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This study detects patterns of land-use and land-cover changes in the last three decades (1972–2004) and analyses its causative factors in the Upper Dijo River catchment, Midwest escarpment of Ethiopian Rift Valley. Data captured through the synergy of an aerial photo, satellite image and ground-based socio-economic survey were analysed by GIS and SPSS. The results showed a decline in shrub-grassland and riverine trees at 21.5 and 16.3 ha per year, respectively, and increase in plantation trees, annual crops and bare/open grasslands at 2.8, 12.5 and 24.8 ha per year, respectively. The results are interpreted in the light of population dynamics, socio-economic condition and policy framework. The findings warrant that land-use and land-cover change in the region is very rapid, and unless the existing management of land resources is up-scaled, land ownership is secured, and family planning is mainstreamed in regional and local development plans, the region's fragile ecological balance would collapse irrecoverably.
