspot highlands of Northwestern Ethiopia. However, comprehensive information regarding species composition is essential for proper planning and policy decisions. The current study mapped the spatial distribution of Eucalyptus globulus (hereafter referred to as Eucalyptus) and identified the key push factors for its expansion.

Household determinants of continued adoption of sustainable land management measures in central Ethiopia.

The government of Ethiopia has undertaken several projects to restore degraded farmlands using a variety of sustainable land management (SLM) techniques. One of the critical elements of the program was the rehabilitation of farmlands using physical soil and water conservation (SWC) strategies. This study examines household determinants of continued SWC adoption performances using areas representing a variety of contexts.

Understanding variability in carbon footprint of smallholder dairy farms in the central highlands of Ethiopia.

Smallholder dairy farms face enormous challenges in increasing milk production while mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, thereby enhancing climate resilience. The carbon footprint (CF) of smallholder milk production is expected to increase with increasing demand for dairy products under the business-as-usual scenario. This study estimates the carbon footprint of smallholder milk production and examines variation across farms using data from 480 households to identify viable options for mitigating GHG emissions.

Estimating the Economic Values of Restricted Monoculture Plantations: A Choice Modeling Approach.

Today, evaluating ecological wellbeing and ecosystem services is becoming a great concern towards conserving the natural resource base. Healthy functioning ecosystems have fundamental roles for aiding humankind to lead a healthy life and ensure an improved social welfare. Estimating the non-market benefits of ecosystem services can help experts and the public frame policy directions designed for landscape development.

A social-ecological assessment of food security and biodiversity conservation in Ethiopia.

We studied food security and biodiversity conservation from a social-ecological perspective in southwestern Ethiopia. Specialist tree, bird, and mammal species required large, undisturbed forest, supporting the notion of 'land sparing' for conservation. However, our findings also suggest that forest areas should be embedded within a multifunctional landscape matrix (i.

Governance Challenges at the Interface of Food Security and Biodiversity Conservation: A Multi-Level Case Study from Ethiopia.

Ensuring food security while also protecting biodiversity requires a governance system that can address intra- and intersectoral complexity. In this paper, we sought to explore the governance challenges surrounding food security and biodiversity conservation through an empirical study in Jimma zone, southwestern Ethiopia. We used bottom-up snowball sampling to identify stakeholders and then held semi-structured interviews with 177 stakeholders across multiple levels of governance.

Landscape composition and configuration in the central highlands of Ethiopia.

Landscape dynamics are common phenomenon in the human-dominated environments whereby it can be observed that the composition and configuration between landscape elements change over time. This dynamism brings about habitat loss and fragmentation that can greatly alter ecosystem services at patch, class, and landscape levels. We conducted a study to examine composition and configuration of forested landscape in the central highlands of Ethiopia using satellite images of over a period of four decades, and FRAGSTAT raster dataset was used to analyze fragmentation.

Reframing the Food-Biodiversity Challenge.

Given the serious limitations of production-oriented frameworks, we offer here a new conceptual framework for how to analyze the nexus of food security and biodiversity conservation. We introduce four archetypes of social-ecological system states corresponding to win-win (e.g.

Environmental and health impacts of effluents from textile industries in Ethiopia: the case of Gelan and Dukem, Oromia Regional State.

This study focuses on four textile industries (DH-GEDA, NOYA, ALMHADI, and ALSAR) established between 2005 and 2008 in the peri-urban areas of Dukem and Gelan. The objectives of the study were to generate baseline information regarding the concentration levels of selected pollutants and to analyze their effects on biophysical environments. This study also attempts to explore the level of exposure that humans and livestock have to polluted effluents and the effects thereof.