Muys, Bart

Nyssen, Jan

Poesen, J

Tekalign, Meron

English

Ghent University Academic Bibliography

Geophysical Research AbstractsVol. 16, EGU2014-6966, 2014EGU General Assembly 2014© Author(s) 2014. CC Attribution 3.0 License.Soil and water related forest ecosystem services and resilience of socialecological system in the Central Highlands of EthiopiaMeron Tekalign (1,2), Bart Muys (2), Jan Nyssen (3), and Jean Poesen (4)(1) Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Science, Center for Environmental Sciences, P.O.Box 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,(2) Division Forest, Nature and Landscape, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200E, Leuven, Belgium, (3) Ghent University,Department of Geography, Krijgslaan 281(S8), B-9000 Gent, Belgium, (4) Division of Geography, KU Leuven,Celestijnenlaan 200E, Leuven, BelgiumIn the central highlands of Ethiopia, deforestation and forest degradation are occurring and accelerating duringthe last century. The high population pressure is the most repeatedly mentioned reason. However, in the past30 years researchers agreed that the absence of institutions, which could define the access rights to particularforest resources, is another underlying cause of forest depletion and loss. Changing forest areas into differentland use types is affecting the biodiversity, which is manifested through not proper functioning of ecosystemservices. Menagesha Suba forest, the focus of this study has been explored from various perspectives. However thesocial dimension and its interaction with the ecology have been addressed rarely. This research uses a combinedtheoretical framework of Ecosystem Services and that of Resilience thinking for understanding the complex social-ecological interactions in the forest and its influence on ecosystem services. For understanding the history andextent of land use land cover changes, in-depth literature review and a GIS and remote sensing analysis willbe made. The effect of forest conversion into plantation and agricultural lands on soil and above ground carbonsequestration, fuel wood and timber products delivery will be analyzed with the accounting of the services onfive land use types. The four ecosystem services to be considered are Supporting, Provisioning, Regulating, andCultural services as set by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. A resilience based participatory frameworkapproach will be used to analyze how the social and ecological systems responded towards the drivers of changethat occurred in the past. The framework also will be applied to predict future uncertainties. Finally this study willfocus on the possible interventions that could contribute to the sustainable management and conservation of theforest. An ecosystem services trade-off analysis and an environmental valuation of the water regulation and soilerosion control services will be made to propose solutions for increasing the social-ecological system resilience ofMenagesha Suba forest.

Soil and water related forest ecosystem services and resilience of social ecological system in the Central Highlands of Ethiopia

https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/4419306/file/4419311

Soil and water related forest ecosystem services and resilience of social ecological system in the Central Highlands of Ethiopia

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Ghent University Academic Bibliography