IMPACTS OF SELECTED WATERSHED MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ON REHABILITATION OF DEGRADED LAND AND FARMERS’ PERCEPTION IN DIMA BITE AND FINCHAWA MICRO-WATERSHEDS, NORTH SHOA ZONE, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Watershed management practice was taken as the basic operational unit to rehabilitate the degraded land and improve agricultural productivity of land in Ethiopia. However, its impacts in rehabilitation of degraded land were rarely evaluated. This study was designed to assessed the impact of watershed management practices on woody plant composition, farmers’ perception and identify the factors that affect the adoption of soil and water conservation practices based on comparative analysis between Dima Bite (treated) and Finchawa (untreated) micro-watersheds. A total of 80 sample quadrats of each 20 m x 20 m (400 m2), which were laid systematically along parallel transects lines were used for vegetation data collection. Data were collected from (n=123) sample respondents using probability proportional to sample size method. Descriptive and inferential statistics and binary logistic regression model were used to analyze the data. Watershed management practices have bio-physical, socio-economical, environmental and ecological impacts. The results indicated that due to watershed management practices the availability of water, income per household from crop production by 26%, livestock productivity, employment opportunities, environmental quality and ecological status were increased and improved respectively. It also reduced runoff, soil loss, and land degradations and improved biodiversity conservation. Comparative assessment result of the vegetation revealed that the overall mean species diversity, evenness and richness were 3.01, 0.89 and 1.2 in Dima Bite, whereas, 1.98, 0.85 and 0.88 in Finchawa respectively. The logistic regression model predicted four factors influencing the adoption of soil and water conservation including farm size, farming experience, the distance from home to farm plot and slope of land in the two micro-watersheds. Therefore, intervention of watershed management practices, woody species regeneration and awareness of local community need to be encouraged to ensure sustainable watershed development.