West Arsi Zone Oromia Region, South Central, Ethiopia

CHALLENGES OF SUSTAINABLE FOREST RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN KOKOSA WOREDA: WEST ARSI ZONE OROMIA REGION, SOUTH CENTRAL, ETHIOPIA.

GUTO WAKO

AUGUST, 2017

ARBA MINCH, ETHIOPIA CHALLENGES OF SUSTAINABLE FOREST RESOURCE MANAGEMENT KOKOSA WOREDA: WEST ARSI ZONE, OROMIA REGIONAL STATE, SOUTH CENTRAL ETHIOPIA

A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY AND ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES, COLLAGE OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES, SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES ARBA MINCH UNIVERSITY IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ART IN GEOGRAPHY AND ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

GUTO WAKO

PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ART IN GEOGRAPHY AND ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

AUGUST, 2017 ARBA MINCH DECLARATION

This is to certify that the Thesis entitled “Challenges of sustainable forest resource management Kokosa woreda: The Case Kokosa woreda West Arsi zone, Oromia Regional State, South central Ethiopia” is my original work and has not been presented for a degree in any other university, and that all sources of material used for the thesis have been duly acknowledged.

Name: Guto wako

Signature: ______

Date: ______

APPROVAL SHEETS

SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES

ARBA MINCH UNIVERSITY

ADVISORS’ THESIS SUBMISSION APPROVAL SHEET

This is to certify that the Thesis entitled “Challenges of sustainable forest resource management: The Case Kokosa woreda West Arsi zone, Oromia Regional State, South central Ethiopia.”submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master’s in Geography and Environmental Studies for the Graduate Program of the Department/School of Geography and Environmental Studies, and has been carried out by Guto Wako Koroso Id. No SMA/080/05, under my/our supervision. Therefore, I/we recommend that the student has fulfilled the requirements and hence hereby can submit the thesis to the department for defense.

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SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES

ARBA MINCH UNIVERSITY

EXAMINERS’ THESIS APPROVAL SHEET We, the undersigned, members of the Board of Examiners of the final open defense by Guto Wako Koroso have read and evaluated his/her thesis “Challenges of sustainable forest resource management Kokosa woreda: The Case Kokosa woreda West Arsi zone, Oromia Regional State, Southern Ethiopia” ,and examined the candidate’s oral presentation. This is, therefore, to certify that the thesis has been accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree with minor corrections.

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Final approval and acceptance of the thesis is contingent upon the submission of the final four copies of the thesis to the Department of the candidate’s on the satisfaction of the advisor.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

All praises to The God Almighty who has created this world of knowledge for us. I am deeply thankful to my advisor, DR. Yichalew Kebede and my Co advisor Candidate of PHD Abren Galew , for his persistent help in all the steps of the thesis, from title selection to writing the final report. His way of teaching, continuous guidance, feedbacks, advices and encouragements have been truly exceptional and learnable. Besides, his support, constructive criticisms, flexibility and kindness inspired me greatly and helped me to successfully complete my MA program.

I am grateful to the residents of the study sites who gave me their precious time to discuss about Factors affecting sustainable Management of foerst, answering the questionnaires and replying many queries.

I am very grateful to my best friend Lole Aschalo who took his time to patiently review my thesis suppot me by all aspect especial when data collection time. My heartfelt thanks also go to my friends Gobena Emamu,and Abayine Ejigayo, for their hospitality and cooperation.

ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

CI Conservation International

CIFR Center for International Forestry Research

CSA Central Statistical Authority

EARO Ethiopian Agricultural Research Organization

EEPFE Environmental Economics Policy Forum for Ethiopia

EPA Environmental Protection Authority

EPE Environmental Protection of Ethiopia

FAO Food and Agricultural Organization

FDRE Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

GFRA Global Forest Resource Assessment

GIS Geographical Information System

GPS Global Positioning System

ITTO International Tropical Timber Organization

KWARDO Kokosa Woreda Agricultural and rural development office

LU/LCC Land Use Land Cover Change

MC Magnitude of Change

SFM Sustainable Forest Management

UNDP United Nations Development Programme

UNFCCC United Nations Framework on Clime Change

Table of Content

Content Page

DECLARATION ...... i APPROVAL SHEETS ...... ii EXAMINERS’ THESIS APPROVAL SHEET ...... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...... iv ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ...... v Table of Content ...... vi List of Tables ...... ix List of Figure ...... x ABSTRACT ...... xi CHAPTER ONE ...... 1 1. INTRODUCTION ...... 1 1.1 Background of the Study ...... 1 1.2 Statement of the Problem ...... 4 1.3 Objective of the Study ...... 6 1.4 Research Questions ...... 6 1.5 Significance of the Study ...... 7 1.6 Scope of the Study ...... 7 1.7 Limitations of the Study ...... 8 1.8 Organization of the Paper ...... 8 1.9 Operational Definition of Terms ...... 9 2. LITERETURE REVIEW ...... 10 2.1 Concept of sustainable management of forest ...... 10 2.1.1 Forest management ...... 11 2.1.2 Sustainable forest management ...... 11 2.1.3 Forests of the World ...... 12 2.1.4 World Deforestation ...... 12 2.1.5 Forest conservation and Management in Sub Saharan Africa ...... 13 2.1.6 Forest Resources of Ethiopia ...... 13 vi

2.1.7 General Background of Forest Resource in Ethiopia ...... 15 2.2 Forest Resources of Oromia National Regional State ...... 15 2.3 The Use of Forest Resource in Ethiopia ...... 16 2.4 Socio-economic factors and forest conservation and management ...... 16 2.5 Contribution of forest ...... 17 2.5.1 Forests for food security ...... 17 2.5.2 Poverty and deforestation ...... 17 2.5.3 Forests as source of income ...... 18 2.6 Deforestation in Ethiopia ...... 19 2.7 The Causes of Deforestation ...... 20 2.7.1 Direct Causes of Deforestation ...... 20 2.8 Impacts of Deforestation in Ethiopia ...... 22 2.8.1 Loss of Biodiversity ...... 22 2.8.2 Soil Erosion ...... 22 2.8.3 Loss of Water Resources ...... 22 2.8.4 Climate Change ...... 23 2.9 Forest Policy in Ethiopia ...... 23 2.9.1 Forest Resource Management System in Ethiopia (Since 1991) ...... 25 2.10 Conceptual Framework ...... 26 CHAPTER THREE...... 27 3. STUDY AREA AND METHODOLOGY ...... 27 3.1 Description of the Study Area ...... 27 3.1.1 Location and Topography ...... 27 3.1.2 Description of the Gorte forest area ...... 29 3.1.3 Climate ...... 29 3.1.4 Population ...... 29 3.1.5 Economic Background ...... 30 3.2 Research Methodology ...... 31 3.2.1 Research Design ...... 31 3.2.2 Data sources ...... 31 3.2.3 Sample size and Sampling Technique ...... 31 vii

3.2.4 Instrument of data collection ...... 33 3.2.5 Methods of Data analysis ...... 34 3.2.6 Ethical consideration ...... 35 CHAPTER FOUR ...... 36 4. RESULT AND DISCUSSION ...... 36 4.1 Socio Economic Characteristics of the Respondents...... 36 4.1.1 Sex Composition of the Respondents ...... 36 4.1.2 Age Characteristics of Respondents ...... 37 4.1.3 Marital Status of Respondents ...... 37 4.1.4 Occupational Characteristics of Respondents ...... 38 4.1.5 Religion and Language of Respondents...... 39 4.1.6 Educational Status of Respondents ...... 39 4.1.7 Household Size of the Surveyed Respondents ...... 40 4.1.8 Land Holding Size, Livestock Possession and Economic Status of Households ...... 42 4.2 Extent and Rate of Deforestation ...... 44 4.2.1 Land Use / Land Cover Change of the Study Area ...... 44 4.2.2 Level of Land Use / Land Cover Change within 1985-2015 ...... 49 4.2.3 Rate of Land Use / Land Cover Change within 1985-2015 ...... 50 4.2.4 Gain or Loss of LULC Types in Area Coverage Due to LULCC ...... 51 4.3 Causes of Deforestation ...... 52 4.3.1 Impacts of Population Growth on Forest Resources ...... 54 4.3.2 Agricultural Land Expansion ...... 56 4.3.3 Expansion of grazing land for livestock ...... 58 4.3.4 Fuel wood collection ...... 59 4.3.5 Rural Communities’ Challenges in Sustainable Management of Forest ...... 60 CHAPTER FIVE ...... 63 5. CONCLUSION AND RECOMANDATION ...... 63 5.1 Conclusion ...... 63 5.2 Recommendation ...... 65 6. Reference ...... 67 7. APPENDICES ...... 76 viii

List of Tables

Table Page

Table: 3.1 House hold Distribution in Each Kebeles Administration ...... 33 Table 4.1 Sex Composition of the Respondents ...... 37 Table 4.2Household’s Age Categories ...... 37 Table 4.3 Marital status of respondent ...... 38 Table 4.4 Occupational Characteristics of Respondents (Households) ...... 39 Table 4.5 Educational Status of Respondents ...... 40 Table 4.6.1 Livestock Possession and Economic Status of Households ...... 43 Table 4.6.2 Land Holding Size and Economic Status of Households ...... 43 Table 4.7 Land Use/Cover Type and their Respective Definition ...... 44 Table 4.8 Land use land cover status of Gorte(kokosa) wereda ...... 45 Table 4.9 Magnitude of Change (MC) of LU / LC Types within 1985-2015 ...... 49 Table 4.10 Annual Rate of Change of Land Use / Land Cover classes ...... 50 Table 4.11 Major Perceived Causes for Forest Depletion ...... 52 Table 4.12 Show Forest product sealed for income ...... 55 Table 4.13 Respondents’ Means of Increasing Income (livelihood means) ...... 57 Table 4.14 Challenges facing the rural community Indicators ...... 62

List of Figure Figure Page

Figure 2.1 Conceptual frame work of the study ...... 28 Figure 3.1 Administration Map of Kokosa wareda ...... 28 Figure4.1Martal status of respondent ...... 38 Figure 4.2 Household size pie chart ...... 40 Figure 4.3 Pie chart showing land use/land covers area percentage for the year 1985 ... 45 Figure: 4.4 Land Sat Image TM of 1985 Showing LU/LCC of the Study ...... 46 Fig 4.5 Pie chart showing land use/land covers area percentage for the year 2015 ...... 47 Figure: 4.6 Land Sat Image 8 of 2015 Showing LU/LCC of the Study Area ...... 48 Figure 4.7 that show forest land converted to grazing land ...... 59

ABSTRACT Globally, forests cover about four billion hectares. Ethiopia forest cover is about 3% of the total land area which is far much below the internationally recommended 10% per country. More than 1.6 billion people globally depend on forests for their livelihood. Ethiopia is one of the worlds fastest population growth accelerated environmental degradation and structural food insecurity. In Ethiopia the factors accelerated forest resource degradation has the major threat to rural livelihoods and sustainable natural resource management in the country. The objective of study of this study is to determine socio-economic factors affecting sustainable management of Gorte forest, assess to current forest conservation activity. A descriptive research design was used. Purposive sampling was used in the study and the sample size was 182 respondents, Data was collected using questionnaire, satellite image, interview and observation. Data was analyzed using descriptive analysis by the help of statistical package for social sciences. The stakeholders are not adequately involved in forest management. The major causes of deforestation in study area were agricultural land expansion, cutting down of tree for fuel wood and charcoal production, settlement expansion and timber harvest for construction purpose. Efforts should thus be focused on those factors that affect sustainable management of the forest.

Keywords: Population growth, Sustainable management

Forest degradation

CHAPTER ONE

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

Globally forests cover about four billion hectares or 31% of the total land area (UNFCCC, 2007).More than 1.6 billion people depends to varying degrees on forests for their livelihoods especially in the developing countries (Steven et al, 2009). About 60 million indigenous people are almost wholly dependent on forests while some 350 million people who live adjacent to dense forests depend on them for income and subsistence (World Bank, 2001). Worldwide forest industries also provide employment for 60 million people while some 1 billion people depend on drugs derived from forest plants for their medicinal needs (World Bank, 2001). Forests are also very important for human society since they provide many ecological services and benefits including watershed protection, biodiversity conservation, carbon storage, landscape beauty preservation and natural disaster protection which are increasing in frequency due to climate change (Malmasheimer et al., 2008). More so forests retard soil loss and erosion, improve air quality and help maintain regional climates especially their rainfall patterns (Hannaway, 2010). People also depend on forests for a wide range of resources including timber, fruits, energy and medicine of which also be sold for income generation (Sunderlin, 2005). However, despite their great importance in environmental, social and economic development, the world’s forests continue to face many threats thus destruction.

Ethiopia is one of the Sub- Saharan Africa (SSA) countries known for its fast population growth, accelerated environmental degradation and structural food insecurity (Tesfaye, 2003). Among others, accelerated forest resource degradation has become the major threat to rural livelihood and sustainable natural resource management in the country. In Ethiopia, pressure of intense human activity and improper farming as well as poor management practices pose serious threats to the sustainability of the natural resources and maintenance of ecological balance. There is a widespread problem related to intensive cultivation,

overgrazing, deforestation, soil erosion, soil fertility declines, water scarcity, and livestock feeds and fuel wood shortage. These factors often interact with one another resulting in a re- enforcing “cycle of poverty that is indicated as deep and structural, food insecurity and natural resource degradation trap" (Alemneh, 2003).

