Spatiotemporal forest cover change and its implication for environmental sustainability in Dedo district of Jimma zone, southwest Ethiopia

Forest is one of the key precious resources that support human well-being by providing ecosystem services. Unfortunately, the forest cover has decreased over time due to natural and anthropogenic factors. The present study aims to assess the spatiotemporal forest cover changes and its implication on environmental sustainability in Dedo district in southwestern parts of Ethiopia. We used three Landsat images from 1985, 2002 and 2019. The results show that forest cover areas declined from 64,872 ha in 1985 to 53,805 ha in the year 2019. The study area lost about 11,067 ha (7.7%) of forest over the past 34 years. In contrast, the farmland was increased from 38,801 ha (27.06%) in 1985 to 54,917 ha (38.3%) in 2019. The increasing trend of cultivated land is associated with the increment of human population. Forest cover has been declined in the study area for a variety of reasons, including fire wood collection, charcoal and timber extraction, semi-forest and khat investments, and settlements. Loss of forest cover can have significant implications for environmental sustainability, as forests have played an important role in ecosystem services, such as climate regulation, clean air, flood control, carbon sequestration, soil protection against soil erosion, and increased environmental resilience to the impacts of climate change. The existence of forest resources can contribute to sustainable development of local communities, as the majority of agricultural communities are directly or indirectly dependent on forest products. The findings of this study can be used to improve forest conservation and protection at different scales.