The impact of community-mobilized watershed management interventions on the spatiotemporal erosion patterns and implications: Community Engagement for Erosion Control and Sustainable Watershed Management

In the Amhara region of Ethiopia, severe soil erosion problems have been a persistent issue due to long-term human-related activities, intense rainfall events, and erosion-sensitive landscapes. The regional government initiated a campaign-based soil and water conservation (SWC) program in response to this pressing issue. A comprehensive soil erosion modeling study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of these interventions. The findings show the positive impact of implementing community-based watershed management practices for combating erosion in the region. Specifically, the findings revealed a decline in soil loss from 22.67 Mg ha-1 yr-1 in 2014 to 20.75 Mg ha-1 yr-1 in 2022, indicating a reduction of 1.92 Mg ha-1 yr-1. This decline in soil loss in the region can be directly related to the successful implementation of community-mobilized SWC measures that have been in place since 2011. Despite this progress, it is still alarming to note that a significant 68.61% of the region is classified as high-risk, highlighting the pressing need for immediate action to address soil erosion. Upon examination of the distribution of soil loss across the region, it is evident that cropland, which makes up 39.73% of the total area, is responsible for a substantial 52.04% of the estimated soil loss. Among the 14 agroecology, the warm moist lowlands, tepid sub-moist mid-highlands, and tepid moist mid-highlands cover 48.65% of the total area and contribute a staggering 73.33% of the overall soil loss, underscoring the need for location-specific conservation efforts in these areas to mitigate further degradation.