Native Pasture Conditions and Utilization Status in the Amarti and Nashe Wetlands, Western Oromia, Ethiopia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.20372/star.v13i1.11Keywords:
Native pasture, Overgrazing, Pasture storage, Soil Degradation, WetlandsAbstract
The investigation aimed to assess the current and past usage of natural pastures in the Amarti and Nashe wetlands. A survey and observation of 105 homes with direct positive impacts were conducted. Results showed that household family size, animal holding, crop holding, and grazing land holding increased significantly around the Nashe wetland compared to the Amarti wetland areas. Additionally, the average size of the animal herd was larger around the Nashe wetland. Wetland natural pasture was the principal source of cattle feed in the Nashe wetland region (68.3% of animal intake) and the Amarti wetland areas (68.6% of animal intake) during the dry season. A little over half of respondents (43.8%) thought the wetlands around the Amarti wetland areas were poor, while nearly six-in-ten (62.5%), agreed. Reduced pasture area, excessive grazing, soil degradation in upland areas, and a general lack of knowledge about how to manage wetland resources were the main reasons for this low quality. While the Nashe wetland had an expected stocking rate of 7.75 TLU/ha, Amarti had a rate of 2.39 TLU/ha. Due to overpopulation, low species richness, and general poor condition, the assessed wetlands necessitated improvement, especially during the dry season.
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