Abstract
Eucalyptus is one of the exotic and multipurpose tree grown in Ethiopia. This paper aims to assess the spatiotemporal expansion of eucalyptus trees in Meket district, north-central Ethiopia. Multistage sampling techniques reaching from farmer’s perception to remote sensing data processing were employed. Household heads survey of 192 farmers, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions was used to collect primary data’s. Sixteen years of Landsat images were processed to detect multi-temporal status of Eucalyptus plantation through a combination of NDVI and on-screen-digitizing. This has been done with the aid of walking on the transect lines established based on the abundance of eucalyptus tree. Finally, the data’s were analysed through descriptive statistics. Both remote sensing and farmer’s perception result verified the rapid increment of Eucalyptus plantation in the study area. Explicitly, 85.42% of the sampled farmers observed the increment of eucalyptus. The remote sensed information also verified that, coverage of eucalyptus plantation were expanded from 6022 to 7838 and 7930 hectare in the year 2003, 2010, and 2019, respectively. The effects of eucalyptus planting on ecological components and crop were understood by the farmers and there is a significant difference in the risk perception of the adopters and non-adopters farmers. However, 62% of the farmers head didn’t consider the ecological effects of eucalyptus for its adoption. Provision of livelihood alternatives, execution of proper land use planning, and adoption of ecological friendly eucalyptus tree species are forward as a recommendation.
Key Words: Eucalyptus expansion, Farmer’s perception, NDVI, Meket district
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