IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i4p3001-d1060462.html

Analysis of Forest Cover Change and Its Drivers in Biodiversity Hotspot Areas of the Semien Mountains National Park, Northwest Ethiopia

Author

Listed:
  • Belete Debebe

    (Center for Environment and Development, College of Development Studies, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa P.O. Box 1176, Ethiopia)

  • Feyera Senbeta

    (Center for Environment and Development, College of Development Studies, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa P.O. Box 1176, Ethiopia)

  • Ermias Teferi

    (Center for Environment and Development, College of Development Studies, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa P.O. Box 1176, Ethiopia)

  • Dawit Diriba

    (Center for Environment and Development, College of Development Studies, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa P.O. Box 1176, Ethiopia)

  • Demel Teketay

    (Department of Range and Forest Resources, Faculty of Natural Resources, Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Gaborone 00267, Botswana)

Abstract

Forests provide multiple ecosystem services ranging from local livelihoods and socio-economic benefits to global ecological services. Despite these benefits, human activities have put immense strain on forest resources, resulting in forest degradation, impoverishment of the environment, and loss of livelihoods. Hence, monitoring forest cover change and identifying its drivers are essential for developing sustainable forest management strategies that restore forest resources and ecosystem services. This study examined the trends of forest cover changes and its drivers in and around the Semien Mountains National Park, Northwest Ethiopia, from 1984 to 2020. Data from Landsat satellite images of 1984, 1996, 2008, and 2020 were used for forest cover mapping and quantifying the changes using remote sensing techniques. A household survey and key informant interviews were also used to identify the drivers of forest cover change. Results showed an overall decline in forest cover and grasslands while cultivated lands, bare lands and built-up areas have registered gains in the study area. The percentage area under forests declined by about 31% (33,084 ha) over the past 36 years. This loss translates to an annual average forest loss of about 1.02% (919 ha). Conversely, cultivated land, bare land, and built-up areas have experienced an increase of about 159% (33,387 ha), 220% (10,121 ha), and 366% (6356 ha), respectively, over the last 36 years. Analysis of the 36-year change detection matrix revealed that about 62% of the study area experienced a transition, of which 21% and 41% were attributable to net change and swap change, respectively. The observed reduction in forest cover was driven by agricultural expansion, population growth, growing demand for fuelwood, livestock pressure, and forest fires. Such drastic changes in forest cover have a detrimental impact on the community’s well-being, biodiversity, climate, and the availability of forest ecosystem services. Thus, the study recommends concerted efforts by stakeholders to develop participatory forest management and public awareness that consider the co-existence of nature conservation and sustainable livelihoods.

