FOREST BASED ECONOMY AND CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION: A CASE STUDY OF BUKO ODO BULU CONTROLLED HUNTING AREA FOREST, GOBA WOREDA, SOUTH EAST ETHIOPIA

Forest ecosystems have long been acknowledged for the multiple benefits they provide at<br> global as well as local levels. Nature provides goods and services that contribute to<br> improving a good quality of life and human well-being. Forests are known to play an<br> important role in regulating the global climate. Therefore, it serves as natural sink of CO2 to<br> mitigate climate change. This study was conducted on Buko Odo bulu controlled hunting<br> area forest, with the objectives of examining forest based economy and its contribution in<br> mitigating climate change. In light of this data collection method, forest economy was<br> collected from each household sampled through a semi-structured questionnaire, primary<br> data collection was done by field inventory, and secondary data was collected from different<br> sources. In order to collect vegetation data, particularly above-ground biomass (AGB), and a<br> total of 42 plots with a size of 20 m x 20 m were used. For litter and soil sample collection,<br> five sub quadrants (1 m x 1 m) were established at the four corners and center of every<br> quadrant. The composite method was also used for litter and soil sampling. A descriptive<br> statistical test was used to analyze variables of the economy. Data analysis of various carbon<br> pools measured in the forests was done on the Microsoft Excel 2010 sheet used to manipulate<br> all the data. From forest inventory data, the aboveground biomass carbon stock was<br> estimated using allometric equations. Data were analyzed by STATA software, and those<br> data were tested in the form of mean, standard deviation, and others. The result shows that<br> forest in the study area is the main source of income, especially for lower-income<br> households. The survey result revealed that households in the study area used forests for<br> different purposes. From the households sampled 32.88 and 32.43 percent used forest for<br> animal feed and firewood in the study area respectively. The result revealed that mean above<br> ground biomass and carbon stock stored in tree species were 187.53± 527.68 and 88.14±<br> 247.97 t/ha, respectively; mean below ground biomass and carbon stock stored in tree<br> species were 48.75 ± 137.178 and 22.92±64.47 t/ha, respectively; and litter carbon stock and<br> soil carbon stock were 9.2 t/ha and 434.4 t/ha, respectively. Results revealed that the mean<br> carbon stock and potential carbon sequestration were about 336.55 t/ha and 1234.8 CO2eq<br> respectively. Overall, this study may increase knowledge on the contribution of forests to<br> climate change mitigation.2