Land use/land cover dynamics and their driving forces in the Hirmi watershed and its adjacent agro-ecosystem, highlands of Northern Ethiopia

This study analysed long-term land use/land cover (LULC) dynamics and their underlying causes and implications for land resources management in a dryland watershed of Hirmi and its adjacent agro-ecosystem, northern highlands of Ethiopia. Two sets of aerial photographs (1964 and 1994) and 2006 Spot 5 satellite images were utilised in the study. These derived data were complemented with the help of focus group discussions and personal interview methods. The study identified five LULC types: cultivated and rural settlement, forest, grassland, town and a small artificial pond. Expansions of cultivated and rural settlement and forestland use/land cover and a reduction of grassland and shrubland use/cover types were observed throughout the analysis period. Over the 42-year period, cultivated and rural settlement land increased by 24.6%. Grassland declined sharply from 20% in 1964 to 11.3% in 2006. The area under forest cover expanded from 0.9% in 1964 to 1.8% in 2006. The town of Indaselassie increased at a rate of 8.95 hectare (8.1%) per annum. An artificial pond covering 6 ha emerged between 1994 and 2006. Combinations of proximate and underlying causes such as poverty, demographic pressure, institutional and policy factors have influenced LULC dynamics in the Hirmi watershed and the adjacent agro-ecosystem. The LULC dynamics resulted in the degradation of land resources. There is a need to control the immediate causes of LULC dynamics by limiting cropland expansion via increasing land productivity and devising strategies to regulate urban land expansion. Long range strategies such as methods of easing population growth and ways of alleviating rural poverty need to be devised to bring about sustainable land resources management practices in the study site.