Human stewardship or ruining cultural landscapes of the ancient Tula wells, southern Ethiopia

Remote Sensing for Biocultural Heritage Preservation in an African Semi-Arid Region: A Case Study of Indigenous Wells in Northern Kenya and Southern Ethiopia

The region of Southern Ethiopia (Borana) and Northern Kenya (Marsabit) is characterised by erratic rainfall, limited surface water, aridity, and frequent droughts. An important adaptive response to these conditions, of uncertain antiquity, has been the hand-excavation of a sequence of deep wells at key locations often along seasonal riverbeds and valley bottoms where subterranean aquifers can be tapped. Sophisticated indigenous water management systems have developed to ensure equitable access to these critical water resources, and these are part of well-defined customary institutional leadership structures that govern the community giving rise to a distinctive form of biocultural heritage. These systems, and the wells themselves, are increasingly under threat, however, from climate change, demographic growth, and socio-economic development. To contribute to an assessment of the scale, distribution and intensity of these threats, this study aimed to evaluate the land-use land-cover (LULC) and precipitation changes in this semi-arid to arid landscape and their association with, and impact on, the preservation of traditional wells. Multitemporal Landsat 5, 7 and 8 satellite imagery covering the period 1990 to 2020, analysed at a temporal resolution of 10 years, was classified using supervised classification via the Random Forest machine learning method to extract the following classes: bare land, grassland, shrub land, open forest, closed forest, croplands, settlement and waterbodies. Change detection was then applied to identify and quantify changes through time and landscape degradation indices were generated using the Shannon Diversity Index fragmentation index within a 15 km buffer of each well cluster. The results indicated that land cover change was mostly driven by increasing anthropogenic changes with resultant reduction in natural land cover classes. Furthermore, increased fragmentation has occurred within most of the selected buffer distances of the well clusters. The main drivers of change that have directly or indirectly impacted land degradation and the preservation of indigenous water management systems were identified through an analysis of land cover changes in the last 30 years, supporting insights from previous focused group discussions with communities in Kenya and Ethiopia. Our approach showed that remote sensing methods can be used for the spatially explicit mapping of landscape structure around the wells, and ultimately towards assessment of the preservation status of the indigenous wells.

Landscape research in Ethiopia: misunderstood or lost synergy?

A full understanding of the concept of landscape plays a paramount role in sustainable management of natural resources and an increase of landscape studies. However, little is known about the concept of landscape, landscape research and its application in Ethiopia. Hence, the overall objective of this paper is to explore the concept of landscape and review available literatures on landscape research in Ethiopia and to identify research gaps. A questionnaire (n=30) was administered to explore the concept of landscape. A systematic review of available studies on landscape and related concepts has also been made. Out of the 398 papers in which the terms ‘landscape’ and ‘Ethiopia’ appeared in the title, keywords or abstract, 26 papers, having 10 or more keywords related to landscape research were included in this in-depth review. An exploratory study of art and media has been made to examine the perception of artists on landscapes. The results of the study show that the perception of Ethiopian artists on landscape is highly associated with concept of the landscape. The findings of the survey also reveal that the meaning of the term landscape differs semantically. The findings of the review also indicate that landscape studies carried out in Ethiopia do not fully cover the holistic concept of landscape; as they mostly focus more on physical features of the landscape. Moreover, the interdisciplinary approach that integrates landscape ecology, perception and history, which is important for understanding landscapes and landscape changes, is also lacking. Generally, the concept of landscape seems to be misconceived in most studies undertaken in Ethiopia, mainly because it is interchangeably used with land use and land cover. Hence, there is a need for a better understanding of the concept of landscape and the applications of a holistic landscape approach.

Pastoralist adaptation practices under non-governmental development interventions in Southern Ethiopia

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have been playing important roles in facilitating pastoralist adaptation; however, focussed studies have yet to examine whether and how NGO interventions generate viable opportunities for adaptation and development in pastoral communities. This paper analyses how Boran pastoralists cope with various socio-environmental risks under NGO interventions in southern Ethiopia. We find that pastoralist adaptation practices under NGO development interventions enhanced diversification, communal pooling, storage, and market access, but compromised mobility. Changes in pastoralists’ pursuit of livelihoods facilitated alternative adaptation, but such changes risked exacerbating rangeland degradation, reinforcing dependence on external aid, and weakening indigenous institutions. We thus conclude by arguing for more conscious interventions that can mitigate risks without negatively influencing the wellbeing of human subjects and ecosystems.

Conversion of savanna rangelands to bush dominated landscape in Borana, Southern Ethiopia

INTRODUCTION

Analyzing trends of land use systems and the changes occurred overtime is an effective way of assessing the impacts of land use/land cover (LULC) changes on ecosystem function. It provides important insights for understanding the spatial patterns of land use processes. The rangelands of southern Ethiopia are adversely affected by increased human population pressure, encroachment of crop cultivation, and bush encroachment. Hence, it is vital to understand the trends of rangeland vegetation cover dynamics.

METHODS

This paper evaluates land use/land cover changes and spatial patterns between 1987 and 2003 in Yabelo (5426 km²), Borena rangelands of southern Ethiopia. We used a combination of three Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) 1987, Landsat TM 1995 and Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) 2003, and local perceptions. A pixel-based supervised classification with maximum likelihood classifier was used to classify images. The accuracy of classification was assessed for 1987 (81.8 %), 1995 (84.6 %), and 2003 (81.3 %).

RESULTS

The results showed that the Borana rangelands had undergone substantial changes during the last 16 years. Between 1987 and 2003, we observed a considerable increase in woodland cover (11.7 %), bushland cover (17 %), cultivated land (72.5 %), and settlements (79.8 %). The results showed a rapid decline in grassland cover (7.7 %), shrubby grassland cover (86 %), and bareland (0.7 %). The spatial pattern analysis indicate that the Borana rangeland was fragmented and characterized by the proliferation of large numbers of patches with a decline in patch index, increased patch density, and irregular shape of patches within a landscape. Local communities' perceptions indicate that recurrent drought, increased human population size, and expansion of cultivation were largely responsible for the observed LULC changes in the study area.

CONCLUSIONS

LULC changes contribute to rangeland degradation and weaken the traditional practices of rangeland management. We suggest appropriate management measures to halt the impact of disturbances on LULC dynamics and its implication on the livelihoods of the Borana pastoralists.