Goba woreda, despite its economical, hydrological, and biological importance both nationallyrnand globally, the forest of the area is under serious threat owing to deforestation and forest fire.rnAs a consequence, the forest cover of the area has been deteriorating and endemic tree speciesrnare under sever anthropogenic impacts. The aim of the present study is to determine the extentrnand the rate of deforestation as well as pattern of forest cover change over the past twenty sevenrnyears (1973 -2000). Besides, it also attempts to map forest fire risk susceptibility of the forest ofrnthe area using GIS and remote sensing techniques. Landsat MSS 1973 and Landsat ETM+ 2000rnsatellite imageries have been used to determine extent & rate of deforestation and pattern ofrnchange. Both spectral (NDVI) and post classification change detection techniques have beenrnused to determine the forest cover change of the woreda. The forests of the area which consists ofrnErica bush land, moist montane forest, dry ever green forest and plantation. Among the forestrnclasses, moist montane forest and dry ever green forests are experiencing intensive humanrnpressure. In 1973, 62.7% (101086 ha) of the woreda was covered by forest where as therncoverage dropped to 56.2 % (90603 ha) in 2000. The coverage decreased by 10.4 % within thisrnperiod and it has amounted to 388.3 ha (0.2 % of the total area) deforested per year.rnIntensification of agricultural activities in the forest territories takes the lion share for the causernof deforestation. Seven factors such as NDVI value, vegetation type, aspect, slope, elevationrnand distance from settlement and roads have been taken in to consideration to examine thernsusceptibility of the forest to fire. The forest fire susceptibility result revealed that 35 %, 25 %, 21rn% and 18 % of the forest of the woreda are categorized under the moderate, high, low and veryrnhigh susceptibility level respectively. Searching fresh pasture land is the underlying cause forestrnfire.rnKey words: Deforestation, forest fire risk susceptibility, GIS, Remote sensing.