Land Use Land Cover Change Detection And Vulnerability To Forest Degradation Using Remote Sensing And Gis A Case Of Borena District In North Centeral Ethiopia

Land use/ land cover change has become a central component in current strategies forrnmanaging natural resources and monitoring environmental changes. Hence, informationrnabout it is essential for the selection, planning and implementation of land use schemes.rnThe aim of this study is to detect the magnitude and rate of land use land cover change forrnthe last 31 years from three different time satellite images of 1972, 1985, and 2003, andrngenerating susceptibility to forest degradation map using GIS techniques in Borenarndistrict. NDVI image comparison and post-classification change detection methods werernemployed, hence the result of multi_temporal imagery has depicted that the study area hasrnundergone a series of land us land cover dynamics, shrub and grass lands had decreasedrnwhereas, cultivated and bare lands had increased. In addition to this, susceptibility tornforest degradation was done by considering factors such as cultivated land, settlement,rnroad, slope and elevation value. And then, four levels of susceptibility to forestrndegradation map was generated. Based on the forest cover map of the year 2003 (6087 ha)rnof Borena district, about (20%), (28%) and (32%) of forest cover land are categorizedrnunder less, moderately, and highly susceptible to degradation respectively and thernremaining (20%) of forest cover is very highly susceptible to degradation. The problem ofrnforest cover change is directly linked with the activity of man such as expansion ofrnagricultural land, demand of fuel wood and constructional materials as well as using thisrnresource as income generating means’s. Besides, due to the problem of forest coverrnchange; land degradation in the form of soil erosion, as well as declining of biodiversityrnseems to have reached a critical stage. In order to hold back the problem of forest coverrnchange and its impact, corrective measures had been suggested which can be implementedrnboth in the short term and long term phase.rnKey words: Land use/Land cover change, Forest degradation Susceptibility, GISrnand remote sensing,

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