Abstract:
Degradation of natural resources is the most visible environmental problem in the country.
Consequently, the degraded landscapes were poor to offer landscape services for the society. As
part of the government responses, grazing land management has been implemented to halt land
degradation and improve the sustainability of environmental resources in Amhara. Thus, the
current study is conducted to assess the grazing land and vegetation cover change and its
impacts on the community in Yigoma huletu kebele.Yigoma huletu kebele is endangered due to
temporal land use land cover change. Studying land use land cover change and dynamic in
relation to vegetation cover change in the study area has a significance of providing evidence for
the concerned body to protect the land from soil degradation. Thus, the major objective of assess
the Grazing land and vegetation cover change and its impacts on the community in Yigoma
huletu, West Gojjam Zone, Different temporal data from remote sensing source of the year1998,
2008 and 2016 were used and socioeconomic data on the study area land use land cover change
was collected from 96 sample households and used to analyze land use and land cover dynamics
and vegetation cover change. The analysis of the land use land cover change showed that during
the last 18 years farmland and settlement, vegetation land and Water body cover showed an
increment changes from 1998 to 2016. The increment of vegetation and Water body cover was
due the grazing land rehabilitate the degraded lands. The grazing land showed a relative
decrease. The socioeconomic analysis result revealed population pressure, as a major cause for
the change in land use land cover. Soil erosion, lack of fuel wood and impact on livelihood are
also revealed in the socio-economic analysis as a major consequence of land use land cover
change. This study confirms that grazing land is an important rehabilitation tool to restore the
degraded landscape and thereby improve the lives of the poor farmers. From the analysis of the
results on land use land cover dynamics, it can be concluded that there is a high trend of
converting grazing lands, Irrigation Land and swampy area into Farmland and settlement land
in the study area Based on the study it is recommended that agricultural productivity, and
environment with the aim of sustainability should be devised to address the environmental, social
and economic problem in the study area. Destruction of Grazing land and other vegetation can
case for the reduction of biological diversity in the study area. Agricultural expansion,
population growth and the associated demand for land were the major driving forces for the
observed LULCC changes in the study area. Hence, land resources management practices,
utilization of alternative energy sources and family planning education are some of the
appropriate interventions.
Key terms: Land degradation, grazing land, land use, vegetation cover, livelihood