Abstract
Community perception of forest–water relationship was gathered using participatory rural appraisal tools in four watersheds of the Blue Nile River Basin in Ethiopia. These were compared and contrasted with the observational records of forest cover and water flow. Upstream and downstream communities were assessed separately to check for differences in perception based on location within a watershed. The key result of the study was that people in the study watersheds had a range of perceptions about the forest–water relationship which were watershed specific. The perceptions were generally consistent with observational evidence from the same watersheds. This study highlighted the need for locale-specific approaches to land and water management in the Basin, as well as the potential value of using community perceptions to complement the observational records which can have spatial and temporal limitations.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Andreassian, V. (2004). Waters and forests: From historical controversy to scientific debate. Journal of Hydrology, 291, 1–27. doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2003.12.015.
Bekele, M. (2003). Forest property rights, the role of state and institutional exigency: the Ethiopian experience. PhD Dissertation. Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
Bewket, W., & Conway, D. (2007). A note on the temporal and spatial variability of rainfall in the drought-prone Amhara region of Ethiopia. International Journal Climatology, 27, 1467–1477. doi:10.1002/joc.1481.
Birru, Y. (2007). Land degradation and options for sustainable land management in the Lake Tana Basin (LTB), Amhara Region, Ethiopia. PhD Dissertation. University of Bern, Bern.
Blöschl, G., Ardoin-Bardin, S., Bonne, M., Dorninger, M., Goodrich, D., Gutknecht, D., et al. (2007). At what scales do climate variability and land cover change impact on flooding and low flows? Hydrological Processes, 21, 1241–1247. doi:10.1002/hyp.6669.
Bruijnzeel, L. A. (2004). Hydrological functions of tropical forests: Not seeing the soil for the trees? Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 104, 185–228. doi:10.1016/j.agee.2004.01.015.
Calder, I. R. (2002). Forests and hydrological services: Reconciling public and science perceptions. Land Use and Water Resource Research, 2, 2.1–2.12.
Calder, I. R. (2005). Blue Revolution: Integrated Land and Water Resource Management. London: Earthscan.
Chambers, R. (1997). Whose reality counts? (p. 295). Putting the first last (Reprint): Intermediate Technology Publications, London.
Chanda, R. (1996). Human perceptions of environmental degradation in a part of the Kalahari ecosystem. GeoJournal, 39 (May), 65–71.
DeGeorges, P. A., & Reilly, B. K. (2009). The realities of community based natural resource management and biodiversity conservation in Sub-Saharan Africa. Sustainability, 1, 734–788. doi:10.3390/su1030734.
Demel, T. (2001). Deforestation, wood famine and environmental degradation in Ethiopia’s highland ecosystem: Urgent need for action. North African Studies, 8(1), 53–76.
Ellison, D., Futter, M., & Bishop, K. (2012). On the forest cover-water yield debate: From demand- to supply-side thinking. Global Change Biology, 18(3), 806–820. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2011.02589.x.
Evelyn, O. B., & Camirand, R. (2003). Forest cover and deforestation in Jamaica: An analysis of forest cover estimates over time. International Forestry Review, 5(4), 354–363.
Farley, K. A., Gobbagy, E. G., & Jackson, R. B. (2005). Effects of afforestation on water yield: A global synthesis with implications for policy. Global Change Biology, 11, 1565–1576. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2005.01011/x.
Forsyth, T. (1996). Science, myth and knowledge: Testing Himalayan environmental degradation in Thailand. Geoforum, 27(3), 375–392.
Gebrehiwot, S. G., Ayele, T., & Bishop, K. (2010). Forest cover and stream flow in the headwater of the Blue Nile: Complementing observational data analysis with community perception. Ambio, 39, 284–294. doi:10.1007/s13280-010-0047-y.
Gebrehiwot, S. G., Gärdenäs, A. I., Bewket, W., & Bishop, K. (2013a). Forest cover change over four decades in the Blue Nile Basin, Ethiopia: Comparison of three watersheds. Journal of Environmental Change,. doi:10.1007/s10113-013-0491-x.
Gebrehiwot, S. G., Gärdenäs, A. I., Bewket, W., Seibert, J., Ilstedt, U., & Bishop, K. (2013b). The long-term hydrology of East Africa’s water tower: Statistical change detection in the watersheds of the Abbay Basin. Journal of Environmental Change,. doi:10.1007/s10113-013-048-x.
Gebrehiwot, S. G., Seibert, J., Gärdenäs, A. I., Mellander, P.-E., & Bishop, K. (2013c). Hydrological change detection using modeling: Half a century of runoff from four rivers in the Blue Nile Basin. Water Resource Research Journal,. doi:10.1002/wrcr.20319.
Haile, A. T., Rientjes, T. H. M., Habib, E., Jetten, V., & Gebremichael, M. (2011). Rain event properties at the source of the Blue Nile River. Hydrology Earth Systems Science, 15, 1023–1034. doi:10.5194/hess-15-1023-2011.
Hibbert, A. R. (1967). Forest treatment effects on water yield. In W. E. Sopper & H. W. Lull (Eds.), Forest Hydrology (pp. 527–543). Oxford: Pergamon Press.
Inan, M., & Erdin, K. (2004). Monitoring spatial and structural changes of forest cover in Yeniciftlik Watershed with multitemporal satellite data. International archives of photogrammetry remote sensing and spatial information sciences, 35(7), 759–762.
Malmer, A., Murdiyarso, D., Bruijnzeel (Sampurno), L. S., & Ilstedt, U. (2009). Carbon sequestration in tropical forests and water: A critical look at the basis for common used generalization. Global Change Biology,. doi:10.1111/1365-2486.2009.01984x.
Nygren, A. (1999). Local knowledge in the environment-development discourse: From dichotomies to situated knowledges. Critique of Anthropology, 19(3), 267–288.
Rahmato, D. (2009). The Peasant and the State: Studies in Agrarian change in Ethiopia 1950s-2000s. Addis Ababa: Addis Ababa University Press.
Sin, A., & Sammani, E. (1987). Community perception and participation, prospects in management of forests in marginal lands of Sudan. GeoJournal, 15(4), 399–411.
Thanapakpawin, P., Richey, J., Thomas, D., Rodda, S., Campbell, B., & Logsdon, M. (2006). Effects of land use change on the hydrologic regime of the Mae Chaem river basin, NW Thailand. Journal of Hydrology, 334, 215–230. doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2006.10.012.
Wilk, J. (2000). Local perceptions about forest and water in two tropical catchments. GeoJournal, 50, 339–347.
Winter, T. C. (2007). The role of ground water in generating streamflow in headwater areas and in maintaining base flow. Journal of America Water Resources Association, 43(1), 15–25.
Zeleke, T., Giorgi, F., Mengistu Tsidu, G., & Diro, G. T. (2012). Spatial and temporal variability of summer rainfall over Ethiopia from observations and a regional climate model experiment. Theoretical Applied Climatology,. doi:10.1007/s00704-012-0700-4.
Zeleke, G., & Hurni, H. (2001). Implications of land use and land cover dynamics for mountain resource degradation in the Northwestern Ethiopian highlands. Mountain Research and Development, 21(2), 184–191.
Acknowledgments
This research was supported with funds from SIDA (Swedish International Development Agency) and The Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Office project “Soil and water management in agricultural production” provided to the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gebrehiwot, S.G., Bewket, W. & Bishop, K. Community perceptions of forest–water relationships in the Blue Nile Basin of Ethiopia. GeoJournal 79, 605–618 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-013-9519-5
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-013-9519-5