Abstract
Lack of networks of connected habitat patches affects the biodiversity of the area. Hence, this study assesses the status of fragmentation of the land use of Libokememek District and propose a plan for the ecological connectivity/corridor. Data from 2015 Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) results, Digital Elevation Model (DEM), all area closures, and church forests were used for the study. To analyze the fragmentations status of the area different metrics was calculated using fragstat4 software in ArcGIS10.3. The result reveals agricultural lands and grasslands occupied more than 80% of the land use compared to the forest land (844 hectare). This result shows that forest land use is the most fragmented land use. The planned ecological connectivity has a total of 2305 hectare of land. To reduce fragmentation focal patches such as area closure and church forest; sub patches like slope greater than 30%, degraded lands, and river stream with a buffer of 30 m are used. This will result in 29% of land is covered with vegetation/forest. Finally, soil and water conservation work that promotes the participation of the community and other stakeholders has been recommended. Likewise, the churches have to be encouraged and incentivized to keep their trees/forest land.
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Demissie, F., Yeshitela, K., Kindu, M. (2022). Ecological Status and Plan for Connectivity of Fragmented Forests as a Means of Degraded Land Restoration in South Gonder, Ethiopia. In: Kindu, M., Schneider, T., Wassie, A., Lemenih, M., Teketay, D., Knoke, T. (eds) State of the Art in Ethiopian Church Forests and Restoration Options. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-86626-6_13
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