Assessing Land Degradation Neutrality Status Using Geospatial Techniques in North Wello Zone, Northern Ethiopia

Abstract

Land degradation is increasingly recognized as a serious, nationwide environmental concern in Ethiopia. The key concern is the interlinked relations between land degradation, climate change and agriculture, exacerbating one another via negative and positive feedback loops. The purpose of this study was to analyze land productivity dynamics trends and land degradation conditions in the North Wello Zone using three United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) indicators, with land cover change, land productivity dynamics and soil organic carbon stock. Land use land cover data was provided by earthmap.org platform for the time of 1995 to 2018. Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MOD13Q1) Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data were used from the year 2000 to 2020 to analyze the net primary productivity. For soil organic carbon, we used the global soil organic carbon map for the year 2019. The global soil carbon map was developed as 1 km soil grids, covering a depth of 0-30 cm. The land degradation neutrality (LDN) status of the study area was estimated by integration of results of the three indicators based on a "one out, all out" approach. Over the study periods of 1995 to 2018, significant land use land cover change was observed. Forest land during the last 23 years increased by 70.71 square kilometers. The settlement areas also increased by 4.47 square kilometers in the same period. However, the croplands, grasslands and wetlands shows negative change in 1995 to 2018. The stock of soil organic carbon in North Wello Zone shows spatial variations. Soil organic carbon is highly concentrated in midland areas where forest cover is high. However, the NDVI value calculated for the year 2000 to 2020 did not show significant difference but the trend line shows positive. Concurrently, the land productivity dynamics for the year 2000 to 2020 shows only half of the total study area is stable and less stressed land productivity status. This research indicated alarming signs of declining land capital North Wello Zone. Negative changes occurred one of the three indicators of which shows a tendency for land degradation. Therefore, we believe that balancing measures to achieve land degradation neutrality should be implemented as quickly as possible.