Bush encroachment in Borana rangelands of southern Ethiopia

Analysing changes in land use gives insight into impacts on ecosystem functioning. The paper “Conversion of savanna rangelands to bush dominated landscape in Borana, southern Ethiopia” (2016) by Teshome Abate and Ayana Angassa, published in Ecological processes 5:6 (DOI 10.1186/s13717-016-0049-1), evaluates changes in land use and vegetation cover between 1987 and 2003 in the Yabelo Borana rangelands of southern Ethiopia. It reveals that, during this period, there were increases of 12% in woodland cover, 17% in bushland cover, 73% in cultivated land and 80% in area covered by human settlements, and declines of 8% in grassland cover and 86% in shrubby grassland cover. The Borana rangeland has become fragmented and patchy. Local communities perceive that recurrent droughts and increased human population were largely responsible for the observed changes. These weaken the traditional practices of managing rangeland.

Posted on 28 December 2017 in Pastoralism & Natural Resources