Abstract:
Changes in land use and land cover are the primary factors affecting ecosystem services. This study aimed to investigate land use and land cover changes, driving factors and its impacts on ecosystem services in the Barga watershed, west Shewa, Ethiopia during the 1973–2022 periods. Landsat images data of fifty years and socioeconomic data derived from the questionnaire were used for the study. The images were classified in to existing land use/cover classes and analyzed using GIS. The socio-economic data was analyzed using SPSS version 25. A method of benefit transfer was used to infer ecosystem service value and a multinomial logistic regression analysis was performed to identify key drivers of land use and land cover changes at the household level. The land use and land cover change from 1973 to 2022 analysis revealed that farm land and settlement area have grown by 6423 ha and 524.7 ha, respectively. The areal coverage of forest land, grass land, shrub land, and water bodies was diminished by 659.7ha, 3105ha, 1892.8ha, and 1241ha, respectively. Total ecosystem service value showed a declining trend during the study period by US$ 12036739 from 1973 to 2022. The impacts of land use and land cover changes on specific ecosystem service were also significant. The finding showed that the loss of the ecosystem service was due to population growth, poverty, expansion of the cultivated area, increased demand for firewood and settlement, which were the primary drivers of land use and land cover change. Therefore, controlling the study area using an integrated watershed strategy may improve the ongoing delivery of ecosystem services.