The long duration of human settlement together with increasing demands of the growing human and animal population, exploitative land use practices including excessive deforestation for expansion of cultivation, grazing, fuel wood and timber have resulted in reduced protective plant cover. Forest is an integral component of the subsistence agriculture practiced by the majority of rural populations. people utilize forest resource for needs meeting their for energy, livestock feed, construction material, agricultural implements; millions of rural families substantially depend on non-wood forest products (NWFPs), as their principal source for medicines and supplementary sources for food and cash income (Edwards, 1996). Forests are also important direct source of water for household use and irrigation in many places.

However, despite their great importance in environmental, social and economic development, forests continue to face many threats thus destruction. The destruction of forests has been brought about by increasing population pressure leading to expansion of settlement towards forest area. This has led to increased demand for forest resources and even expansion of agricultural land into the forests. Deforestation has also been related to inadequate energy substitutes and limited technology to utilize the available opportunities (Yanda, 2010). Due to lack of adequate assets and capability to lead a decent life communities adjacent to forests are forced to use forests as safety nests against annihilation by sourcing subsistence basic life needs from them and often in a destructive way (Kiplangat et al., 2010a).

Other important threats to forest ecosystems include inadequate technology, knowledge and incentives for alternative livelihoods and lack of environmental awareness (Matiko, 2007). Addressing of such factors leads to a dramatic decline in forest degradation (Brown and Dust, 2003).

In Ethiopia, pressure of intense human activity and improper farming as well as poor management practices pose serious threats to the sustainability of the natural resources and maintenance of ecological balance. There is a widespread problem related to intensive cultivation, overgrazing, deforestation, soil erosion, soil fertility declines, water scarcity, and livestock feeds and fuel wood shortage. Thus, the study will attempted to understand the factors that affect the sustainable management of forest in and around the Gorte forest area, Kokossa Woreda.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

In less developed countries, the economic growth rate could not satisfy the increasing demand for goods and service to the additional population and human needs increment. Most of the societies do not have a chance to be engaged in other alternative economic sector rather they depend on activities that adversely affect natural resource such as extensive farming systems, animal rearing on marginal lands, and engaged on natural resource exploitation. On the other hand, the population growth rate particularly in underdeveloped regions is getting faster. In attachment with the population growth rate, the level of natural forest is declining in faster rate in Least Developed Countries like Ethiopia. Hundred years ago, about 40% of land was covered by forest in Ethiopia whereas only less than 3% of the land is covered by forest currently (Bedru, 2007). The proportion of lost forest cover is almost the same with the size of the Northern European country, Sweden. The major reason behind degradation of forests is human interference (such as expansion of agricultural land, grazing, firewood) and poverty (Bedru, 2007).

The severe deforestation rate is caused by social factor such as population growth, high illiteracy; institutional factors which are related to property right; economic factors such as level of poverty, lack of alternative employment opportunity and income generation schemes; and political factors related to structural change. The economical and institutional factors are the most and permanent factors that contribute for such unwise and unsustainable utilization of forest resource. As there is poor economic performance in the country, the society is dependent on nature, therefore, majority of the people are highly dependent on natural resources. According to the European Journal (1991) those who are poor will continue to destroy their immediate environment in order to survive.

In some areas, rural people heavily depend on the forest to satisfy their basic needs which as food, water, housing and social services. With the increasing human and livestock population, the demand of forest products and forest land expansion farm and grazing land has increased. This coupled with the unwise forest management effects has become major problem to sustainable management of forest in the country.

In Ethiopia, there is no sufficient information about the quantitative contribution of forest to societies and about who among the communities uses and depend more. As a result, the forestry sector of the country has been given little priority in economic policies and development strategies.

Gorte forest is one of the remaining natural forests in Kokossa Woreda, which has environmental, economical, and social benefits for local communities. Similar to other communities of developing countries dwelling in the forest area, the communities largely depend on forest products for livelihoods. Even though Gorte natural forests includes different forest products of subsistence, commercial importance, these forests are under increasing pressure primarily as a result of the clearance of land for smallholders agricultural due to population growth.

According to World Bank (2001) report, globally more than 1.6 billion people depend for varying degrees on forest for their livelihoods; about 60 million indigenous people are almost wholly dependent on the forest. Some 350 million people who live within or adjacent to dense forests depend on the resource to a higher degree for subsistence and income (World Bank, 2001). Very large numbers of households generate some of their income from selling forest products often when farm production is not enough to provide self sufficient yearly. Income from forest production is often used to purchase seeds, hire labor, for alleviation, generate working capital, for trading activities etc, (Warner et.al, 2008). The benefits of forest to mankind are too many to enumerate. Forest provides products and services that have economic, ecological and social benefits. For rural communities, a forest is the source of energy, construction wood, fodder and income.

Similarly, Gorte forest is one of the remaining natural forests in Kokossa Woreda. Fuel wood, charcoal, fodder, construction materials like bamboo Culm and Tid are those generate income for societies who live with in and around the forest. Moreover, extents of people dependence on the forest resources and types forest have great impact on the sustainable management of forest.

These stated factors and others cousin forest fragmentation decrease in the forest cover, and depletion of some forests resources, products of the area. Finally this would results in loss of ecological and social benefits of the forest. However, there is no empirical study of the challenges of sustainable forest resource management in study area. This requires thorough investigation about the threats on sustainable use of forest in the area.

1.3 Objective of the Study

The general objective of this study is to assess the challenges of sustainable forest resource management in Kokosa woreda,South Centreal Ethiopia whereas, the specific objectives are the following:

1. To assess/compute the extent of forest resource degradation 2. To identify/enumerate the causes of forest resource degradation in the area 3. To evaluate the existing forest management system in the study area 4. To analyze the major constraints on effective conservation and management of forest in the area Finally, points shall be forwarded on the alternative ways via which challenges of sustainable forest management are going to be minimized.

1.4 Research Questions

As a guide for attainment of the objectives of the study, the following questions shall be used:

1. How much is the area coverage of Gorte forest? 2. How is existing forest management condition in the area? 3. What are the major constraints on effective conservation and management of forest resource in the area? 4. What measures should be taken in order to minimize the challenges of forest resource management?

1.5 Significance of the Study

This study is assessing the challenges of sustainable forest resource management and identifies the cause of deforestation on the Gorte forest in Kokossa Woreda Western Arsi Zone.

Assessing the challenges of sustainable forest resource management was increase the understanding knowledge about the cause of deforestation.

Therefore, the study was help to identify the rate of deforestation by individual farmers and group of farmers in study area. The study also was help to quantify the extent of dependence of local communities on Gorte forests.

Moreover, this study was helps to identify the reason of deforestation/ factors affecting sustainable management of Gorte forest in study area. In addition to this, the study was also help to increase the sustainable conservation of forest resource for the feature generation. Furthermore, the finding of this study was used as imputes for feature action that would be undertaken by governments and non-governmental organization working in the area. Finally the study was help other researcher as reference material base for further research activity.

1.6 Scope of the Study

The study was based on challenges of sustainable management of the forest in Kokossa woreda. The study was geographically limited to Gorte forest and community adjacent to the forest, since it’s the community adjacent to this forest that has a greater interaction with the forest. Therefore the study covered four sub location which include Bokore, Dula, Deyu and Kawo sub location in Kokosa District and adjacent to Gorte forest.

The interaction with the respondents was with the households within the study area, thus the unit of the study was households with the respondent being taken for the households head. More information was taken from opinion leaders in the area through interview.

There are many factors that affects sustainable management of forest, the study was focuses on the socioeconomic factors include age, gender, education level, income, and

land size. The study also focused on challenge of sustainable management of forest like low participation of women, low government support and low awareness of function of forest.The study was focused on the reason of deforestation on Gorte forest and evaluates the extent of community dependent on it.

1.7 Limitations of the Study

The various limitations for the study were accessibility to the study area due to the fact that most of the forest adjacent areas are far from accessibility of vehicles. The study was not able to involve the entire local community as respondents due to the available time and resources. The study was undertaken within the situations which made the collection of the data time consuming and required more money. In addition to financial and time limitations, the study was constrained by the following limitations; there was no prior study in the study area to be used as a spring board, lack of organized secondary data due to the absence of documentation and organized data base system in the study area and absence of officials and some experts from office during data collection. Moreover, this research was conducted at the researcher’s work place; where there was limited access to electricity, and no internet connection.

1.8 Organization of the Paper

The study is classified into five chapters. The first chapter deals with introduction, background of the study, statement of the problem, objectives of the study, research questions, and scope of the study and limitation of the study. The second chapter consists of review of related literatures which were collected from different sources both published and unpublished sources to support the study. In the third chapter, research methodology, description of the study area, research design, methods of data gathering instruments, methods of data analysis and sampling size determination were discussed briefly. In the fourth chapter, the collected data about the socio economic profile of the sample households, the extent of deforestation, causes and consequences of forest loss and the participation of the local community on forest conservation / management practices were interpreted and analyzed. 8

Finally, conclusions about the overall parts of the paper and recommendations based on the findings of the study were presented in the fifth chapter.

1.9 Operational Definition of Terms

1. Forest Area: This includes all land classified either as forest under any legal enactment, or administered as forest, whether State-owned or private, and whether wooded or maintained as potential forest land. 2. Cultivated lands: are those regularly used to grow domesticated plants, ranging from long-fallow, and land-rotational systems to permanent, multi-cropping systems. 3. House hold size: refers to the total number of persons living in the same household. 4. Land: land is the part of the earth's surface that is not covered by water, as opposed to the sea or the air. 5. Land cover: refers to the physical and biological material over the surface of land, including water, grass, trees, bare soil, and/or artificial structures such as asphalt and settlements. 6. Land-use and land-cover change (LULCC) is a general term for the modification of Earth's terrestrial surface with human interference to obtain food and other essentials for thousands of years. 7. Land use change: A process by which human activities transform the landscape. 8. Size of farm land: is the area of agricultural farm land that belongs to a given household.

CHAPTER TWO

2. LITERETURE REVIEW

2.1 Concept of sustainable management of forest

According to Ongweno et al,. (2008), sustainable conservation and management of forest resources is proving to be extremely challenging due to deficiency in the socioeconomic information related to the forests condition and responses to the same by the users of their resources. The information being used to make decision in the management of resources have assumed universal approach whereas situations differ depending on the specific localities, there environment and traditional production activities and thus also necessary interventions (Steppler and Nair, 1987). This has led to serious negative impact of the areas hydrology, climate, livelihoods and biodiversity. Despite the fact that participatory forest management have been adopted, the problem of Gorte forest deforestation have increased steadily probably due to decision making based on universal information.

This study therefore seeks to assess factors that influence conservation and management of Gorte forest in Kokosa district. This is with an aim of improving people’s participation in the management of the forest and also its sustainability.

This was based on the recognition of the fact that sustainable forest management cannot be achieved without the active participation of all stakeholders (PFAP, 2005). Forest management deals with the overall administrative, economic, social, technical and scientific aspects related to forests. It implies various degrees of deliberate human interventions aimed at safeguarding and maintaining the forest ecosystem and its functioning. Sustainable forest management ensures that the values derived from the forest meet the present day needs while at the same time ensuring their continued availability and contribution to long term development needs (Olsson and Knudsen, 2004). Community based forest management has thus become an integral part of sustainable development with considerable evidence that centralized management is unable to provide the right incentives for sustainable resource use and management (Adhikari, 2003).

2.1.1 Forest management

Forest management is; “The process of planning and implementing practices for the stewardship and use of forests and other wooded land aimed at achieving specific environmental, economic, social and/or cultural objectives”(FAO, Global Forest Resources Assessment2005).

This management can be for aesthetics, recreation, wood products etc, and can be based on conservation or economics purposes or both. The rising demand for forest products and resources requires that the forest should be sustainably managed, so as to ensure its availability in the future.

2.1.2 Sustainable forest management

The sustainability for forest products has traditionally been used to refer simply to the maintenance of a harvesting regimen over time (Toman, 1992). As a way of ensuring sustainable development worldwide, sustainable forest management has become the most suitable technique to manage the world’s forests (Hoffmann, 2006).

A better understanding of sustainable forest management was provided by the UNCED, (1992). One of the outcomes of the summit was the statement of forest principles for sustainable management of forests, and was the first global agreement made concerning sustainability of forest management. SFM encompasses an approach which keeps the forest ecosystems healthy with a simultaneous emphasis on ecological, social, and economic considerations. These three aspects are in fact mutually dependent. Sample, (2004) stated that it is impossible to get forest ecosystems protected without the economic and social needs of the local people being incorporated in the conservation processes.

