Trends of land use land cover dynamics of Sheka biosphere reserve, A case of Shato core area, Southwest Ethiopia

The usage of land use and land cover change information has significantly risen as a result of the requirement for relevant data for environmental monitoring, modeling, and planning. The main objective of the study is to analyze the trend of land use and land cover dynamics in Sheka biosphere reserve: A Case of Shato Core Area, Southwest Ethiopia. To map the land use and land cover, supervised classifications were used, and an accuracy evaluation was conducted. Information on the trend of land use and land cover change was obtained using the IDRISI software’s land change modeler. Results showed that about 308.29ha (56.7%) of wetland and 3,215.6ha (19.6%) of natural forest were converted to other land use types in the last 30 years. Plantation and rural settlement increased by 2,234.3ha (10.2%) and 1289.6ha (6.6%) respectively from 1991–2021. Sheka biosphere reserve was registered with UNESCO in 2012 and Shato is one of the core areas. It covers 5023.3ha (25.5%) of the study area. However, 1482ha (7.5%) were given to coffee plantations, and currently, only 3,541ha (18%) are left. The main drivers of land cover changes were attributed to large-scale agricultural intensification and its induced expansions of rural settlements in and around the Shato core area. The overall accuracy and kappa statistics for 1991, 2006, and 2021 were 74% (0.74), 81% (0.81), and 81.2% (0.812), respectively. Thus, land use and land cover change trend mapping and analysis play a crucial role in conservation planning and habitat monitoring. The study concluded that wetland and forestland conversions in the study area are decreasing overwhelmingly and need serious intervention mechanisms to tackle the loss of biodiversity in the Shato core area.