IMPACT OF URBAN EXPANSION ON FOREST RESOURCES: THE CASE OF BIRBIR  TOWN, GAMO GOFFA ZONE, SNNPR, ETHIOPIA
Creators: name: BEDILU TESFAYE
Publisher: name: National Academic Digital Repository of Ethiopia
Year: 2016

description: This study has been required to assess the impact of urban expansion on forest resources in Birbir 
town GamoGoffa  zone. Throughout the world, we find human being residing either in urban or rural 
or in between- peri-urban or peri-rural. Both urban and rural areas are counter competing whereas 
the  area  between  is  the  field  of  contest.  As  it  is  concomitant  with  socio -economic  development, 
urbanization has a higher level of development in developed nations than under developed ones .In 
Ethiopia, although its level is the lowest even among other under developed nations, its rate, however, 
is the highest and made a country  one of the fast urbanizing country in the World. As a matter of this 
fact, Birbir town is among the SNNPR urban settings experiencing high rate of urbanization through 
expansion.  Birbir is one of the rapidly urbanizing towns in GamoGoffa zone. However, an empirical 
evidence  of  the  impact  of  urbanization  on  its  surrounding  forest  is  scanty.  This  study  has  been 
conducted  with  the  objectives  of  assessing  the  impacts  of  horizontal  urban  expansion  on  forest 
resources, investigate the current consumption of forest products at household level, and assess the 
spatial pattern of forest cover in the study area and evaluating the challenges encountered to ensure 
sustainability of forest resource. To meet the objective both qualitative and quantitative approaches of 
research  design  were  employed.  A  household  survey  was  conducted  on  96 households  sampled 
through  random  sampling  and  systematic  sampling  techniques.  Primary  data  had  been  collected 
through questionnaire, interview, direct observation and focus group discussion while the secondary 
one  was  from  different written  and  documented  sources.  Through  the  use  of  SPSS  software’s,  the 
researcher analyzed the data using descriptive and inferential statistics. According to the respondents’ 
high rate of natural increase (84.4 percent), rural to urban migration (86.5 percent) are the causes for 
urban expansion in the study area. There is also a decreasing trend of forest cover in the study area by 
0.93 percent per year. Thus, the forest resource of the town  was at the verge  of risk. This negative 
effect  was  attributed  mainly  to  lack  of  urban  fuel  wood  consumption,  construction  material,  low 
awareness,  low  income,  population  growth  &amp;  lack of  effective  rules  and  regulations  on  protecting 
forest  resources.  Moreover,  failures  to  relate  forestry  policy  to  overall  development,  lack  of 
commitment  at  individual  and  organizational  level  in  forest  conservation  are  some  of  prevailing 
constraints of forest resources. Therefore, it is suggested that among other things, there is a need to 
curtail the  problem,  involving  stakeholders, particularly,  individuals, NGOs, local  government  in  to 
urban forest development plans and projects,  providing affordable to fuel wood,  there should also be 
existence of effective rules and regulations.