Many definitions for SFM have evolved. The International Tropical Timber Organization, (ITTO, 1992), defines SFM as; “the process of managing forest to achieve one or more clearly specified objectives of management with regard to the production of a continuous flow of desired forest products and services without undue reduction of its inherent values and future productivity and without undue undesirable effects on the physical and social environment.” 11

As a follow up of the Rio declaration, the Ministerial Conference on Protection of Forests in Europe ((MCPFE, 1993), also provided a definition of SFM as “The stewardship and use of forests and forest land in such a way and rate, that maintains biodiversity, productivity, regeneration capacity, vitality and their potential to fulfill, now and in the future, relevant ecological, economic and social functions, and that does not impact negatively on other ecosystems.”Many other organizations came up with different definitions, but the basic principles in all the definitions were the same – managing forests and forest resources in a way that meets present and future generation’s needs, from social, ecological to economic perspectives. To broaden the scope of SFM, a number of criteria and indicators were developed, so as to ensure that SFM is not only considered in terms of sustained yield of timber, but also other forest functions like protecting the soil, watersheds, and supporting livelihood.

2.1.3 Forests of the World

A recent forest resources assessment (Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), 2010) estimated the global forest cover at just over 4 billion hectares, which is 31% of total land area of the world. The five most forest rich countries (the Russian Federation, Brazil, Canada, the United States of America and China) account for more than half of the total forest area. Ten countries or areas have no forest at all and an additional 54 countries have forest on less than 10% of their total land area. Concerning deforestation, mainly the conversion of tropical forests to agricultural land, the same report indicated signs of decreasing in several countries; but, continues at a high rate in others. Around 13 million hectares of forest were converted to other uses or lost through natural causes each year in the last decade compared to 16 million hectares per year in the 1990s.

2.1.4 World Deforestation

According to Chakravarty, Ghosh and Suresh (2012) mostly deforestation has occurred in the temperate and sub tropical areas. Deforestation is no longer significant in the developed temperate countries now and in fact many temperate countries now are recording increases in forest area. In most instances developed nations are located in temperate domains and developing nations in tropical domains. However, deforestation was significantly less in 12

tropical moist deciduous forest between 1990 and 2000 than 1980 and 1990. But, using satellite imagery it was found that FAO (2001) over estimated deforestation of tropical rainforests by 23%. However, the definition of what is and what is not forest remains controversial. The tropical rainforests capture most attention. But, 60% of the deforestation that occurred in tropical forests during 1990 to 2010 was in moist deciduous and dry forests. However, extensive tropical deforestation is a relatively modern event that gained momentum in the 20th century and particularly in the last half of the 20th century. 15% of the world’s forest was converted to other land uses between 1850 and 1980. Deforestation occurred at the rate of 9.2 million hectares per annum from 1980 to 1990, 16 million hectares per annum from 1990 to 2000 and decreased to 13 million hectares per annum from 2000 to 2010.

2.1.5 Forest conservation and Management in Sub Saharan Africa

According to FAO, 2010 forests and forest sector in sub Saharan Africa face a number of difficulties: which include population increase thus growing demand for resources, decreased crop yield as a result of scarce and unreliable rainfall and long dry spells, insufficient knowledge of resources and low institutional capabilities where most forestry administrations do not have differentiated forest inventory and forest management services, poverty alleviation, social conflicts, conservation of biodiversity, maintenance of forest health and vitality, control of land degradation and desertification and climate change which is the biggest problem(FAO,2010). Thus recommended that people should be trained on family planning, all sub-Saharan African countries need enhanced knowledge and expertise for the systematic assessment, inventory and monitoring of forest resources. There is also need for an integrated and inter sectoral approach and policies for forestry beyond forest boundaries. The government in this area should also reduce overdependence on external assistance.

2.1.6 Forest Resources of Ethiopia

Natural Forests

Information and data on forest resources in Ethiopia are limited. As a result, adequate information and data regarding their location, area, stock, annual incremental yield and

deforestation rate is not available (Environmental Protection Authority, 2003). However, according to Ethiopian Agricultural Research Organization (2008) Ethiopia’s flora and fauna resources are uniquely diverse. The flora comprises about 6,500 to 7,000 species of higher plants out of which 12% are endemic. According to Badege (2001) high forests, either coniferous or broad-leaved, were the climax vegetation of 35-40% of Ethiopia before human settlement took place. With the inclusion of savanna woodlands, some 66% of the country was originally covered with forest or woodlands. Over the last 3000 years, there has been progressive deforestation, which has accelerated tremendously during the last century. Rapid population growth (3% per year),extensive forest clearing for cultivation, over grazing, movement of political centers, and exploitation of forests for fuel wood and construction materials without replanting has reduced the forest area of the country to 16% in the 1950s and to 3.1% by 1982. Further estimates of the distribution of forest and woodland areas made on the basis of information from LANDSAT imagery (1979) revealed that 2.8% of the land surface is under forest and woodland. According to Million (2011) natural forests and woodlands covered 15.1 million hectares in 1990. This area declined to 13.7 million hectares in 2000. In 2005, the forest cover had further declined and was estimated to cover 13.0 million hectares. In other words, Ethiopia lost over 2 million hectares of her forests, with an annual average loss of 140 000 hectares between 1990 and 2005 (FAO, 2010). FAO also reported, currently the area is estimated at 12.3 million hectare 11.9 % of the total land area. Of this, the remaining closed natural high forests are 4.12 million hectares or 3.37% of Ethiopia’s land area. The area of forest is unevenly distributed in the country. Oromia, Southern Nations and Nationalities Regional State and Gambella region account for 95% of the total high forest area of Ethiopia (Woody Biomass Inventory and Strategic Planning Project (WBISPP), 2004). Oromia regional state which contained over 50% of the high forest in the country is estimated to have lost 31% of its forest as a result of agricultural expansion. The total forest cover loss from 1990 to 2015 is estimated to be in the range of 803, 000 hectares (WBISPP, 2004). Currently, ownership of natural forests is public. Plantation ownership ranges from government to individual farmers and communities. Industrial plantations are 100% publicly

owned while the non industrial plantations are both publicly and privately owned. These forests supply local people with products such as fuel wood and construction wood, as well as other intangible benefits.

2.1.7 General Background of Forest Resource in Ethiopia

Ethiopia has a total land area of 1,127,127 square kilometer. The total population is estimated to be 65,344,000 persons (Statistical Abstract 2000). According to Gemechu in Azene (1997), the country has 22.7 million tropical livestock units (largest in Africa) and 20.6 million of this (75 percent) is found in the high lands. Agriculture is the backbone of the economy. According to Azene(1997), Ethiopia is rich in its flora and it is estimated to contain 6500- 7000 species of high plants of which about 125 are endemic. Ethiopia has the fifth largest flora in tropical Africa. In the country the major source of energy is from forest. Benze cited in Azene (1997) that the rural households account for about 93 percent of the total energy consumption in the country and 99.5 percent of their energy comes from bio-mass fuels such as fuel wood, twinges, leaves, charcoal, dung, and agricultural wastes.

In the highlands of Ethiopia as stated by Azene (1997) people’s major economic activities are largely confined to cropping, livestock farming and forest manipulation whose misuses are strongly connected to the degradation of the land resources. About 60 percent of the most Serious soil erosion occurs in the highlands. Generally, these all problem is related to the increment of forest degradation by influence of population.

2.2 Forest Resources of Oromia National Regional State

Some 60 years back, Oromia high forests were estimated at about 14.7 million hectares, which covered about 40% of the land at that time. This figure does not include the lowland woodlands. If the lowland wood lands are considered the cover will be more than 60 % of the region‘s area. These forests were located at Central, Western, Southern, Eastern and South Eastern mountainous areas. Currently, the remaining high forest of the region is estimated to be only 7% (Bane, Sisay, Alemu & Bluffstone, 2007).

2.3 The Use of Forest Resource in Ethiopia

According to Amogne (2014) diverse physiographic, altitudinal, climatic and soil resources, enables Ethiopia to have various types of vegetation ranging from alpine to desert plant communities which provide economical, socio-cultural and environmental benefits. Demel (2001) showed that forests have an important role in maintaining the productivity of the environment. Trees provide food for animals serves as a standing cover to protect the land from wind and water erosion, stabilizing the water cycle, facilitates the process of evaporation and keeps the soil porous. They are also used for construction as well as for tools, furniture, fuel, medicine, grass and herbage, for forage and provide edible fruits. They serve to absorb carbon-dioxide to reduce global warming, give off oxygen and renewing the atmosphere. Plants also serve as source of income by attracting tourists, serve as recreational facilities, prevent lakes and dams from silting, clean, regulate and distribute water resources. Forests are extraordinary resources in that they provide for household income, maintain numerous ecosystems that support our planet, and provide for various economic sectors within society. Particularly in Ethiopia, forests are depended upon heavily. Ethiopia has, throughout its long history, been an agricultural society. Today, the forests within the country provide for the extensive livestock population, and protect the rugged landscape, and thus provide watershed and soil protection. As Ethiopia has a largely rural population, and a great portion of the people do not have access to electricity or other energy sources, 96% of energy in Ethiopia comes from forests, in the form of wood fuel, mostly for cooking and heating (Cottorone, Befekadu & Aynalem, 2008).

2.4 Socio-economic factors and forest conservation and management

According to (Guthiga, 2008) understanding the local community perception of forest management and the factors influencing the perceptions is vital in designing management policies that are sensitive to their needs. This is because several explanatory factors have been found to influence the success and or failure of community based forest management schemes (Cavalcanti et al., 2010). The problem of tropical forest degradation therefore cannot be addressed if the drivers of such degradation are not singled out and properly

understood particularly at the micro level where a strong dependence on forest resources has been stated (Kiplangat et al., 2010a).

The degradation and desertification and climate change which is the biggest problem.FAO, 2010 thus recommended that people should be trained on family planning, all sub-Saharan African countries need enhanced knowledge and expertise for the systematic assessment, inventory and monitoring of forest resources. There is also need for an integrated and inter sectoral approach and policies for forestry beyond forest boundaries. The government in this area should also reduce overdependence on external assistance

2.5 Contribution of forest

2.5.1 Forests for food security

Food security is key element of livelihood. Forests are the source of a variety of foods that supplement and complement what is obtained from agriculture and other sources. Many millions of people across the world have long made use of a wide variety of natural resources or non –timber forest, to meet their daily needs requirement (Neumann and Hirsch, 2000 as cited in Berhanu, 2004). Tropical forests contribute a great deal to human welfare (CIFOR, 2004).

Forest products provide diverse uses for rural people especially those who reside near and in the forest. Forests are sources of several edible materials that contribute to the food security (Marla and Rebecca, 2001). For many Ethiopians, the money earned from collecting, selling or processing forest products provides an essential input to household income helping them to buy food and invest in future food production (Viveropol, 2002).

2.5.2 Poverty and deforestation

Poverty reduction and natural resources conservation are interrelated, and attempts to achieve one of the objectives affect the other objective. Rural people are striving to feed and survive their lives by using different natural resources, while conservation of them is increasing from government policy. In least developed countries (LDCS) the majority of the rural people highly dependent on environment to obtain their daily livelihoods. For instance, more than

70% of the Sub-Saharan African’s population depends in large measure up on forests and wood lands for livelihoods and 60% of African’s energy demand is met by forests (Stebek, 2008). Thus, to solve this two interrelated problems we need clear understanding of deforestation and poverty relation-ship at local level. Poverty in rural areas is mainly linked to low and decline agricultural productivity arising from several land degradation, land fragmentation, and low adoption of improved technologies (Nyangena and Sterner, 2008). High population growth combined with traditional farming practices has contributed to environmental degradation and further agricultural stagnation. The poor are usually pushed to marginal lands raze plots in the rain forest, plough steep slopes and overgrazing fragile range land (Durning,1989).

Importance of forest for the functioning of living things in general and particularly as a source of livelihood for the community dwelling near by the forest is understandable. Rural farming households clear forests to get firewood, to get additional farmland, to construct home, to get safety nets etc. Deforestation and poverty has a long history in Ethiopia, the generalization that poor is the victims and agents of deforestation. Mihiber (2008) explained direct causes of deforestation are those that related to harvesting fuel wood and logging, clearing forest for agriculture and grazing, expansion of rural areas and villages into forest regions and forest fires. Generally, the poor people often exploit forest resources for an absence of other choices.

2.5.3 Forests as source of income

African forests are fulfilling critical environmental, social and economic functions. African forests are also the source of variety of non-wood forest products, such as honey and bee waxes, bamboo and bush meat. They are critical importance to the live hoods of rural communities and in some situations account for a significant share of household income (FAO, 2003). People who live in forest environments and who practice hunting, collecting and shifting agriculture depend heavily on forest products for subsistence and for source of income .Forest related income also includes that obtained by selling crops or livestock for which forest nutrients were essential (Shepherd, et al,1999). About 80,000 people from Addis Ababa are estimated to depend totally or partially on sale of leaves and twigs of trees 18

from the Eucalyptus forest around Addis Ababa (Daba, 2002). Research in Northern Sudan also shows that there is a clear association between wood fuel consumption patterns and income levels for both rural and urban households with the survey data revealing that a 30% drop in consumption occurs when an household moves from the low to middle income class and also drops by 13% whenever an household moves from the middle to high income class (FAO, 2003.). A study carried to examine the socioeconomic processes that affect forest dependency in the Eastern boundary of Bandipur national park also found out that households that rely on wage labour as a source of income are more dependent on forests (Sumati, 2006) Income was also found out to be one of the key determinants of forest dependency in an household survey carried out in Rwanda in the year 2001 (Agrawal, 2009). Participation in forest management has also been found out as being influenced by income in an analysis of factors influencing local people’s participation in forest management programs in Sissili and Ziro provinces of southern Zambia (Coulibay, 2011). Attitude toward the conservation of protected is also determined by the socioeconomic characteristic of income (Mehta and Herman, 2001). It has also been found to be one of the important factors influencing the decision of upland farmers to participate in forest management according to a study by (Thorai and Ranola, 2010). According to (Adhikari,2003) income has an influence on forest management with households having more assets as well as those belonging to the upper caste gaining more from common property resources.

