Socio-ecological drawbacks in natural resources management in Selected Districts of East and Horo Guduru Wallaga Zones, Oromia, Ethiopia.

Background and objective: The Ethiopian landscapes' agricultural productivity and food security are seriously threatened by land degradation. There is still a performance paradox where high coverage does not result in long-lasting ecological restoration despite significant investments in soil and water conservation (SWC). In Western Oromia, this study assessed limitations, resource management, and biophysical land degradation.
Methodology: Three districts (Diga, Gobu Seyo, and Horro) were examined using a multi-stage, mixed-methods methodology combined with a systems-thinking framework. Field observations, focus groups, and key informant interviews were used to collect primary data. Secondary geographical and soil-loss data were then added.
Key Findings: Degradation peaks in Diga (42.77% degraded area; >70% severely degraded), with cultivated land making up more than 55% of the total area in all districts. Open grazing leads to a significant overuse of communal grazing areas. The species richness of natural forests decreased to 31, whereas the species richness of agroforestry systems decreased to 12 (dominated by Grevillea robusta and Eucalyptus spp.). Productivity is severely constrained by rising commercial fertilizer costs, supply delays, acidic soil, and nutrient depletion. Lack of baseline monitoring, unconfirmed sediment loss, inadequate management, and a lack of native species nurseries all reduce the lifetime of SWCs.
Conclusion and Recommendations: Without site-calibrated, quality-driven governance, physical conservation is still unsustainable. Establishing localized biofertilizer and lime-calibration systems, encouraging high-diversity native agroforestry, introducing controlled cut-and-carry grazing, integrating biophysical monitoring metrics into regional land management frameworks, and moving from structural quantity to long-term maintenance are some of the top priorities.