Effects of Long-Term Land Use and Land Cover Changes on Ecosystem Service Values: An Example from the Central Rift Valley, Ethiopia

Wolde Mekuria, Merga Diyasa, Anna Tengberg and Amare Haileslassie
Additional contact information
Wolde Mekuria: International Water Management Institute, Addis Ababa P.O. Box 5689, Ethiopia
Merga Diyasa: Farm Africa, Ethiopia Country Office, Addis Ababa P.O. Box 5746, Ethiopia
Anna Tengberg: Swedish Water House, Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), P.O. Box 101 87, 100 55 Stockholm, Sweden
Amare Haileslassie: International Water Management Institute, Addis Ababa P.O. Box 5689, Ethiopia

Land, 2021, vol. 10, issue 12, 1-17

Abstract: Changes in land use and land cover (LULC) are the leading contributors to the decline and loss of ecosystem services in the world. The present study covered the Central Rift Valley lakes basin in Ethiopia, focusing on the valley floor and the East and West escarpments, to analyze changes in LULC and to estimate associated losses in ecosystem service values (ESVs). Covering both upstream and downstream areas in the basin, the study addressed major gaps in existing studies by connecting the sources and sinks of material (e.g., sediment and water) in source-to-lake systems. Additionally, the study facilitated the identification of critical areas for conserving natural resources and reversing the decline of associated ESVs in the Central Rift Valley. A post-classification comparison approach was used to detect LULC changes between 1973 and 2020 using four Landsat images from 1973, 1990, 2005 and 2020. The value transfer valuation method was used to estimate the changes in ESVs due to LULC changes. Among the seven major identified LULC classes, farmlands, settlements, and bare lands showed positive changes, while forestlands, grasslands, shrublands and waterbodies showed negative changes over the last 47 years. The expansion of farmlands, for example, has occurred at the expense of grasslands, forestlands and shrublands. The changes in LULC over a period of 47 years resulted in a total loss of US $62,110.4 × 10 6 in ESVs. The contributors to the overall loss of ESVs in decreasing order are provisioning services (US $33,795.1 × 10 6 ), cultural services (US $28,981.5 × 10 6 ) and regulating services (US $652.9 × 10 6 ). The results imply that addressing the degradation of land and water resources is crucial to reversing the loss of ecosystem services and achieving the national Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to food and water security (SDGs 2 and 6) and life on land (SDG 15).

Keywords: ecosystem service; ecosystem service values; forestland; SDGs; waterbodies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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