2.6 Deforestation in Ethiopia

Even though natural resources in Ethiopia have great contribution to development, most of natural resources are highly exposed to degradation (Demel, 2001). Amogne (2014) also stated that historical evidences revealed that a few hundred years ago more than 63% of the total land mass of Ethiopia was covered by dense forests but it is not greater than 3% now. In relation to resource depletion, Ethiopians are facing rapid deforestation and land degradation that has been fueled by increase of population; which in turn resulted in extensive forest clearing for agricultural use, overgrazing, exploitation of existing forests for fuel wood, fodder and construction materials, setting of fire to create pasture land and

expansion of settlements. As a result, there has been a rapid decreasing percentage of the forest cover of the country from 40% in 1900 to 16% in 1954, 8% in 1961, 4% in 1975, 3.2% in 1980 and now it is estimated to be less than 3%. Most scholars agreed that current rate of deforestation is estimated to be 160,000 to 200,000 hectares per year which is extremely high. In addition to the above mentioned facts, there are several reasons for the depletion of forest resources in Ethiopia. According to Environmental Protection Authority (2003), Increases in population and consequent increases in the demand for agricultural land, fuel wood as well as construction and industrial use, settlements around forest areas and forest fires, the expansion of large commercial farms in forest areas, the absence of a forest protection and conservation policy, the absence of a strong forest administration system capable of arresting the rapidly increasing rate of deforestation as well as controlling and preventing the disruption of the various eco-systems, lack of effort to ensure the participation of communities in forest protection and conservation and the sharing of benefits, failure to clearly demarcate and enforce the boundaries of natural forest reserves are the major reasons for depletion of forest resources in Ethiopia.

2.7 The Causes of Deforestation

The causes of deforestation and degradation can usefully be separated into two categories. The first involves factors that are directly linked to the act of clearing or degrading land, referred to as direct or proximate causes. The second category includes the background societal factors that drive these direct causes, which are referred to as underlying causes (Center for International Forestry Research (CIFR), 2007).

2.7.1 Direct Causes of Deforestation The following are the main direct causes of deforestation and degradation that have been described in most literatures

Agricultural Expansion

Agricultural activities that result in the clearing and conversion of forestland include the establishment of permanent cropland, shifting cultivation and cattle ranching. The expansion of the agricultural frontier is usually the clearly dominant contributor to deforestation. Shifting cultivation can be less harmful than other agricultural activities, due to re growth and secondary forest succession following this type of agricultural use; but, only under very low rural population densities where long fallows can be maintained (Guariguata & Ostertag 2001). According to CIFR (2007) the direct causes that stimulate the decision to convert forestland include the following. Favorable environmental conditions (e.g. forests in areas with good drainage and soil fertility are more likely to be converted into agriculture), high prices for agricultural outputs (more profitable production, and thus more clearing), low wages (smaller costs of forest clearing, and thus more deforestation), demographic changes (e.g. population growth and higher rural populations can foster further deforestation).

Wood Extraction

Wood extraction is the principal intra sectoral cause of forest degradation, and can also leads to deforestation, either directly or indirectly. Wood is extracted from forests for timber, pulpwood, fuel wood and charcoal. While logging practices usually degrade forests, selective logging need not trigger severe degradation or deforestation. Infrastructure Extension

Finally, forests can also be cleared to construct roads, settlements, public services, pipelines, open-pit mines, hydro-electric dams, and other infrastructure. None of these sources tends to be a large factor in terms of the quantitative area of forestland cleared. But indirectly, road construction and improvement is by far the infrastructure development that contributes most to deforestation (Chokkalingam et al. 2007). This occurs not through the direct space roads occupy; but, through their reduction of transport costs, which in turn, enable productive activities to take place in remote areas. Such

activities often promote frontier expansion and forest destruction, as illustrated by cycles of timber harvesting, charcoal extraction and subsequent conversion to agriculture and pastures. Ecuador is one example where road building has been a prime driver of deforestation (Wunder, 2000).

2.8 Impacts of Deforestation in Ethiopia

2.8.1 Loss of Biodiversity

Forest and generally biomass degradation, as well as consequent land degradation, lead to the destruction and loss of biodiversity of both plants and animals. More specifically, the destruction of habitats, the introduction of a narrow spectrum of crop varieties, recurring droughts, as well as wars and conflicts could be mentioned as the most common causes for the loss of biodiversity in Ethiopia. In view of the presently growing conflicts between biodiversity conservation and agricultural needs, there is a potential danger that conservation of biodiversity may lose (Zerihun, 2008).

2.8.2 Soil Erosion

The combined effect of steep topography, high intensity rain storms, degraded vegetation, extensive cultivation, overgrazing, and soil with depleted organic matter leads to sever soil erosion. According to Desta (2001), it is indicated that over 14 million hectares (27%) of the Ethiopian high lands were seriously eroded out of which about half should be completely withdrawn from agriculture to reforestation. An additional 13 million hectares (23%) are moderately eroded, and of the remaining 28 million hectares, 15 million hectares are susceptible to erosion

2.8.3 Loss of Water Resources

According to Adugnaw (2014), one of the major impacts of deforestation in Ethiopia is loss in water resources. Due to depletion of forests and the resultant increase in runoff, the storage of water has greatly diminished and a large number of water points for human and animal use have dried up.

2.8.4 Climate Change

According to Fekadu (2015), Ethiopia did not cause climate change; but, the country is confronted by the threat that it poses, and should recognize the opportunity that it presents. Climate change is not a future possibility for Ethiopia, it is a present reality. That is why it is imperative that the country started to protect its people and environment, while at the same time building a green economy that will help to realize the ambitions set out in the Growth and Transformation Plan. It is feared that the consequences of climate change will be most severe for the world’s poorest countries. Africa is highly vulnerable to climate change with the areas of particular concern being water resources, agriculture, health, ecosystems and biodiversity, forestry and coastal zones. Agricultural production, including access to food, in many African countries and sub regions is projected to be severely compromised by climate variability and change.

2.9 Forest Policy in Ethiopia

According to Environmental Economics Policy Forum for Ethiopia (EEPFE) (2008) forest policy is a recent phenomenon in Ethiopian history. However, there have been enactments and legislations concerning forestland ownership, utilization, and conservation over a period of time. The first elaborate and modern legislation came during Emperor Haile Selassie I in 1965. These were three consecutive proclamations No. 225, No. 226 and No. 227, which respectively recognized three forms of forests, namely; state forest, private forest and protected forest. During the Derge regime there came a change of ideology regarding property ownership including forest resource ownership. Many laws were enacted to nationalize major types of private properties. The most important ones regarding land were public ownership of rural land proclamation No. 31/1975 and government ownership of urban lands and extra houses proclamation No. 47/1975. Then in 1980, the Derge proclaimed a new law that reflects its ideology i.e. Forest and Wildlife Conservation and Development Proclamation No. 192/1980. In its preamble the proclamation accused the previous government of the Emperor for its improper and unplanned exploitation of the country‘s forest resources and stated that the forest cover was depleted because of the selfish interest of the aristocracy and the nobility.

Accordingly, it repealed all three forest proclamations of 1965 and recognized three new types of forest ownership namely; state ownership, ownership by peasant associations and ownership by urban dwellers’ associations.

A few years after the fall of the Derge regime, another new Proclamation came into picture during the period of the transitional government, forest conservation, and development and utilization proclamation no. 94/1994. It recognized three forms of forest ownership: state, regional and private (EEPFE, 2008). Recently, in April 2007, the Council of Ministers adopted a forest policy for the first time in history. The government has given due attention for forest development and conservation considering its significance to the national economy, food security and sustainable development of the nation (Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE), 2007).In its preamble the policy stated that degradation of resources such as soil and vegetation cover caused desertification; increased recurrence of severe draught and also migration of rural population to urban areas. The overall objective of the policy is to conserve and develop forest resources properly so that there could be sustainable supply of forest products to the society (hence satisfying the demand) and contribute to the development of the national economy. From its specific objectives, policy statements about encouraging public and private sectors to participate in forest development, improving productivity of forests, and also improving, replicating and distributing suitable tree species are worth noting because of their direct implication to forest cover increment. In this policy and strategy document, three policy statements have direct relationship with the increase of forest cover. These are: Private forest development and conservation: Private forest development is encouraged through different mechanisms. Such mechanisms, among others, include tax holidays, lease free land, technical support and subsidy on tree seeds and seedlings. In addition, availability of loan can be facilitated for those who wish to involve in forest development and forest product processing industries. Development and dissemination of technologies: The policy emphasizes that effective afforestation and reforestation can be facilitated by generating, developing and disseminating technologies that are cost effective and suitable to both the agro ecological zone and the local 24

people. The technologies should focus on suitability for local people, economic viability and environmental friendliness, seed supply system development (both indigenous and exotic), research on indigenous tree species, agro forestry, transfer of skill and knowledge on forest management and technology package development. Promotion of forest marketing development: Farmers in highland areas, semi pastoralists, Entrepreneurs, cooperatives, governmental and non-governmental enterprises will be encouraged to supply quality and competitive forest products to domestic and foreign markets.

2.9.1 Forest Resource Management System in Ethiopia (Since 1991)

According to Amogne (2013) in 2007 the council of ministers adopted a forest policy which gives due attention to forest development and conservation considering its significance to the national economy, food security and sustainable development of the nation. The overall objective of the policy is to conserve and develop forest resources properly so that there could be sustainable supply of forest products to the society (hence satisfying the demand) and contribute to the development of the national economy. As stated in forest development, conservation and utilization proclamation No. 542/2007 (FDRE, 2007), in order to properly conserve, develop and utilize the forest resources of the country, major forestlands should be designated as state forests, their boundaries should be demarcated with the participation of the local community and they should be registered as protected and productive forests (article 8:1). Forests shall be protected from forest fire, unauthorized settlement, deforestation, undertaking of mining activities and other similar dangers (article 9:7). It also stressed that the local community may reap grasses, collect fallen woods and utilize herbs from a state forest in conformity with the management plan developed for the forest by the appropriate regional body. The harvesting of forest products, grass and fruit as well as the keeping of beehives in state forests may be permitted based on the objective realities of the locality (Article 10:3-4) and state forests shall be used to generate income from tourism (Article 10:5

2.10 Conceptual Framework Important factors

Factors of deforestation

1.Population growth

Expansion of Farm and grazing land Loss of forest and barren land

Increasing soil erosion and Land use/cover change loss of soil fertility

Land degradation

Decline of crop production

Food shortage Increase food price

Figure 2.1 conceptual frame work of study

Source: Developed by the researcher (2016/17)

CHAPTER THREE

3. STUDY AREA AND METHODOLOGY

3.1 Description of the Study Area

3.1.1 Location and Topography

Kokosa is one of the 11 Woreda in west- Arsi Zone, Oromiya Regional state of Ethiopia. The Woreda is bordered in the North and Northeast by Kofale Woreda, in the south by Arbegona and Bensa woreda, in the East by Dodola woreda and West by Arbegona and Malge Woreda. The woreda is located astronomically at the latitude of 60 35’ 0’’ to 60 55’ 0’’N and 380 40’ 0’’ to 390 10’ 0’’ Longitude, in the Oromia Regional State (see figure 3.1). It is 340 km far away from Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia, and it is 77 km far away from Shashamane. The district was under Sidama Zone in Hileselassie and Derg regime. After fall of Derg regime the wareda was integrated to Bale Zone from 1983-1997.But in 1998 E.C the new zone formed West- Arsi Zone. The zone was restructured from previously existing districts administered under Eastern-Shewa, Arsi and Bale zones. Now Kokosa wareda is under West Arsi zone.

The altitude of the woreda ranges from 2000m and 3200m a. s. l. The topographically, the woreda have characterized by plain, rugged and undulating land. The present land configuration of the district is the result of tertiary volcanic activity. The largest part of the district area belongs part of south eastern high lands of Ethiopia. Mount Gorte with height of above 3200 meter above sea level is the remarkable peak in the district (Finance and Economic Development Office, 2014).

Figure 3.1 Administration Map of Kokosa wareda

Source: Ethio Arc GIS 9.3(2017)

3.1.2 Description of the Gorte forest area

Gorte forest area one natural forest in Kokosa woreda and it away from Kokosa town to 19km direction on north east. This forest surrounded by Four Kebeles; namely: Bokore in the east direction,Kawo in the south direction, Dula in the west direction and Dayu in south west. Its altitude is above 3000m above sea level. It covered to 37km2 with forest, mainly Juniper forest; bamboo forest and different plant live in the forest.

The Gorte forest is highly valuable for economic and ecological services for local communities. The economic value for local communities includes fire wood, construction materials and source of income for poor people. For ecological services for example, home for animals and plant. Above 2000m a. s. l which can be categorized under”Daga” that covers total portion of the Woreda (KWARDO, 2010). The annual rainfall of woreda range from 1450mm to 2000mm (KWARDO, 2008).

