Soil degradation in the
form of soil erosion is a serious and continuous environmental problem in Jabi
Tehinan Woreda. Uncontrolled land use, deforestation, over cultivation,
overgrazing and exploitation of biomass for firewood, construction and other
household uses due to increasing population ultimately lead to severe soil
erosion. The impact of natural hazards like erosion can be minimized and
ultimately controlled by disaster preparedness maps. Therefore, the overall
objective of this paper is to quantify and map an estimated soil loss by
examining different topographic and anthropogenic factors for the planning and
implementations of sustainable soil conservation and management system in the
study area. This study had integrated Geographic Information System (GIS),
Remote Sensing (RS) and Multi-Criteria Evaluation (MCE) techniques to quantify
and map erosion vulnerable areas using RUSLE model. Slope gradient, slope
length, soil type, soil conservations techniques, cover management and rainfall
variables were used as input model parameters/variables. The data had been
collected and analyzed from different land sat imageries, SRTM data, topomaps
and point interpolations of primary data. Finally, the aggregated effects of
all parameters had been analyzed and soil loss from the area was calculated
using RUSEL models. After analyzing all model parameters, areas in steeper
slope with Lithosols, Eutric Nitosols, Orthic Luvisols, croplands, bare lands
and river banks have been identified as the most erosion vulnerable areas.
Quantitatively, an estimated annual soil loss in Jabi Tehinan Woreda ranges
from nearly 0 in south and central parts of the area to 504.6 t/ha/yr in
steeply sloping mountainous areas of the north and north-eastern parts of the
catchments.