Stocking Rates and Carrying Capacity of Grazing Lands in Bale Mountain National Park and Adjacent Areas, Southeast Ethiopia

Knowledge of grazing land carrying capacity and grazing pressure in and around protected areas is very crucial to support decision making over sustainable grazing levels and developing grazing pressure reduction strategies. However, there was lack of studies conducted on livestock carrying capacity and grazing pressure in the connected and dynamic system over a wider landscape scale. Hence, this study was conducted to estimate the livestock stocking rates and carrying capacity of grazing lands in Bale Mountain National Park (BMNP) and adjacent districts grazing lands, southeast Ethiopia. Three categories of data: Field surveys, satellite imagery, and socioeconomic secondary data were used. Each of the three components of the data ware designed to synergistically provide scientific evidence to meet the study objectives. The result of the study shows the mean livestock stocking rate of grazing lands during wet and dry seasons in the park were 1.01 TLU/ha and 0.47 TLU/ha respectively. The mean livestock stocking rate of park adjacent district grazing lands during wet and dry season were 12.01 TLU/ha and 14.25 TLU/ha respectively. The mean carrying capacity of grazing land in the park during wet and dry seasons were 67.88 TLU Km2 (0.68TLU/ha) and 28.71 TLU Km2 (0.29 TLU/ha), respectively. The result shows the mean carrying capacity of park adjacent district grazing land during wet and dry seasons were 51.22 TLU Km2 (0.51TLU/ha) and 13.11 TLU Km2 (0.13 TLU/ha), respectively. Thus, the existing stocking rate is higher than the carrying capacity . Thus, it clearly signals the risk of overgrazing in the afroalpine habitat considering the herbivores wildlife in the study areas. In view of such a situation, measures have been suggested to reduce livestock population in order to protect the biodiversity and ecosystem services that BMNP and the buffer zone provides