The impact of land cover change on the carbon stock of moist afromontane forests in the Majang Forest Biosphere Reserve.

BACKGORUND: Forest plays an important role in the global carbon cycle by sequestering carbon dioxide and thereby mitigating climate change. In this study, an attempt was made to investigate the effects of land use/land cover (LULC) change (1989-2017) on carbon stock and its economic values in tropical moist Afromontane forests of the Majang Forest Biosphere Reserve (MFBR), south-west Ethiopia. Systematic sampling was conducted to collect biomass and soil data from 140 plots in MFBR. The soil data were collected from grassland and farmland. InVEST modelling was employed to investigate the spatial and temporal distribution of carbon stocks. Global Voluntary Market Price (GVMP) and Tropical Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) analysis was performed to estimate economic values (EV) of carbon stock dynamics. Correlation and regression analyses were also employed to identify the relationship between environmental and anthropogenic impacts on carbon stocks. RESULTS: The results indicated that the above-ground carbon and soil organic carbon stocks were higher than the other remaining carbon pools in MFBR. The mean carbon stock (32.59 M tonne) in 2017 was lower than in 1989 (34.76 Mt) of MFBR. Similarly, the EV of carbon stock in 2017 was lower than in 1989. Elevation, slope, and harvesting index are important environmental and disturbance factors resulting in major differences in carbon stock among study sites in MFBR. CONCLUSIONS: Therefore, the gradual reduction of carbon stocks in connection with LULC change calls for urgent attention to implement successful conservation and sustainable use of forest resources in biosphere reserves.

Auctioning approaches for ecosystem services - Evidence and applications.

Auctions have attracted growing attention as bidding mechanisms for soliciting or allocating payments for a wide range of ecosystem services (ES). This paper reviews the latest scientific knowledge on ES auctioning approaches. Using systematically selected academic articles, we trace and discuss the development of ES auction literature across space, time, target ecosystem, and mechanism type. We integrate previous attempts to organize this body of work to produce a composite factor map of entry points to more specialized sub-literatures engaging with current issues in auction design and implementation. The results show that most academic work focuses on reverse auctions, where landowners bid their willingness to accept contracts to protect or promote ES provisioning, but we also locate several forward (i.e. beneficiaries bid their willingness to pay for ES) and mixed mechanisms. We critically analyze major advantages and challenges for each approach, emphasizing issues related to transaction costs and accessibility for participants and agencies. Overall, our findings suggest that ES auctions have a robust track record but remain administratively and logistically challenging. Further investment in open-source tools, shared infrastructure, and other efforts to make auctions more accessible to researchers, agencies, and participants alike is strongly indicated.

Socio-economic importance of forest resources and their conservation measures in Ethiopia: the case of area closure in South Gonder of Ethiopia.

Area closures that set aside to degraded lands for rehabilitation purposes are a popular forest conservation measure in various parts of the world. However, their use can be controversial because, if poorly designed, they can accelerate the degradation of neighboring unprotected lands and deny local residents' access to important ecosystem services. This paper reports the results of a study on the area closure approach used in south Gonder within the Lake Tana watershed of Ethiopia to stem the rapid decline of vegetation cover that has occurred there over the last four decades. We used a mixed-methods approach that combined data from a household survey, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and official documents. We found that support for the area closures was high. We also found that area closures have had a mixed effect on access to key ecosystem services while a number of important concerns about the negative impacts to surrounding unprotected forests were also expressed. We conclude that area closures have garnered broad public support within our study region but this support appears to be mostly contingent on management successes within protected forests and does not necessarily capture the unintended negative consequences to surrounding unprotected forests.

Scenario modelling of land use/land cover changes in Munessa-Shashemene landscape of the Ethiopian highlands.

