Avifauna Loss Driven by Habitat Degradation in Ethiopia

Habitat Degradation and Fragmentation

According to FAO [10], satisfying increased demands on agriculture with existing farming practices is likely to lead to more intense competition for natural resources and high-input, resource-intensive farming systems, which have caused massive deforestation, water scarcities, soil depletion, and high levels of greenhouse gas emissions, cannot deliver sustainable food and agricultural production.

Ethiopia faces some serious environmental challenges including climate change and aspects of ecosystem degradation such as deforestation, loss of biodiversity, and soil fertility decline [15, 16]. Degradation related to land use and cover change costs Ethiopia about 4.3 billion dollars per year and deforestation is the main cause of biodiversity loss [17]. These environmental challenges coupled with a fast- growing human population have contributed to persistent food insecurity and malnourishment [18].

Overview of Biodiversity Loss

The importance of biodiversity management has acquired recognition only recently. Humankind has been using natural resources since it emerged as Homo sapiens. Throughout the millennia, human knowledge and technology have grown in leaps and bounds. Such growth, although slow initially (e.g. Change from Stone Age to the (Iron Age), had as time passed, the gaps in technological change (revolution) became shorter and shorter, and the rate of knowledge and skills acquisition growing faster and faster, respectively. Despite this vast accumulation of knowledge and skills, it is only recently that truth has become obvious, and that is unless natural resources [4]. In dealing with the environment, there is a need to focus activities at the local, national and regional levels, so that a global perspective could emerge in a more realistic manner. As the problems of developing countries, particularly the least developed countries, of which the majority are in Africa on which Ethiopia is included, became a subject of deliberation and Study, the vicious circle of poverty biodiversity degradation poverty became recognized. In other words, in developing countries, people are more dependent on natural resources, particularly renewable resources, than people in developed countries, and this dependence leads to resource depletion natural and degradation.

Environmental degradation and depletion occur mainly due to anthropogenic impacts as human numbers increased, however, there were fewer and fewer natural resources to be utilized on a sustainable basis, and overexploitation and mining of resources had to occur to satisfy more and more people with less and fewer resources. The causes for this state of affairs are many and complex [18].

Forest ecosystems are important sources of ecosystem services (ES) and goods for millions of people. Despite their importance, forest ecosystems and covers have been changing across the world over the past decades due to both direct and indirect drivers, such as agricultural expansion (both commercial and subsistence agriculture), demographic pressure, timber extraction, and logging, fuelwood collection, and charcoal production, uncontrolled fires, livestock grazing, mining, urbanization, and infrastructural development. In forest ecosystems, alteration of vegetation structure and habitat fragmentation through deforestation and forest degradation due to settlement and cultivation land expansion, and livestock overgrazing are among the main threats affecting biodiversity. Forest birds are particularly susceptible to alterations in vegetation structure and forest extent because of their dependence on vertical vegetation structure [7]. However, many studies of forest birds have found variable responses of different species to disturbance, depending on certain species-specific ecological traits and the nature and severity of disturbance. Nonetheless, many forest specialist species are known to be negatively affected by forest disturbance. In contrast, habitat generalist species that are better adapted to a wider range of habitats, such as woodland, open, and/or shrub habitats can positively exploit habitat changes.

Habitat Degradation and its Effect in Ethiopia

Habitat destruction is the process in which natural habitat is rendered functionally unable to support the species present. In this process, the organisms that previously used the site are displaced or destroyed, reducing biodiversity. Habitat destruction by human activity is mainly for harvesting natural resources for industry production and urbanization. Causes of habitat clearing habitats for agriculture are the principal cause of habitat destruction. Other important include mining, logging, trawling, and urban sprawl. Ethiopia faces some serious environmental challenges including climate change and aspects of ecosystem degradation such as deforestation, loss of biodiversity, and soil fertility decline [15]. Degradation related to land use and cover change costs Ethiopia about 4.3 billion dollars per year. Deforestation is the root cause of biodiversity loss [17]. These environmental challenges coupled with a fast-growing human population have contributed to persistent food insecurity and malnourishment. Increased demands on agriculture cause intense competition for natural resources and high-input, resource-intensive farming systems [18]. This factor causes massive deforestation, water scarcities, soil depletion, and high levels of greenhouse gas emissions, and cannot deliver sustainable food and agricultural production [19].

Avifauna Diversity Loss by Habitat Degradation in Ethiopia

The major causes of bird extinction are direct (e.g., hunting for food and traditional uses) and indirect (habitat destruction and climate change) anthropogenic-induced threats. Such species-specific local or global extinction entails not only loss of species, but also loss of the ecosystem services associated with the species. Therefore, effective conservation of birds and their ecosystem services in countries including Ethiopia where bird diversity and endemism are high, but a change in their habitat occurs at an overwhelming rate should be seen as a priority management action. That requires updated and reliable ornithological data on how birds respond to habitat changes. Information from ornithological studies could help decision-makers understand the conservation importance and status of sites to prioritize conservation and develop appropriate conservation measures needed. One major cause of global biodiversity decline is habitat degradation and destruction due to anthropogenic actions. Understanding the responses of biodiversity components, such as birds, to human disturbances is important to enabling informed conservation decision-making [20].

Removal of timber, twigs, and leaves, which are used for fuel and grazing land for the livestock leads to erosion. Most who enter the biomass fuel business are poor and vulnerable members of the society such as women household heads, landless farmers, widowed/divorced poor women, and orphaned children lacking other opportunities to secure their livelihood, who are highly dependent on forests for income generation. The deforestation of watersheds has resulted in loss of genetic resources, flooding and wood scarcity. Illegal settlements in the parks enable the people to have free access to entry and collect fuelwood [21]. They recommended that protection of the area is mandatory for wildlife conservation especially for birds to enrich their diversity, and abundance and to maintain the natural ecological balance of the area.

Biodiversity Conservation Challenges

Tropical deforestation has become a global concern, with an annual total forest loss of 9.4 million. The total forested area of Ethiopia has decreased substantially during the past half-century or so. Recent figures show that the country’s forest cover has shrunk to less than 3–3.6% [22]. Forest loss in northern Ethiopia probably goes back many hundreds of years [23], with the main remaining forest now confined almost entirely to the southern part of the country.