Impact of land use land cover change using remote sensing with integration of socio-economic data on Rural Livelihoods in the Nashe watershed, Ethiopia

Land use/land cover is an important component in understanding the interactions of human activities with the environment and is necessary to recognize the changes in order to monitor and maintain a sustainable environment. The main objectives of this study were to analyze changes in land cover in the Nashe-watershed for the period 2010-2020, analyze household demographic and livelihood characteristics and identify the impact of the construction of the DAM and changes in land cover on the environment. Since the dam of the Nashe watershed was built in 2012, the socioeconomic characteristics of the area were used to interpret the causes of land use and land cover changes, which cause changes in their life and environment. Purposively 156 households were selected who were more than 40 years old from the total households (1222) in three kebele and for land use land cover of 2010, Land sat 7 were used whereas for 2020, land sat 8 was used. The socioeconomic data were analyzed with Excel and integrated with biophysical data. The 2010-2020 ten-year period showed that cultivated land and forest land were reduced from 73% to 62% and 18%-14%, respectively, and swampy areas fully converted to Water Bodies, alter-nately increasing Water Bodies and grazing land also converted from 43.9% to 54.5% and 0.04%- 17.96% respectively. The reason for this change was the construction of dams, human encroachment, and expansion of cultivated land which were bringing LULCC in study area. However, government could not gave these people adequate compensation for their lands, properties that conquered by water. Hence, the Nashe watershed is identified as an area highly affected by land use and land cover change, the livelihoods were suffered by Dam construction, also environmental sustainability is hindering still now. Therefore it is necessary to closely monitor land use/land cover, giving consideration for HHs who affected by Dam, and to maintain a sustainable environmental resource for the future sustainable development is a critical issue in the Ethiopia in general, particularly in the study area.

Automated summary

Land use/land cover is important for understanding human-environment interactions and maintaining sustainability. This study analyzed land cover changes in the Nashe watershed from 2010 to 2020 and identified the impact of dam construction on the environment and livelihoods. The construction of the dam, human encroachment, and expansion of cultivated land were the main drivers of land use and land cover changes in the study area. The findings highlight the need for monitoring land use/land cover, providing compensation for affected households, and maintaining a sustainable environment.