3.1.3 Climate

Most of the wareda belongs to Dega (Temperate) and Woina Dega (Sub Tropical) agro climates, constitutes 95% and 5% of the wareda area respectively. The western, southern and northern parts have “Dega” (Temperate) agro climates with the mean annual temperature between 150c to 180c, while the small parts of the district is classified to “Woina Dega” (Sub Tropical) which is restricted to the eastern part of the wareda, with the mean annual temperature ranges between 180c to 200c and the total annual rain fall varies from 2,100 mm to 3,200 mm (KWARDO, 2010).

3.1.4 Population

The total number of population of the woreda is technically estimated at 161,028 for the year of 2008G.C. Out of this figure 49% is male and 51% is female. The households in the woreda are about 85,479 (KWARDO, 2008). Population pressure degradation has high pressure on forest land in the woreda.

3.1.5 Economic Background

Peoples in the study area engage different economic activities to earn their income and livelihood. According to Woreda economic and finance office (2017), Crop production, animal rearing, mixed farming as the main activities of people. However, agriculture is the dominant economic sector that supports largest proportion of Woreda people.

Agriculture is characterized by traditional mixed farming as it includes both crop production and livestock rearing, dependent on rainfall and fragmented land. Crop production is the main economic activity supporting the livelihood of the majority of the population for a number of centuries and is mainly of rain fed type, which is bounded by risks and uncertainties arising from unpredictability of weather particularly rainfall. Among the crops that cultivated in the Woreda Enset, Maize and Barley are some of the crops. Enset is the most principal crop in the Woreda which is the main source of food for the majority of people. The farming plots are small in size with the average of 1ha per house per household(KWARDO2017).

Livestock production is another agricultural practices in the woreda one of the essential components of agricultural activities since it is used as a source of income, saving, food, means of transportation, organic fertilizers and uses for milk and milk products for household consumption . Livestock are an important insurance substitute during not productivity of cropping times. But generally it practiced by small holder farmers and is low input type and characterized by low productivity (KWARDO, 2017). According to Kokosa woreda agriculture and rural development office 2017 there were 182605 cattle, 28425 sheep, 3200goats, 3665horses and etc. However, the production and productivity of livestock is very low. The major constraints are shortage of feed both in quantity and quality, inadequate animal health services, poor management, and lack of market information, and poor infrastructure development, etc (KWARDO, 2017).

3.2 Research Methodology

3.2.1 Research Design

A research design is a framework or general guide regarding how to structure studies concerned on to answer certain types of research questions. It constitutes a blueprint for the collection, measurement and analysis of data (Kothari, 2003). Therefore, in order to achieve the intended objectives of the study, mixed method research design were required to answer the research questions. These mixed research design incorporated both quantitative and qualitative research methods to answer the research questions. In this research design, quantitative research approach was used to analyze and interpret the raw data in the form of tabulation, percentage, frequency and by using measures of central tendency such as mean and mode.

The main purpose of research is to find out the truth which is hidden and which has not been discovered as yet. Thus, this study was also used a purpose of research particularly a descriptive research design which concerned with describing and portraying accurately the characteristics, specific predictions, with narration of facts concerning on the various factors affecting sustainable management of forest and examines the power relation among grassroots actors to achieve the objectives of the program. This method of data collection is chosen to get the detail information on the issues undertake study.

3.2.2 Data sources

Primary data were collected from farm household those who have direct contact/ economical dependant on the forest and satellite image. Secondary data were obtained from journal articles; books, policy briefs, study reports, magazines and the internet.

3.2.3 Sample size and Sampling Technique Selection of the study area, respondents and sampling techniques was conducted in the following procedure. First the study site was selected purposefully on the basis of socioeconomic characteristic and availability of forests in the area.

The study was conducted about Gorte forest of Kokosa woreda, Southern Ethiopia. There are twenty two rural kebeles in Kokosa woreda . Among them four kebeles were selected purposely based on their proximity to main forest area and the majority of local peoples mainly depend on the forest. The selected four kebeles are Dula, Kawo , Bokore and Deyu. A total of 1700 households are registered in the selected kebeles, of which 450,350,456 and 444 household live in Dula, Kawo, Bokore and Deyu kebeles, respectively. The sample households were chosen by using simple random sampling (lottery method). To this end, lists of households were obtained from respective administrative offices. Selection of sample households the sample size for household survey with large population were calculated using the Yamana(1967) sample formula to identify the total of sample size of households. The following formula to estimate the target group from the population in the study area.

n = 1 + (0.07)2

Whereas,

N= Total Population

n= Sample size

e= Confidence level

n = 2 (.)

= 182

Table: 3.1 House hold Distribution in Each Kebeles Administration

No Kebele Total House Hold Sample Size Percent M F T M F T 1 Dula 250 200 450 27 21 48 26.4 2 Kawo 190 160 350 20 17 37 20.3 3 Bokore 250 206 456 27 22 49 29.9 4 Deyu 240 204 444 26 22 48 24.4 Total 930 770 1700 100 82 182 100 Source: From Kebele Administration Office (2016)

3.2.4 Instrument of data collection

In this research the investigator had been employ four data collection methods. These were questionnaire, interview, Satellite data and observation methods. Data was collected through published and unpublished materials such as books, Google search, literature review, magazine and reports from agricultural office.

Key informant interview

Key informant interview were selected based on their proximity to study area. These key informants were selected with help of kebeles administrators, these key informant mainly elder men and women, religious leaders on the community and also other key informants were held with selected agricultural office experts. The interview was also conduct with kebeles administrators and with agricultural office expert from Kokosa woreda. The total 10 individual’s local farmers were selected as key informants.

Survey Questionnaire

A structured questionnaire was developed to collect the required data. The questionnaire consists of closed and open ended and contains different aspects like household characteristics, income of the household, assets and forest contribution and house hold attitude on the forests. Special attention was give to capturing the information of factors affecting sustainable management of forest. 33

The questionnaire were prepared by English language and latter, it was translated into local language ( Afan Oromo), because, in study area farmers are speakers of Oromic language.

The questionnaire were administered on total of 182 households, from each the four proximity kebeles and randomly selecting equal number of house hold

Satellite data

The data used to create the spatial data base used for this study were downloaded from United State Geological Survey (USGS) which are all cloud free MSS, ETM+ and ETM-OLI taken in 1985 and 2015 respectively. ASTER DEM 30m*30m resolution was downloaded from USGS and it used to extract the study area from the down loaded land sat.

Observation

Observation was also done by the researcher in order to crosscheck the data obtained through other methods data collection. Therefore, issues that were perceive during supervision of the household’s survey, key informant interview was dealt. Observation was making on current rate of deforestation in study area.

3.2.5 Methods of Data analysis

Data collected was checked, corrected, coded, and encoded in a computer, which were then analyzed to extract meaningful information. Both qualitative and quantitative data analysis was used were collected. The qualitative data obtained through key informants interviews and observation was narrated to summarize.

The quantitative data were obtain through formal survey was analyzed by using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version20. Descriptive statistic (frequency, mean, and percentage) were employed to analyze the quantitative data. The results were present using tables, charts and frequency distribution.

Moreover, the land sat images downloaded from the USGS covered all the surrounding areas which were outside of the target area. Therefore, the study area land sat images extracted by

mask with the study area DEM. Following the pre-processing activities, supervised image classification systems did in ERDAS IMAGINE 9.2.In addition to this, in ERDAS IMAGINE 9.2 soft ware the land sat images classified in respective to the land use land cover types. Finally; two land cover maps were produced corresponding to the two reference years with four land cover classes and temporal changes in land cover were determined and the result sent to Arc GIS 10.1 soft ware to display, quantify and interpret

After the supervised classification taken place on the land sat image, accuracy assessment were undertake to validate and compare the classified image with geographical data that are assumed to be true. The accuracy assessment of the land use land cover map has been undertaken by comparing the field data collected by GPS with the classified images in ERDAS EMAGINE 9.2 software. It is important to make proof whether the supervised classification was similar with the land use land cover classes on the ground. After this the amount of different land use land cover types of the study area quantified from the produced maps, which depicted in percentiles using tables. The changes over 30 years were analyzed and rate of change for each land use land cover type is calculated. In the meantime, the rate of land use land cover changes for the three decades from 1985-2015 would compute using the following simple formula:

R = Where R = rate of change

Q2 = recent year land use/ land cover in km

Q1 = initial year land use/ land cover in km and

T = interval year between initial and recent year (Geist and Lambin, 2002).

3.2.6 Ethical consideration

The study ensured confidentiality of information provided by each respondent by making sure that it was not passed to third party or will not be used against him or her. Before conducting the research an introduction letter was obtained from the University to ensure that the respondent understands fully the purpose of the study thus encouraging them to give the correct information. 35

CHAPTER FOUR

4. RESULT AND DISCUSSION

This chapter presents the results of both quantitative and qualitative analysis of data in line with the specific objectives of the study. The data which were collected from the sampled respondent in the study area were analyzed and presented under this chapter. The chapter consists of the socio economic characteristics of sampled households and detailed analysis and interpretation about the collected data in line with specific objectives of the study. The result of the study obtained described as follows:

4.1 Socio Economic Characteristics of the Respondents

The information provided here were from four kebele sample households, key informants, and researcher’s own observation. It is believed that the respondents are the permanent resident of the district and they were considered to be relevant sources of data for the study. Household characteristics such as sex, age, marital status, type of occupation, education level, household size, religion, and landholding size were considered as important variables that affect sustainable management of forest in study area. Through taking these variables in to consideration, socio economic characteristics of the sample households were analyzed in the following way

4.1.1 Sex Composition of the Respondents

From the total participants, as we can see from Table 4.1, about 89.1% were male headed households and 10.9% were female headed households. The total numbers of male households were higher than female households. The numbers of female respondents were small. This is indicating that the numbers of female head households were small in the area compared to male head households.

Table 4.1 Sex Composition of the Respondents

Sex Kebeles

Dula Deyu Kawo Bokore Total (%) Total (%) Total (%) Total (%) Total (%) Male 30 62.5 28 58.3 22 59.4 29 59.18 109 89.1 Female 18 37.5 20 41.6 15 40.5 20 40.81 73 10.9 Total 48 100 48 100 37 100 49 100 182 100 Source: Own field survey (2017)

4.1.2 Age Characteristics of Respondents

As shown from Table 4.2, about 52.2.%, 14.8%, 13.7%, 11% and 8.2% of the sampled households were within the age ranges of 35 to 44 years, 25 to 34 years, 45 to 54 years and 55 to 64 years, respectively. Nearly 11% of the household heads were within the age range of 15 to 24 years household heads of total. From this one can conclude that the majority of the respondents were in the age group of 35 to 44 years

Table 4.2Household’s Age Categories

Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative Percent Percent 15-24 20 11.0 11.0 11.0 25-34 27 14.8 14.8 25.8 35-44 95 52.2 52.2 78.0 45-54 25 13.7 13.7 91.8 55-64 15 8.2 8.2 100.0 Total 182 100.0 100.0 Source: own field observation, (2017)

4.1.3 Marital Status of Respondents

As summarized in table 4.3 the majorities 82.41% of the respondents were married, about 6.59% and 10.98% household heads were divorced and widowed, respectively. Since the survey focused on household heads there were no single household heads recorded.

Table 4.3 Marital status of respondent Types of marital Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Married 150 82.4 82.4 82.4 Divorced 12 6.6 6.6 89.0 Widowed 20 11.0 11.0 100.0 Total 182 100.0 100.0 Source: Own field survey (2017)

11%

6.60%

married Divorced Widowed

82.40%

Figure4.1Martal status of respondent Source: Own field observation (2017)

4.1.4 Occupational Characteristics of Respondents

Occupation of the respondents is taken into consideration in order to consider how their occupation influences deforestation in the study area. The occupational characteristics of households may directly or indirectly determine the way that society interacts with their surrounding environment in general and the forest resources in particular. Thus it was

important to deal on information about the occupational characteristics of each sampled household. Table 4.4 shows that farmer, merchant and civil servant constituted 82.4%, 10.98% and 6.5% of the total household’s occupation, respectively. About 93.5% of households were depended on agriculture directly or indirectly. Accordingly, the majority of the sample households engaged in agriculture, which is the main means of living. Examining the occupation of the respondent was necessary so as to identify if the respondents’ had alternative livelihood sources or were only dependent on the forest for their survival. And the result indicates that a majority of the respondents are only dependent on the forest with no alternative sources of livelihood.

Table 4.4 Occupational Characteristics of Respondents (Households)

Occupation of respondent Number of respondents Percent (100%)

Farmer 150 82.41 Merchant 20 10.98 Civil servant 12 6.5 Source: Own field survey, 2017

4.1.5 Religion and Language of Respondents

With regard to religion and language, 90% of the households were Muslims and 10% of them are Christian and 100% of the respondents speak Afan Oromo respectively. These shows that people inhabited around and in the forest area are homogeny society.

4.1.6 Educational Status of Respondents

Regarding the educational status, out of the total of 182 respondents, 90.65% of them were illiterate and 9.35% were only read and write. There was no respondent whose educational status above secondary school. According to the 2007 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia, 39.8% of the populations were found to be literate (CSA, 2007). Thus, as shown from Table 4.5, the majorities of

sample households; about 90.65% were illiterate and the rest 9.35% of them were literate and this figure was opposite from the country’s standard.

