The Problem of Deforestation and Its Effects in Awi Zone: The Case of Banja Woreda for the Last Ten Years

Abstract

Land use and land cover change, especially in Countries   like Ethiopia, where an alarming growth of population is the day today phenomenon where it has received much attention in recent land use dynamics which are usually caused by a combination of large scale drivers of change such as demographic change and deforestation that results for climatic change. In the case study that I presented here, forests were replaced by agricultural lands. These processes were intimately linked with agricultural intensification and ongoing rural immigration. Analyzing the socio-environmental impacts of the agricultural transition process, I included my judgmental observations, where all focusing on the impact of gross margins of different crops as well as environmental impacts in terms of forest conversion and agricultural expansion. Results are communicated both to the scientific community and various stakeholders such as local farmers, political leaders and regional authorities. The aims of this study are to put the exact markings of border for the forest resource and to identify the underlying causes for deforestation. Although, many forest management decisions have been made all over the World, the developing Countries in particular, the political will of the government of Ethiopia is playing one of the important keys to ensure the sustainable use and management of forests. Besides outlying causes for deforestation, solutions for reducing the intensified problems are also indicated.

Keywords: population growth, deforestation, illegal logging, re-forestation.