Impact Of Refugees On Woodland Resources The Case Of Sherkole Refugee Camp

This research focused on the impact of refugees on the woodland resources aroundrnSherkole Refugee Camp. It particular emphasized on native woody plant species. Therncamp is located in western Ethiopia, BSGRS, some 720 kilometers away from AddisrnAbaba, 47 kilometers from Asossa town and some 50 kilometers east of the Ethio-rnSudan border through Kurmuk. Three kinds of methodologies were employed tornconduct the research. These are remote sensing and GIS, socio-economic, andrnecological assessments. Two date’s landsat imageries of the study area, werernanalyzed to evaluate vegetation cover change, with in 18 km reduce, centering thernrefugee camp. Remote sensing and GIS software were used to analyze the change inrnLULC. To gather information about socio-economic impact of the refugees and hostrnpopulation on local woodland resources semi-structured questionnaires, interviewsrnand focus group discussion were used. Ecological assessment was done by physicallyrninventorying the native woody plant species, using seven transect. The two datesrnimageries’ NDVI analysis shows as there was more vegetation cover in 1987 thanrn2001, with in areas accessed by the refugees. The land use land cover analysis alsornshow 0.54 percent decrease in woodland area with in these years. The soci-economicrnassessment indicates that lower emphasis was given for environmental awarenessrncreation on the start. It also shows that refugees’ major energy source is fire wood andrncharcoal, and no significant energy saving techniques has been properly introduced.rnThe ecological analysis shows that areas immediately after guarded protection limit,rnabout five or six km from the center, are greatly degraded compared to areas far fromrnthe center. Even though, there are attempts to minimize environmental degradation byrnUNHCR and other NGOs, they do not properly target the native woody plant specie.rnMost of the tree species nurtured, distributed and planted are not native to the localrnarea. Non native woody plans, like eucalyptus species, are widely planted and coverrnlarge areas around the refugee camp. The only native woody plant species, widelyrnplanted, is Cordial africana. Most of the non native woody plant species needrncontinuous human protection from traditional surface fire. This is costly andrnpractically not possible. Even though, the area has high regeneration capacity, higherrndependence of refugees on firewood and charcoal with inefficient energy conversionrntechnologies greatly reduced this potential. Therefore, if no appropriate attention isrngiven for the regeneration of native woody plant species and the pressure on thesernresources will continuous, it will leads to scarcity of these ecologically, economicallyrnand culturally valuable resources. Even though, further research is necessary, mostrnnative woody plant species can be reproduced by vegetative means. In addition tornthis, applying method of enclosure can contribute for better revival of native woodyrnplant species. Finally, to get fruitful result, environmental consciousness of both thernrefugees and locals should be improved and wrong practices, especially, surface firernhas to be minimized. To minimize the problem and sustainably manage the woodlandrnresources, all stake holders should contribute their role and work together.rnKey words: Micro-catchment, land use land cover, refugees, NDVI,rnwoodlands, native woody plant species, Remote sensing, GIS.

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