Table 4.5 Educational Status of Respondents

Educational status Number of respondents Percent (%) Illiterate 165 90.65 Read and write only 17 9.35 Total 182 100 Source: Own field survey, (2017)

4.1.7 Household Size of the Surveyed Respondents

The family size of households is an important factor that determines the consumption of forest products by respective households. It was also one of the factors that affect land holding size and agricultural expansion by the households. Thus, family size of each household was considered. Population growth results in changes of population structure such as arrangement of people in to different household and increase in size of household members. Change in the pattern of rural population gradually imposes change in rural land holding and land use characteristics.

Family size piechart

8% 9% 4_6 7_9

55% 28% 10_12 13_15

Figure 4.2 Household size pie chart Source: Own field observation (2017)

As indicated figure 4.2 the household size of the sample show variation based on its size. High concentration of household size is found between 10-12 people in the family and 7-9 people. This shows that the number of family in the household is very high. In the study area the household size between 4-6, 7-9, 10-12 and 13-15 are 8%, 9%, 28% and 55% respectively. Furthermore, as indicted in figure 4.3 the majority of the survey household has household size of 13 to 15. What can infer from this that the survey household has large household size, which are relatively high in relation to the existing resource condition of the area. With traditional based agricultural production system of the area, the prevailing household size result in a heavier burden on the household and resource base of the area to meet the basic need of its member.

The rate of human population outstrips the growth of agricultural output or food production (Malthus, 1960). According to this idea, household’s size is basis for population growth i.e., households with larger family size need extra food and other necessities and then putting pressures on the local natural resource. Hence, a growing population happens to be the driving forces of forests and other natural resource degradation .

According to CSA (2007), population number and densities shows an increasing trend at all levels, with considerable variations of less than 10/km2 for Gambella region to about 350 people per square kilometer in Harari region. Likewise, the respondents were asked about their family status, principally their family size. It should be noted that about 83% of the respondents from more than 10 family members for their household and about 17% of the respondents from 4 to 9 members for their households. In general, out of total household respondents about 28% and 55 % respondents told they had family members of 10 to 12 and 13 to 15 members respectively, which seem to have contributed to a growing population of the study area positively. So, family planning is a moral duty to be exercised by the communities at large since it is believed to bring about the optimum population growth and environmental resource use norms.

As interview with the rural health post staffs shows, a growing population in the study area has demanded for family planning services. However, in depth interview with the

key informant showed that the number of women voluntarily involved in the programs of family planning and getting services was unsatisfactory. This is because of religion progress of respondent, majority of respondent are the flowers of Muslim religion so the doctorin of this religion not support use of family planning. Some of the women also reported that they often become reluctant and offended to use pills, fearing of its long term impacts on their health condition.

According to CSA (2007) population and housing census of Ethiopia, the average rural household size of Ethiopia was 4.9 and the average of Oromia Regional State was 4.8. For the sample of respondents, the average family size was about 9 in the investigated households. This figure is higher than the average rural household size of Ethiopia and the average of Oromia Regional State

4.1.8 Land Holding Size, Livestock Possession and Economic Status of Households

The main economic means of the people in the study area was agriculture mainly crop production and animal rearing with the higher reliance on the latter. The classification of wealth was done based on local classification methods. During the interview conducted with the key informants, most of them said that for farmers whose means of living almost entirely agriculture, land holding and livestock possession are used as indicators of wealth. A farmer who does not possess land or possessed below 1 hectare of land and possession less than 5 livestock was considered as very poor, a farmer who owns 1-2 hectare of land and less than10 livestock was considered as poor and a farmer who owns more than 2 hectares of land and more than 20 livestock was considered as rich. According to the local classification method of wealth in the study area there was no very rich farmer.

Table 4.6.1 Livestock Possession and Economic Status of Households

Economic status of households Total number of livestock possessed by households <5 6-10 11-15 16-20 21-25 Above Total 20 Very poor % 8.24 5.49 2.74 0.0 0.0 0.0 16.47 Poor % 10.98 43.95 10.98 0.0 0.0 0.0 65.9 Medium % 0.0 2.74 5.49 2.74 0.0 0.0 10.98 Rich % 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.75 3.84 0.0 6.59 Total 21.96 49.44 19.22 5.49 3.84 0.0 100 Source: Own field survey (2017)

Table 4.6.2 Land Holding Size and Economic Status of Households

Economic status of households Land holding size of respondents per hectare 0ha <1ha 1-2ha >2- >3- >4ha Total 3ha 4ha Very poor% 8.24 13.73 5.49 0.0 0.0 0.0 27.47 Poor % 2.74 8.24 24.72 5.49 2.74 0.0 43.95 Medium % 0.0 1.09 2.74 5.49 7.14 1.09 17.54 Rich % 0.0 1.09 2.74 5.49 1.64 0.0 10.98 Total 10.98 24.15 35.69 16.47 11.52 1.09 100

Source: Own field survey (2017)

Accordingly, based on the local classification method, as summarized in Table 4.6.1and 2 above, 6.59% of the respondents were rich, 10.98% of the respondents were medium, 65.9% of the respondents fall in the poor category and 16.49% of the respondents being considered as very poor. Within the very poor category, about 83.6% and 79.79% of them own less than 10 livestock and less than 1 hectare of land. Within the poor category, 83.4% and 81.2% of them own less than 10 livestock and less than 2 hectares of land. Within the medium

category, 75% and 78.3% of them own more than 10 livestock and more than 2 hectares of land. Similarly, the rich category, 58.3% and 64.9% of them own more than 20 Livestock and more than 2 hectares of land.

4.2 Extent and Rate of Deforestation

4.2.1 Land Use / Land Cover Change of the Study Area

To investigate the spatial and temporal change of forest cover in the study area, understanding the land use and land cover changes about the past is crucial and it is also essential to understand the current changes and to predict for future.

The major land use/land cover types identified here under are based on the description given in Table 4.7 below. As a result four major land use/land cover types including forest cover, grassland, barren land, and farmland have been identified.

Table 4.7 Land Use/Cover Type and their Respective Definition

Land use/cover type Description Farm Land Areas used for rain fed cultivation permanently. Forest cover land Areas covered by trees forming closed or nearly closed canopies Grassland Areas dominated by permanent grass cover mixed with scattered trees along ridges steep slopes and plain areas used for grazing; usually individual as well as communal Bare Land Areas that have little or no vegetation cover, mainly with gullies and exposed rocks. (Barren eroded lands mostly on top of mountains, open areas near homesteads).

Source: Own field observation (2017)

As the following two consecutive maps clearly show, there was a continuous land use / land cover change for most parts of the district in the three decades (1985 to 2015).

Table 4.8 Land use land cover status of Gorte(kokosa) wereda

No LULC class 1985 2015 Area(km2) P (%) Area(km2) P (%) 1 Barren land 86 24.2 50 14.1 2 Farm land 127 35.7 132 37.2 3 Forest land 82 23.0 37 10.2 4 Grazing land 61 17.1 137 38.5 Total 356 100.0 356 100.0 Source Analysis result using Arc GIS 9.3

Land use land cover class pie chart

16.90% 24.30% Barren land Farm land 23.10% Forest land 35.70% Grazing land

Figure 4.3 Pie chart showing land use/land covers area percentage for the year 1985

Result of the image classification process revealed that the study is composed of barren land, farm land, and forest and grazing land. The area of farm land was the largest (35.7%) of all LULC class in 1985. About 24.2%, 23% and 17.1% of the study area was accounted by barren land , forest and grazing land respectively in the same period(1985).On the other hand, the largest share (38.5%) of the study area was covered by grazing land three decades later(in2015). In this period (2015), the area coverage of farm land was also larger (37.2%).Whereas, barren land and forest constituted only14.1% and 10.2% of the study area, respectively. Most Central parts of the study area were covered by forest while Western parts

dominated by grazing land whereas farm lands and barren land were dominantly found in the Northeastern parts of the study area.

Figure: 4.4 Land Sat Image TM of 1985 Showing LU/LCC of the Study

As shown in Figure 4.4, the study area has been defined to have four land use and land cover types, namely, farmland, forest, grazing land and barren land. The description of these land cover categories were presented in Table 4.8 the land use and land cover classification for 1985 from Land sat TM image showed that majority of the study area was under farmland accounts for about 127km2 (35.7%) of the land area of the study followed by barren land with a percentage value of 86km2(24.3%). Forest land accounts 82km2(23.1%) and grazing land had coverage of 61km2(16.9%) of the total area of the district, respectively. Most Central parts of the study area were covered by forest while Western parts dominated

by grazing land where as farmlands and barren land was dominantly found in the North eastern parts of the study area.

Land use land cover pie chart

14.10%

38.50% Barren land Farm land Forest cover

37.20% Grazing land

10.20%

Fig 4.5 Pie chart showing land use/land covers area percentage for the year 2015

Figure: 4.6 Land Sat Image 8 of 2015 Showing LU/LCC of the Study Area Source: Own work (2017)

The land use / land cover classification for 2015 from Land sat 8 satellite image showed that most parts of the study area was covered by farmland and grazing land. Grazing land accounted for about 137km2(38.5%) of the study area, followed by farm land 132km2 (37.2%).Barren land and forest cover accounted about 50km2(14.1%) and 37km2 (10.2%) of the study area, respectively.

The area extent of farm land and grazing land in the study area had shown increase over the past 30 years in periods between 1985 and 2015. On the other hand, the cover of forest land, and barren lands had shown significant decrease over the same period.

4.2.2 Level of Land Use / Land Cover Change within 1985-2015

It is recognized that LULC classes undergo change in the course of time in any area. Thus, land use land/ land cover change is found to have been a feature of Kokosa wereda (West Arsi zone), Southern Ethiopia. When the change analysis for the last 30 years is observed, grazing land showed an increase of 124% followed by increase in farm land by 3.9%; whereas, forestland and barren land decreased by 54.9% and 41.9%, respectively. In general in the period between 1985 to 2015, the forest cover of the study area has declined by 45 km2(-54.9%) and hence, it is possible to generalize that grazing land expansion and farm land expansion is the primary cause of decline in forest cover or forest loss and other land use / land cover types in the study area.

Table 4.9 Magnitude of Change (MC) of LU / LC Types within 1985-2015

No LUL/LCC 1985(Km2) 2015(Km2) 1985-2015

MC P (%)

1 Barren land 86 50 -36 -41.9

2 Farm land 127 132 5 3.9

3 Forest land 82 37 -45 -67.07

4 Grazing land 61 137 76 124

Total 356 356 - -

Source: Analysis result using Arc GIS 9.3

Note: ‘-’ indicates decrease and ‘+’ indicates increase

4.2.3 Rate of Land Use / Land Cover Change within 1985-2015

In the study area, farm land and grazing land had shown the highest annual rate of change. Forestland and barren land decreased by 1.5km2 (1.8%) and 1.2km2 (1.4%) per year between 1985 and 2015; whereas, grazing land and farmland increased by 2.5km2 (4.1%) and 0.2km2 (0.10%) per y ear in the time period between 1985 and 2015, respectively.

When we see the general scenario (1985-2015), the rate of change indicates that grazing land and farm land has increased (4.1%) and (0.10%)of the study area per year at the expense of the other land use / land cover types. The rest land use / land covers, namely barren land and forest had shown decrease by 1.4% and 1.8%, respectively.

Table 4.10 Annual Rate of Change of Land Use / Land Cover classes

NO LU/LC type 1985(km2) 2015(km2) 1985-2015

ARC P (%)

1 Barren land 86 50 -1.2 -1.4

2 Farm land 127 132 +0.2 +0.10

3 Forest 82 37 -1.5 -1.8

4 Grazing 61 137 +2.5 4.1

Total 356 356

Source: Analysis result using Arc GIS 9.3(2016/17)

Note: ‘- ‘indicates decrease and ‘+’ indicates increase

4.2.4 Gain or Loss of LULC Types in Area Coverage Due to LULCC

The results revealed that grazing land gained the most in area compared to other LULC types during the study period (1985–215). On the contrary, forests lost substantial area (most) during the study period with an annual average deforestation rate of 1.5 km2. The forest area decreased from 23.1% to 10.2% while farmland and grazing land increased from 35.7% to37.2 % and 16.9% to38.5% respectively during the same period. The other affected LULC types were barren land. The barren land decreased from 24.3% to 14.1%. In general, my study is revealed the expansion of farmland and grazing while forest cover and barren land show a decreasing trend.

Between 1985 and 2015, an estimated area of 76km2 and 5km2 was converted to grass land and farmland respectively from the other LULC types. Of this, 54.9%, and 41.9%, represented areas lost from the forest, and barren land LULC types, respectively. In the following 30 years (up to 2015), about 54.9%% and 41.9% of the grassing land and farm land were gained from forests and barren land, respectively. Of the total grazing land and farm land gained between 1985 and 2015, barren land and forest cover contributed 41.9%, and 54.9% respectively.

Demand for food for the growing population seems the probable driving force, among others, of grazing land and farmland expansion from 1985 to 2015. As discussed above, in the study area, an area of about 1.5km2 and 1.2km2 was annually added to grazing and farmland, mainly from the removal of forests cover and barren land. This finding is in line with the findings of Foley et al., (2011) who reported that agriculture is expanding in the tropics, and 80% of the area needed for this expansion comes from forests.