Models under a set of scenarios are used to simulate and improve our understanding of land use/land cover (LULC) changes, which is central for sustainable management of a given natural resource. In this study, we simulated and examined the possible future LULC patterns and changes in Munessa-Shashemene landscape of the Ethiopian highlands covering four decades (2012-2050) using a spatially explicit GIS-based model. Both primary and secondary sources were utilized to identify relevant explanatory variables (drivers) and LULC datasets for the model. Three alternative scenarios, namely Business As Usual (BAU), Forest Conservation and Water Protection (FCWP) and Sustainable Intensification (SI) were used. The simulated LULC map of 2012 was compared with the actual for model validation and showed a good consistency. The results revealed that areas of croplands will increase widely under the BAU scenario and would expand to the remaining woodlands, natural forests and grasslands, reflecting vulnerability of these LULC types and potential loss of associated ecosystem service values (ESVs). FCWP scenario would bring competition among other LULC types, particularly more pressure to the grassland ecosystem. Hence, the two scenarios will result in severe LULC dynamics that lead to serious environmental crisis. The SI scenario, with holistic approach, demonstrated that expansion of croplands could vigorously be reduced, remaining forests better conserved and degraded land recovered, resulting in gains of the associated total ESVs. We conclude that a holistic landscape management, i.e. SI, is the best approach to ensure expected production while safeguarding the environment of the studied landscape and elsewhere with similar geographic settings. Further study is suggested to practically test our framework through a research for development approach in a test site so that it can be used as a model area for effective use and conservation of our natural resources.

Changes of ecosystem service values in response to land use/land cover dynamics in Munessa-Shashemene landscape of the Ethiopian highlands.

Land use/land cover (LULC) dynamics alter ecosystem services values (ESVs), yet quantitative evaluations of changes in ESVs are seldom attempted. Using Munessa-Shashemene landscape of the Ethiopian highlands as an example, we showed estimate of changes in ESVs in response to LULC dynamics over the past four decades (1973-2012). Estimation and change analyses of ESVs were conducted, mainly, by employing GIS using LULC datasets of the year 1973, 1986, 2000 and 2012 with their corresponding global value coefficients developed earlier and our own modified conservative value coefficients for the studied landscape. The results between periods revealed a decrease of total ESVs from US$ 130.5 million in 1973, to US$ 118.5, 114.8 and 111.1 million in 1986, 2000 and 2012, respectively. While using global value coefficients, the total ESVs declined from US$ 164.6 million in 1973, to US$ 135.8, 127.2 and 118.7 million in 1986, 2000 and 2012, respectively. The results from the analyses of changes in the four decades revealed a total loss of ESVs ranging from US$ 19.3 million when using our own modified value coefficients to US$ 45.9 million when employing global value coefficients. Changes have also occurred in values of individual ecosystem service functions, such as erosion control, nutrient cycling, climate regulation and water treatment, which were among the highest contributors of the total ESVs. However, the value of food production service function consistently increased during the study periods although not drastically. All in all, it must be considered a minimum estimate of ESV changes due to uncertainties in the value coefficients used in this study. We conclude that the decline of ESVs reflected the effects of ecological degradation in the studied landscape and suggest further studies to explore future options and formulate intervention strategies.

Drivers of land use/land cover changes in Munessa-Shashemene landscape of the south-central highlands of Ethiopia.

Understanding drivers of changes in land use/land cover (LULC) is essential for modeling future dynamics or development of management strategies to ameliorate or prevent further decline of natural resources. In this study, an attempt has been made to identify the main drivers behind the LULC changes that had occurred in the past four decades in Munessa-Shashemene landscape of the south-central highlands of Ethiopia. The datasets required for the study were generated through both primary and secondary sources. Combination of techniques, including descriptive statistics, GIS-based processing, and regression analyses were employed for data analyses. Changes triggered by the interplay of more than 12 drivers were identified related to social, economic, environmental, policy/institutional, and technological factors. Specifically, population growth, expansion of cultivated lands and settlements, livestock ranching, cutting of woody species for fuelwood, and charcoal making were the top six important drivers of LULC change as viewed by the local people and confirmed by quantitative analyses. Differences in respondents' perceptions related to environmental (i.e., location specific) and socioeconomic determinants (e.g., age and literacy) about drivers were statically significant (P = 0.001). LULC changes were also determined by distances to major drivers (e.g., the further a pixel is from the road, the less likelihood of changes) as shown by the landscape level analyses. Further studies are suggested targeting these drivers to explore the consequences and future options and formulate intervention strategies for sustainable development in the studied landscape and elsewhere with similar geographic settings.