Drivers of land use/land cover change

Land use/land cover change (LULCC) analysis is the major important information required for planning and decision making. Hence, this study was conducted to identify types as well as extent of LULCC within three decades and its drivers linked with impacts on the local community in terms of access to NTFP in the district. Information was extracted from three periods of Landsat imagery (1984 /ETM/, 2001/ETM+/, and 2015 /OLI/ image) for LULCC analysis. Socio-economic data were collected through household survey, key informant interviews, and group discussions. Analysis of data was accomplished through the use of ERDAS imagine (version 9.1), ArcGIS (version 10.1), and SPSS (version 20) along with Microsoft Excel software. For 1984 and 2001 landsat images, four LULC classes while one additional LULC class (plantation coffee) were identified for 2015 LULCC analysis. Findings of the study showed the existence of LULCC with a significant expansion of agricultural land/settlement and plantation coffee while decreasing trends of shrub/bush land, grass land, and natural forest.