Suggested Citation

  • Belete Debebe & Feyera Senbeta & Ermias Teferi & Dawit Diriba & Demel Teketay, 2023. "Analysis of Forest Cover Change and Its Drivers in Biodiversity Hotspot Areas of the Semien Mountains National Park, Northwest Ethiopia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-22, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:4:p:3001-:d:1060462
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/4/3001/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/4/3001/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Abebe Damte & Steven F. Koch & Alemu Mekonnen, 2011. "Coping with Fuel Wood Scarcity: Household Responses in Rural Ethiopia," Working Papers 201125, University of Pretoria, Department of Economics.
    2. Susan Ngwira & Teiji Watanabe, 2019. "An Analysis of the Causes of Deforestation in Malawi: A Case of Mwazisi," Land, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-15, March.
    3. Bošković, Branko & Chakravorty, Ujjayant & Pelli, Martino & Risch, Anna, 2023. "The effect of forest access on the market for fuelwood in India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    4. Young, Nicholas E. & Evangelista, Paul H. & Mengitsu, Tefera & Leisz, Stephen, 2020. "Twenty-three years of forest cover change in protected areas under different governance strategies: A case study from Ethiopia’s southern highlands," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    5. Lalisa A. Duguma & Joanes Atela & Peter A. Minang & Alemayehu N. Ayana & Belachew Gizachew & Judith M. Nzyoka & Florence Bernard, 2019. "Deforestation and Forest Degradation as an Environmental Behavior: Unpacking Realities Shaping Community Actions," Land, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-17, January.
    6. Alelgn Ewunetu & Belay Simane & Ermias Teferi & Benjamin F. Zaitchik, 2021. "Land Cover Change in the Blue Nile River Headwaters: Farmers’ Perceptions, Pressures, and Satellite-Based Mapping," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-25, January.
    7. Sereyrotha Ken & Nophea Sasaki & Tomoe Entani & Hwan Ok Ma & Phalla Thuch & Takuji W. Tsusaka, 2020. "Assessment of the Local Perceptions on the Drivers of Deforestation and Forest Degradation, Agents of Drivers, and Appropriate Activities in Cambodia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-26, November.
    8. Pradeep Baral & Yali Wen & Nadia Nora Urriola, 2018. "Forest Cover Changes and Trajectories in a Typical Middle Mountain Watershed of Western Nepal," Land, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-21, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Rufai Yusuf Zakari & Owais Ahmed Malik & Ong Wee-Hong, 2025. "Machine learning-driven wildfire susceptibility mapping in New South Wales, Australia using remote sensing and explainable artificial intelligence," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 121(13), pages 15331-15357, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mohamed Ali Mohamed, 2021. "An Assessment of Forest Cover Change and Its Driving Forces in the Syrian Coastal Region during a Period of Conflict, 2010 to 2020," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-25, February.
    2. O’Brien, James & Do, Phoebe & Edelson, Micaela, 2021. "The effects of fuelwood on children’s schooling in rural Vietnam," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    3. Scheurlen, Elena, 2015. "Time allocation to energy resource collection in rural Ethiopia: Gender-disaggregated household responses to changes in firewood availability," IFPRI discussion papers 1419, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    4. Kamal Hussain & Fazlur Rahman & Ihsan Ullah & Zahir Ahmad & Udo Schickhoff, 2022. "Assessing the Impacts of Population Growth and Roads on Forest Cover: A Temporal Approach to Reconstruct the Deforestation Process in District Kurram, Pakistan, since 1972," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-23, May.
    5. Noel Perceval Assogba & Daowei Zhang, 2020. "An Economic Analysis of Tropical Forest Resource Conservation in a Protected Area," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-12, July.
    6. Gupta, Ridhima & Pelli, Martino, 2021. "Electrification and cooking fuel choice in rural India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    7. Krishnapriya, P.P. & Chandrasekaran, Maya & Jeuland, Marc & Pattanayak, Subhrendu K., 2021. "Do improved cookstoves save time and improve gender outcomes? Evidence from six developing countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    8. Munthali, Maggie G. & Nankwenya, Bonface & Nyirenda, Zephania & Chilora, Lemekezani & Chiwaula, Levison & Chirombo, Baxton & Troosters, Wim, 2025. "Unlocking youth opportunities in the forest sector: The role of green jobs in generating youth employment in Malawi," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    9. Bensch, Gunther & Jeuland, Marc & Lenz, Luciane & Ndiaye, Ousmane, 2024. "A bridge to clean cooking? The cost-effectiveness of energy-efficient biomass stoves in rural Senegal," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    10. Rahman, Md Habibur & Kitajima, Kaoru & Mitani, Yohei & Rahman, Md Farhadur, 2024. "Geographical variations in woodfuel supply and trade in northeastern Bangladesh," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 222(C).
    11. Chaly Y & Karen F. Hytten & Diane Pearson, 2025. "Community Forest Management and REDD+: Pathways to Effective Implementation, Livelihood Improvement, and Climate Change Adaptation in Cambodia," Land, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-28, May.
    12. Christian Mera-Parra & Fernando Oñate-Valdivieso & Priscilla Massa-Sánchez & Pablo Ochoa-Cueva, 2021. "Establishment of the Baseline for the IWRM in the Ecuadorian Andean Basins: Land Use Change, Water Recharge, Meteorological Forecast and Hydrological Modeling," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-18, May.
    13. Daniel Kpienbaareh & Evans Sumabe Batung & Isaac Luginaah, 2022. "Spatial and Temporal Change of Land Cover in Protected Areas in Malawi: Implications for Conservation Management," Geographies, MDPI, vol. 2(1), pages 1-19, February.
    14. P. P. Braga, Daniel & Pokorny, Benno & Porro, Roberto & Vidal, Edson, 2023. "Good life in the Amazon? A critical reflection on the standard of living of cocoa and cattle-based smallholders in Pará, Brazil," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 31(C).
    15. Mohamed Moncef Serbaji & Moncef Bouaziz & Okba Weslati, 2023. "Soil Water Erosion Modeling in Tunisia Using RUSLE and GIS Integrated Approaches and Geospatial Data," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-22, February.
    16. Tiago Bastos & Leonor C. Teixeira & João C. O. Matias & Leonel J. R. Nunes, 2023. "Agroforestry Biomass Recovery Supply Chain Management: A More Efficient Information Flow Model Based on a Web Platform," Logistics, MDPI, vol. 7(3), pages 1-15, August.
    17. Vijayan, Dhanya & Kaechele, Harald & Girindran, Renoy & Chattopadhyay, Srikumar & Lukas, Martin C. & Arshad, Muhammad, 2021. "Tropical forest conversion and its impact on indigenous communities Mapping forest loss and shrinking gathering grounds in the Western Ghats, India," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    18. Baquié, Sandra & Urpelainen, Johannes & Khanwilkar, Sarika & Galletti, Christopher S. & Velho, Nandini & Mondal, Pinki & Nagendra, Harini & DeFries, Ruth, 2021. "Migration, assets, and forest degradation in a tropical deciduous forest of South Asia," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).
    19. Zhang, Yijing & Zhang, Duxun & Shen, Jinyu & Duan, Wei, 2025. "Spatial effects of ecological cognition on firewood collection by households in protected areas: An analysis based on the giant panda nature reserves," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    20. Alelgn Ewunetu & Belay Simane & Ermias Teferi & Benjamin F. Zaitchik, 2021. "Mapping and Quantifying Comprehensive Land Degradation Status Using Spatial Multicriteria Evaluation Technique in the Headwaters Area of Upper Blue Nile River," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-27, February.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:4:p:3001-:d:1060462. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.