Assessing site suitability for avitourism development in southwestern Ethiopia: A geospatial and multi-criteria decision-making approach

Ethiopia hosts over 920 bird species, including 19 endemics, yet strategic planning for avitourism (AT) remains underdeveloped particularly in biodiverse but data-poor regions like southwestern Ethiopia. This gap hinders both biodiversity conservation and sustainable livelihood opportunities. To address it, we applied an integrated GIS-multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approach, using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to assess AT site suitability in the Anuak Zone. Data inputs included a 15 m resolution digital elevation model, 1:50,000 topographic and boundary maps, GPS field data, and qualitative insights from key informant interviews and focus group discussions. Seven criteria were evaluated; protection status, land use type, proximity to settlements, stream density, road access, slope, and elevation. Expert-based pairwise comparisons (Consistency Ratio = 0.007) assigned weights, which were integrated through spatial weighted overlay analysis. The weighted overlay analysis revealed that most of the study area is suitable for AT operations. Specifically, the suitability was classified as: very high (56.4%), high (30.6%), moderate (6.2%), low (3.4%), and very low (3.2%). This study offers new insights by applying a participatory GIS-MCDM framework in a relatively undisturbed, transboundary African setting that has received little attention in AT literature. Local ecological knowledge helped validate threats like illegal mining and agricultural encroachment and informed a replicable spatial decision-support tool for community-based conservation. Findings offer actionable input for Ethiopia’s National Biodiversity Strategy and align with the African Union’s Agenda 2063 for sustainable development. We recommend co-management models that link AT development with local livelihood diversification to reduce pressure on critical bird habitats.