The growth of grazing land and farmland at the expense of other LULC types in the study area, especially forests and barren land, may be a manifestation of the weak or inappropriate institutional arrangements in the study area. The weak integration or coordination between and among various sectors that have interest in the landscape, lack of common planning tools capable of monitoring and evaluating the losses and gains of area coverage by the different LULC types and informing stakeholders accordingly, and giving priority to agriculture are

among the major factors that have contributed to the observed undesirable losses in the area coverage of the different LULC types, especially forests.

4.3 Causes of Deforestation

According to long lived elders in the study area, most part of the district was covered by forest some two / three decades ago. But, today most areas which were once covered by forests are devoid of forests due to deforestation. Deforestation is common in the study area but some kebeles are almost completely deforested and others are relatively covered by forests. For example, in Dula kebebe, forests are almost completely cleared. In this kebele, remnant forest resources are found stands of trees around the homesteads. There are also scattered remnant trees on farm land. However, due to population growth and subsequent increase demand for farm land, fuel wood, new rural settlements, and for construction materials, the forests have cleared and are declining from time to time.

Table 4.11 Major Perceived Causes for Forest Depletion Causes of deforestation Frequency Percent Over grazing and over 20 11.0 browsing Fire wood and charcoal 50 27.5 production Agricultural land expansion 60 33.0 Timber harvest for 40 22.0 construction Settlement expansion 12 6.6 Total 182 100.0 Source: own field observation, (2017)

In order to identify the major cause of deforestation in study area, respondent were asked about their opinions about the major factors that caused deforestation in their locality. As shown from table 4.11, out of total respondents, 33% of them claimed that agricultural land

expansion was the major cause of deforestation, and 27% of them replied that fuel wood and charcoal production was the major cause of the problem in the study area. The expansion of rural settlement (6.6%), over-browsing and over grazing (11%), and timber harvest for construction purpose (22%) were indicated to have been vital causes for the deforestation problem in the area. Thus, according to respondents’ perception, the most important causes of deforestation in the study area were agricultural land expansion, cutting down of trees for fuel wood and charcoal production, rural settlement expansion, and timber harvest for construction purpose.

According to Bane. , (2008), the major causes of deforestation in Oromia Regional State are expansion of agriculture, grazing, timber and fuel wood extraction and charcoal burning for household consumption and for sale.

Population growth is often cited as a primary reason for land use changes, forest encroachment and conversion to crop lands and settlements. However, there is no “linear relationship” that increases in population will put more pressure on land and forests. It depends on the stage of development of the country. It is mainly influenced by the countries dependency on land, extent of urbanization and level of income and the priority of the government to conserve existing forests (Bijendra, 2009).

In low forest cover developing countries, the impact of population growth on forests is influenced by population density and income. In developing countries population growth has exerted high pressure on existing forests. Cutting of forests for agricultural purposes is quite likely in these countries since most of the population still depends on agriculture for livelihoods. Fire wood is still used as a primary source of energy and economic development is not strong enough for a shift from traditional to modern fuels utilization (Bijendra, 2009).Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world. Millions of people depend on forests and forest products for their livelihoods (Bane.,et al., 2008). The major cause of deforestation is rapid population growth, which leads to an increase in the demand for crop and grazing land, wood for fuel and construction. According to Million (2001), lack of viable land use policy and corresponding law also aggravated the rate of deforestation. 53

New settlements in forests are increasing from time to time and hence resulted in the conversion of forested land into agricultural and other land use systems. As also stated by key informants during the interview, the increase in both human and livestock population has led to decreased holdings of arable land. Arable land per capita has declined in rural households significantly and resulted problem of land shortage in the study area. In recent time, land shortage has become very acute problem since the existing land has been shared and distributed to children especially for male children. The increase in population in the area means that there will be more pressure both on forest and agricultural lands. This also implies an increase in the demand for forest products. As a result, deforestation will continue and all the positive functions of forests will disappear. The people in the study area depend mainly on agriculture. They are entirely dependent on forests as source of domestic energy and as source of income. As a result population growth coupled with their dependence on forests has impacted on forests resources of the district.

According to FAO (2010), as cited in GFRA (2006) agricultural expansion and shifting cultivation are the major direct causes of deforestation globally, although the picture varies between regions, and usually a multiplicity of causes is jointly at work. Behind the direct causes, there is a complex set of underlying causes (economic, policy and institutional, technological, environmental, demographic, cultural and socio political factors) that need to be addressed to reduce deforestation.

4.3.1 Impacts of Population Growth on Forest Resources

Several studies have mentioned that deforestation which is the major problem in the highland was caused by un-proportional number of people living on the land which are over 1500 meters above sea level (Alicia, 2008; Sahilu in Gedion, 2003). More over, the ever increasing rate of population growth is believed to be the major cause of deforestation. This is because increased population led to increased need for farmland, wood for fuel, charcoal and construction materials. It is clear that in Ethiopia wood and wood products are the prominent materials for construction of house and sources of energy (Demel, 2005; Aklilu, 2001). It is also true that as the population grows it demands more area for croplands, more fuel timber, forage and browse without effective management. These are leading to an increasing 54

depletion of the country’s natural vegetation particularly from pastures, woodlands and forests ( FDRE, 1997).

The world has experienced a rapid population growth throughout the last century. A growing population consequently implies a growing demand for agricultural products and forest products such as food, construction materials and energy supply (Rademaekers, et al., 2010). The high population growth rate and the subsequent rising demands for farm and grazing land, for construction material, fuel wood, charcoal, resettlement, and low public awareness are the main factors responsible for the decline of forest areas (EPA, 2008). Therefore, in order to determine the impact of population growth on forest resources, respondents in the study area were asked whether or not there was an impact of population growth on forest resources and Agricultural land resource include on family income. The 100% of respondents claimed that the impact of population growth is very high on forest resource and both agricultural land resource and income of family decrease from time to time. The types of activities carried out in the forest were examined for two reasons 1) to find out how dependent the community is on forest resources, and 2) to assess the impacts of these activities on the state of the forest if not sustainably managed. Considering the major forest activities usually carried out in most forest settings, the distribution of responses for the principal activities as shown in this study include; farming (100%); followed by collection of fuel wood (23.1%); charcoal (49.5%); timber(27.5%) in that order (Multiple answers provided).

Table 4.12 Show Forest product sealed for income

Types of forest product Frequency Percent Fuel wood 42 23.1 Charcoal 90 49.5 Timber/lumber 50 27.5 Total 182 100.0

Source: own field survey (2017)

4.3.2 Agricultural Land Expansion

Analysis of satellite image show that the forest cover of the study area had decreased over the last 30 years due to grazing land and farm land expansion. For instance, when forest land and barren land of the study area had decreased by 45 km2 (54.9%) and 36km2 (41.9%) respectively in the time period between 1985 and 2015, the grazing land and farm land had increased by 76 km2 (124.6%) and 5km2 (3.9%) during the same time period respectively. In fact, grazing land and farm land had increased at the expense of other land uses / land covers, namely barren land and forest land. Scientists today agree that agricultural land expansion is the most important direct driver of land use change globally, followed by infrastructure development and wood extraction. Agriculture is estimated to be the proximate driver for around 80% of deforestation worldwide (Kissinger, Herold & De Sy, 2012). Agricultural land expansion is also generally viewed as the main source of deforestation contributing around 60% of total tropical deforestation (Chakravarty, Ghosh & Suresh, 2012).

The expansion of subsistence agriculture to satisfy food demand has continued ever since due to the continuous population growth in the study area. It is also the main driving force for deforestation. Agriculture, manly crop farming and livestock rearing, is the main livelihood of the district’s population. It provides almost the largest share of livelihood of the population. The most important crops produced in the study area are cereals include wheat, barley, enset and maize. From the cereals enset and maize are the most widely produced crops. The district is also known by animal rearing. In terms of animal population cattle stands first followed by sheep and goats.

Moreover, as the key informants during the interview expressed that agriculture is still at the subsistence level. Level of agricultural products produced by people in the area are very low and are insufficient to feed the households family. The insufficient agricultural production reported by the majority of key informants was due to lack of access to modern technology, failure of farmers to accept the existing technologies such as improved seeds and fertilizers, dependency on rain fall and lack of irrigation practice.

It is also reported that the low productivity of traditional method of farming demands extensive lands. On the other hand, the demand of land required to feed the growing population is steadily increasing. With agricultural productivity lagging far behind population growth rates the gap between the availability and the demand for agricultural land continues to grow from year to year. This led to severe land use conflicts among crop farming, animal grazing and forestry. During the interview most of key informants in the study area said that land holding size less than two hectares, under the existing agricultural technology and farmers’ dependency on rainfall, is not enough to produce enough food for their family. As a result there is a need to expand more agricultural land at the expense of forests to increase agricultural productivity. A large part of this agricultural expansion is usually at the expense of currently forested areas. In Ethiopia, between 2000 and 2008, 80% of new agricultural land was converted from forests, woodlands or shrub lands(Conservation International (CI), 2011).

In addition to the above mentioned facts, respondents were asked whether or not the land they owned is enough to produce enough food for their families. Out of the total 182 sampled households who owned land, 100% of them replied “no” for the question. Farmers were also asked about the means of increasing income and ensuring food security; as shown in Table 4.13, 27.5% of the respondents reported that they have been increasing their income by increasing agricultural land. The other 23%, and 49.5%, of them reported that they have been increasing their income by rearing animals, and selling forest product, respectively. Hence, the most important mechanisms of increasing income were by selling forest products and increasing agricultural land at the expense of forest cover.

Table 4.13 Respondents’ Means of Increasing Income (livelihood means) Means or mechanism Frequency Percent Increasing agricultural land 50 27.5 Selling forest products 90 49.5 Animal products 42 23 Total 182 100

Source: own field survey (2017) 57

4.3.3 Expansion of grazing land for livestock

As in all other parts of the Ethiopian highlands, livestock are an integral part of the sedentary life of the people in the study area. Traditional mixed farming systems (cultivation of Enset and livestock rearing) are predominant farming systems of most of the sample households. The integration of livestock rearing and crop cultivation is limited to the post harvest grazing on the farmland. The contribution of livestock as cash sources of the farmers is significant. In nearly all observed areas, free grazing affects seriously the natural vegetation. AS shown in table 4.11 the major causes of forest depletion are over grazing and browsing alone share 11% in study area. Grazing and browsing of livestock prevents natural regeneration trees and excess livestock rearing leads to serious land degradation followed by soil erosion. The natural regeneration of the forest resources is difficult due to high populations of grazing and browsing livestock within the forests (Reusing, 2000).

Livestock plays a critical role for supporting communities involved in the mixed crop-livestock production system through a range of products and services. In sustainable forest management, the role of livestock was seen as both positive and negative effects of sustainable forest use management. On the one hand, having many livestock minimized households from using forests and forest products their source of income, which force them to destruct natural resources. On the other hand, many livestock leads overgrazing that has negative effects.

Figure 4.7 that show forest land converted to grazing land

4.3.4 Fuel wood collection

Table 4.11 shows that collection of fuel wood was another major activity of great importance, as 50 out of the 182 respondents acknowledged that they were involved in collection of fuel wood and charcoal production from the forest (27.5%). According to the respondents, the wood collected is used as fuel for cooking; heating homes, and as a source of light. Ethiopia is one of the world’s most fuel wood reliant nations (Horne and Frost, 1992). The traditional fuel sources (woody biomass, crop residues, dung and charcoal) put together are reported to have claimed 95.3% of the total domestic energy consumption in Ethiopia whereas the modern sources (petroleum and electricity) accounted for only 4.7% in 1990/91 (Mekete, 1996). Since most of the people in rural areas are poor or living below the poverty line, they can hardly afford for electric or gas stoves, thus, they rely greatly on wood for meeting their needs. Also most of the rural areas in Kokosa lack electricity, hence heating homes and lighting is from wood.

The wood is also used for making charcoal (the charcoal is then sold to earn some money) and construction of homes. This is in conformity with FAO (2009) report stating that wood products from tropical countries are used as fuel (between 40 and 80%), and about 80% of the collected wood in Africa is used for fuel wood and for charcoal making. Collection of fuel wood can also be a major driver of deforestation at local level (FAO, 2010) and thus may affect the health of the forest if harvesting is not sustainable.

4.3.5 Rural Communities’ Challenges in Sustainable Management of Forest

This research also looked at some of the possible challenges the community might be facing in the course of managing the forest so as to provide information for future policy formulations to better the management of forest resources. Many factors could possibly affect people’s participation in Natural Resource Management (NRM). According to Singh (1992: 12), there are seven barriers, which can lower people’s participation in NRM. These are, easy availability of grants and subsidies, prejudices and discrimination against women, illiteracy and lack of awareness, factionalism and heterogeneity of population, disparities in wealth and social status, interference by politicians, and misunderstanding about the motivation and objectives of people’s organization. The result shows, among others, some of the common challenges usually faced by many community forest management projects. The major challenges which were identified are a. Lack of finance

From total respondent 82.4% of respondent claimed that lack of finance result that the reason of that challenge the sustainable management of forest but only 5.5% of respondent disagree and 10.9% of respondent strongly agree. This has greatly affected sustainable management of forest in study area because a project cannot be sustainable with limited funding. One of the problems the local people are facing is the lack of finances as documented by a number of researchers like Djeumo (2001) and Oyono (2000). This lack of finance has also made it difficult for proper monitoring of the activities going on in the forest. This also accounts for the unsustainable nature of the Gorte forest.

b. Lack of and/or inadequate training of community leaders

From total respondent of household 87.9% of respondent claimed that 87.9% agree on lack of inadequate training of community leaders, 5.5% neutral and 1% disagree on lack of inadequate training of community leaders as challenges of sustainable management of forest management. The local people lack training and the skills needed for proper management of the forest. In addition poor agricultural practices together with lack of awareness and consciousness contribute a lot to the degradation of natural resources such as destruction of forests, degradation of soil and water resources (Girma, 2001).

