Abstract:
This study was conducted to assess the status, its major threats and the management practices of the Lake Dandi from the 1990-2020 years period, employed using GIS (ArcMap 10.4.1) and Remote sensing (ERDAS imagine 14) software; field observation and local community perception scrutinized through questioner survey and key informant interview. The study identified five major land use land covers including agriculture/settlement, bush/shrub land, grass land, bare land as well as Lake Dandi and covered about 3794 hectares. The results further revealed that farmland/residential area increased by 593 (35.34) while bare land grass land, shrub land and Lake Dandi decreased by 290 ha (26.12%), 218 ha (12.15%), 57 ha (6.85) and 28 ha (19.53) respectively between 1990 and 2020 years. Local community responses (61.05%) also indicated a continuous decline in the lake area and identified expansion of agricultural/residential land use (27.59%) as a major threat to the lake ecosystem. Expansion of the agricultural land use in the sloppy catchment of the lake may also enhance sediment loads and consequent siltation which can seriously endanger the ecosystem. According to the respondents responses the management practices employed in the area included tree planting (17.04%), wise use of natural resources (14.20%), sustainable agricultural practices (17.04%), controlled grazing (14.20%), Soil and water conservation (17.67%) and terracing (19.88%) despite the continued degradation of the lake. Thus, the results indicated urgent need for effective intervention measures to halt further degradation of this unique ecosystem of untapped multiple potential benefits
