Effect of Land Use/Cover Changes on Ecological Landscapes of the Four Lakes of Central Rift Valley Ethiopia

The objective of this study was to analyze land use land cover (LULC) changes in the landscape of Central Rift Valley over a period of 30 years (1985–2015). Satellite images of Landsat5 TM (1985), (1995) and Landsat8 OLI (2015) were used. All images were classified using supervised classification technique with ERDAS-13. Change analysis was carried out using post classification comparison in GIS-10.3.1. Twelve LULCCs were successfully captured and the classification result revealed that intensive cultivated land (44.52%), mixed cultivation (18.31%), and woodlands (11.13%), open water (7.99%), large scale farming (7.50%) was dominant LULC types in 1985. In 2015, mixed cultivation (35.90%), large scale farming (14.87%), intensive cultivation (13.99%), open woodland (8.37%) and irrigated land (6.94 %) were the major LULC types followed by others. The change result shows that a rapid increase in irrigable land, large scale farming, and mixed cultivation 8.37%, 14.87%, and 35.90 % occurred between the 1985 and 2015 study period, respectively. Similarly, open water/lake decreased by 2.31%, during the 1985 and 2015 study periods. More specifically, Lake Abijata showed a progressive decline by 25.6%. Analysis of the 30-year change revealed that about 80.79% of the land showed major changes in LULC. Based on the DPSIR framework of analysis, an integrated land use and development planning and policy reform are suggested to encourage the ongoing and planned ecosystem restoration, degraded land rehabilitation, and biodiversity conservation intervention in the Ethiopia Central Rift Valley areas. However, further detailed investigation may be need prior to any recommendation to address the drivers and consequences of land use and land cover changes in the area. Keywords: CRV, ERDAS, GIS; Image; Landsat TM /Oli, Lake, LULC, R