In an informal interview with some of the respondents, one of them said that, “the lack of training of the community members and lack of involvement of forestry officials to assist the community members with training and supportive programs is a big issue”. Quick solutions rather than sustainability, quantity rather than quality, area coverage rather than impacts, command and control rather than participation, are the approaches that have dominated the extension system (Gete et al. 2006). Generally the lack of awareness about stainable management of forest is the major issue that play pivotal role for deforestation in study area. c. Lack of government support

As shown from table 4.14 more portion of respondent 65.9%agree,27.5% strongly agree to claimed that lack of government support is the main challenge of sustainable management of forest. Whereas, 2.2% respond neutral and 3.3% disagree. This is evident in the state of the forest. Lack of finance on the part of the community, coupled with lack of government support makes it so difficult for local communities to manage the forest. The government fails to support them with neither finances not training. One of the respondents stated “the lack of government’s assistance has led to inadequate control of forest resources”. d. Limited participation of women

From total respondent 82.4% of respondent strongly agree, 10.9% are agree on limited participation of women on forest management. But 6.6% of respondents’ responses are

neutral. Low participation of women on forest resource management result that the degradation of forest resource in study area. Generally all this above mentioned factors are the factors that affect the community to manage forest as sustainable and controlling of forest resource as own resource. As suggested by Wonani (2004), women’s participation in SFM activities can be improved through the reduction of their household roles so that they have time left for SFM activities. Generally all this above mentioned factors are the factors that affect the community to manage forest as sustainable and controlling of forest resource as own resource.

Table 4.14 Challenges facing the rural community Indicators Indicators Agree Strongly Neutral Disagree (%) Strongly

(%) Agree (%) (%) Disagree (%)

Lack of government 65.9 27.5 2.2 3.3 1 support

Lack of finance 82.4 10.9 1 5.5 0

Limited participation 10.9 82.4 6.6 0 0 of women

Lack of and/or 87.9 5.5 5.5 1 0 inadequate training of community leaders

Source: Own field observation, (2017)

CHAPTER FIVE

5. CONCLUSION AND RECOMANDATION

5.1 Conclusion

The aim of this study was to examine the of forest resource degradation and the challenges of sustainable forest resource management in kokosa woreda, identify the community dependence on forest resources, challenges and to point some possible solution for minimizing forest management problems. The rural people in the study area are greatly dependent on the forest for their livelihood with little or no alternative livelihood sources.

Analysis of land sat TM image of 1985 and land sat 8 images of 2015 result show that the forest cover of the study area has decreased. For instance, about 82km2(23.1%) of the total area of the study area was covered by forest in 1985. After thirty years in 2015, the total forest cover of the area was 37km2(10.2%). In the time between 1985 and 2015, the forest cover of the study area has lost by -67.07%. Grazing land expansion was the main cause for the loss of forest in the time period between 1985 and 2015. Between 1985 and 2015, grazing land had increased by 124% at the expense of other land uses mainly forests.

In addition to satellite images interpretation result, the sample households and key informants opinion revealed that due to population growth and an increase demands for farm land, fuel wood and charcoal production, settlement land and timber harvest for construction materials; the forest resource have been exploited in the study area. According to sample households’ perception, the major causes of deforestation in the study area were agricultural land expansion, cutting down of trees for fuel wood and charcoal production, settlement expansion, and timber harvest for construction purpose

The study also shows that the local people are faced with a range of challenges in managing the forest. Some of the challenges include the lack of finance, low women participation on forest management and lack of government support, lack of human capital building due to limited or no training of community members. 63

According to sampled households’ opinion, deforestation has negatively impacted the natural environment of the study area. The major impacts of deforestation perceived by households are climate change mainly rain fall variability, loss of biodiversity, soil erosion and decline of soil fertility, increase of temperature, interruption of water flow and desertification.

As the finding of the study revealed that the management of the existing forests in the study area is the responsibility of both the government and the local community. However, the participation of the local community in the management of community and state forests were low. This is due to lack of training or education on awareness creation about the management of forests. As the finding of the study indicated, the majority of households have not got training or education concerning the management of forests in the study area.

5.2 Recommendation

Based on the findings of the study the following points are forwarded as a recommendation:

1. The majority of the local community is almost entirely dependent on subsistence agriculture, which is the main cause of deforestation. Hence, the concerned bodies or stakeholders should create off farm job opportunities for the rural community in order to reduce their dependency on forests resource.

2. To reduce over dependence on forest resources, the government should provide alternative livelihood activities to the local people. For example, the government can boost small businesses by providing micro-credit to individuals and groups at low interest rates; encourage bee farming by providing technical and financial support to the local people.

3. To ensure sustainability in the management of resources and environmental conservation, local communities must benefit from the resources. When local communities know that they benefit significantly from any conservation efforts, they would have an incentive to refrain from illegal resource extraction. This can help to control the rate of illegal activities happening in the forest.

4. The government can adopt community forestry as a national strategy for sustainably managing the forest. If it becomes a national issue it means it will be everybody’s concern to manage and protect the forest.

5. The decentralization of forest management and devolution of powers to the rural communities should be in practice and not in theory only.

6.The study reveals that several households do not have enough agricultural land and could not produce enough food for their family. Thus, the researcher recommends that the concerned bodies should supply effective modern farming practices and agricultural technologies that can help farmers to maintain or increase food production.

7.Governments, NGOs and other stakeholders should facilitate the expansion of alternative energy sources, education, and fuel saving technology diffusion in order to reduce dependency on fuel wood.

8.Effort must be exerted to awaken the whole community about the economic and ecological benefit of forest. Also creating public awareness about economic and ecological cost and benefit of forest resource is necessary. This can change the existing low community participation on forest management of the area.

6. Reference

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7. APPENDICES

7.1 Appendix I: Household Survey Questionnaire

Arba Minch University

School of graduate Studies

Department of Geography and Environmental Studies

Household Survey Questionnaire

Dear sir/ Madam

My Name is Guto Wako, a student of Arba minch university undertaking a master’s degree of Arts in Geography and Enviromental Study. You are requested to provide information on Challenges of Sustainable forest resource Management in Kokosa Woreda. It is hoped that the study will result into the institutionalization of structures and operational changes that will improve the management of the forest.

Your views as a resident of the issue area are considered crucial in this study. Kindly provide accurate information of the following issues to the best of your ability following the instructions given after each item, and return your completed questionnaire to the researcher. Your cooperation will be highly appreciated and all the information given is strictly private and confidential and shall not be used for any other purpose whatever other than this study.

Thank you

Yours Faithfully

Guto Wako

Part I. Identification Data

1. Name of Enumerator ______

2. Household head code number ______

3. Kebele ______

4. Date ______

Part II-Personal and Socio-Economic Characteristics of Respondents [put a tick mark (√) in the box in front of your choice]. 5. Sex of the respondent: 1. Male 2. Female 6. Age of the respondent: 1. 15-24 2. 25-34 3. 35-44 4. 45-54 5.55-64 6. >64 7. Marital status: 1. Single 2. Married 3. Divorced 4.Widowed 8. Household size 1. 1- 3 2. 4- 6 3. 7- 9 4. 10-12 5.13- 15 6. >16 9. Type of Occupation: 1. Farmer 2. Farmer & merchant 3. Civil Servant 4.Private/NGO employee 5. Merchant 6. Pension 7.Daily labor 8. Other, specify ______10. Educational status of the respondent: a. Illiterate b. Read & write only c. Elementary school d. Secondary school e. Certificate f. Diploma& above 11. Language 1. Amharic 2. Afan Oromo 3. Others, specify______12. Religion: 1. Orthodox 2. Muslim 3. Protestant 4. Others, specify______13. How many children do you have? 1. Male ______2. Female _____3.Total____

14. Do you feel that the household number is increasing in your area over time? 1. Yes 2.No

15. If your answer is yes for question No 14, what is the impact of population increase on: a. Agricultural land resource ______b. On your family______c. The natural resource______16. can your income level sustain your family? 1. No 2.yes 17. Do you use family planning? 1. Yes 2. No 18. Do you want a large number of children? 1 Yes 2.No 19. What is your status in the society? 1. Very poor 2. Poor 3. medium 4. Rich 5.Very rich Part III: Causes of forest Loss / Deforestation [put a tick mark (√) in the box in front of your choice]. 20. Is there any forest (woodland) resource in your locality? 1. Yes 2. No 21. If your response to question No 20 is Yes, to what extent is the status of forest resource in your locality? 1.High (wide) 2.Moderate 3.Low 4.Very low(limited) 22. Is there any deforestation problem in your locality? 1. Yes 2. No 23. If your response to question No 22 is “ Yes” to what extent is the level of forest resource degradation in your locality? 1. High 2.Moderate 3.Low 4.Very Low 24. If your response to question No 22 is “ Yes” what are the major causes of deforestation in your locality? (Multiple responses are possible) 1. Over grazing and over browsing 2. Fire wood and charcoal production 3. Agricultural land expansion 4. Timber harvest for construction 5. Commercial logging 6. Forest fires 7. Settlement expansion/ settlements 78

8. Infrastructure development like road 9. Commercial farms 25. Do you think that high population growth is the basic or root cause of deforestation? 1.Yes 2.No 26. What is your land holding size in hectare: 1. I don’t have 2. < 1 ha 3. 1 - 2ha 4. ≥2-3 ha 5. ≥3-4 ha 6. >4 ha 27. If you posses land, is it adequate to sustain your family? 1. Yes 2. No 28. If your answer for question number 27 is “no,” what size of land would be enough to your family? ______(ha) 29. If your response for question number 27 is no, by what means you increase food production for your family? (Multiple responses are possible). 1. By increasing agricultural land 2. By selling forest products 3. By animal raising 4.Using modern farm inputs 5. Others,specify______30. If your answer for question number 29 is by increasing agricultural land”; how do you obtain it? (Multiple responses are possible). 1. By inheritance 2. Contract 3. By expanding land through clearing forest 4. Crop sharing 5. From government 6. Please, if other specify ______31. Do you rear livestock? 1. Yes 2. No 32. If your answer is yes how many heads of livestock do you have? 1. Oxen ______4. Calves ______6. Horse ______2. Cows ______5. Goat ______7. Mule ______3. Sheep ______8. Others ______33. Do you (your family) use forest product as one of the sources of income? 1. Yes 2. No 34. If your answer for question 33 is yes, which forest product you sell to the market? (Multiple responses are possible).

1. Fuel wood 2. Charcoal 3. Timber/lumber 4. Others ______35. If your response for question 33 is “yes” how do you get it? (Multiple responses are possible). 1. Locally available natural forest 2. Forests planted by the community 3. Own planted forests 4. Purchasing from market 5. Others, if any ______36. What types of energydo you (your family) use for household consumption most regularly? 1. Charcoal 2. Crop residue 3. Kerosene 4. Fuel wood 5. Dry dung 6. Others, specify ______37. If you (your family) use fuel wood for household consumption, how do you get it? (Multiple responses are possible) 1. Locally available natural forest 2. Forests planted by the community 3. Own planted forests 4. Purchasing from market 5. Others, if any ______

38. Please tick (√ ) only one under given alternative

Agree Strongly Neutral Disagree Strongly

(%) Agree (%) (%) (%) Disagree(%)

Lack of government support

Lack of finance

Limited participation of women

Lack of and/or inadequate training of community leaders

7.2 Appendix II: Observation Checklist

Arba Minch University

School of graduate Studies

Department of Geography and Environmental Studies

IV. Observation Checklist 1. To what extent the areas are deforested 2. To what extent the biological diversity is affected? (Types of trees, wild life, flora and fauna etc)? 3. Extent of forest lands cleared for settlements? 4. Extent to which forest products both non-timber and timber have been affected? 5. For what purposes forests were mainly cut in the past in the area? 6. What programs were taken in past and currently regarding environmental protection? 7. What do you recommend to mitigate the problem and consequence of deforestation to in the area?

7.3 Appendix III: In-Depth Interview Guide Used for Key Informants

Arba Minch University

School of graduate Studies

Department of Geography and Environmental Studies

V. In-Depth Interview Guide Used for Key Informants

Date: Serial No.______Name of the respondent:______Age:______Sex:______Spatial status:______Duration in the area:______Village:______Educational status:______

Deforestation and its Causes 1. What are the major causes of deforestation? 2. How the deforestation rate compare to the past 30 years? Is that rapidly increasing or not? Explain 3. Is there indigenous value for managing the forest? 4. What are the consequences of deforestation in the area? is there any loss of biodiversity, soil erosion or other? 5. Have the local people got any training on how to use the forest resource? For how long?