Abstract:
valuable to man. The quality of the environment is constantly losing its status due to increase in
population size in most countries of the world. The general objective of this study was to assess
the effect of population dynamics on forest cover in West Hararghe Zone in general and Daro
Labu Wereda in particular. Systematic random sampling technique was used to select the target
population of this study whose total number was 364 households from four kebeles of DLW.
Questionnaire, interview, FGD and satellite imagery used as data gathering tools for this study.
The quantitative data of this study were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the qualitative
data were discussed and interpreted through narration. As the result in this study a mixed
method was used. And this study is triangulation study in its design.. The study was found out
that population dynamics had contributed a lot to deforestation of the wereda under the study
through agricultural land expansion, settlement land expansion, fuel wood gathering and illegal
tree cutting owing to the following major factors, population growth, lack of alternative
livelihood approach, ruthless profit making, Lack of economic transformation human
encroachment and lack of alternative sources of energy. Population growth had contributed
greatly to forest deforestation especially as it affected the forest covers. The major findings
were observed that expansion for cultivated and settlement LULC classes rapidly increased
from1973 to 2013 on the contrary forest and shrub lands decreased in DLW due to population
dynamics and human encroachment in the forest cover. Therefore, there is an urgent need for
the various stakeholders in environmental resource management to provide mechanism that can
prevent the forest cover from further reduction in the study area.
