Climate change is one of the most serious environmental challenges affecting people all over the world causing widespread agitation and having an impact on economic systems such as agricultural production. Local communities in Madda Walabu District of Bale Zone, Southeast Ethiopia, are heavily dependent on agriculture. In contrast, the agricultural activity of the local community was depressed by threats such as increased temperature, prolonged drought, and changes in rainfall distribution. To mitigate the adverse consequences of climate change, it is important to understand the local knowledge of adaptation and mitigation actions. This research was a look into the climate change adaptation and mitigation in Ethiopia’s Madda Walabu District households to survive. The objective of the study was to investigate climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies for the synergy of the communities in the Madda Walabu District. A multistage stratified random sampling procedure and three villages were randomly selected. A total of 150 sample households from the three villages were interviewed. Descriptive statistics were employed to analyse data, and the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) was used for analysis. The results showed that most of the respondents have perceived an increase in temperature, fluctuation in the rainy season, and a decrease in the amount of rainfall. The respondents perceived that they are vulnerable to local climate variability. This study also revealed that 78% of the respondents followed different adaptation strategies to climate change, such as irrigation intensification, agroforestry, agronomic, and cultural practices. Adaptation and mitigation measures can be developed by enhancing the adaptive and mitigating capacity of forest-dependent communities. Therefore, awareness creation on climate change, variability, adaptation, and mitigation measures should be considered toward enhancing the adaptive capacity of the local communities in line with providing seasonal weather information. More research in the domain of climate change and mitigation techniques is needed as several statistical results were not as predicted, and the amount of adaptation and mitigation synergies was low. Furthermore, the study’s households were predominantly pastoralists, and their climate change adaptation and mitigation strategy for the livestock sector was an issue that needed to be addressed urgently.

Wetlands are valuable resources that provide a variety of functions for local populations, including environmental, hydrological, and socioeconomic benefits. Despite the importance of wetlands to humanity, they have been largely degraded and even lost in many countries including Ethiopia because they are wrongly regarded as wastelands. Some wetland conservation policies were designed not based on the perceptions of the people residing around the wetlands and lack of attention to communal areas. It is because of this gap that a quantitative analysis of physicochemical soil quality analysis and the local community’s perceptions was carried out with the overall goal of analyzing the degradation status of Kadar-Basaso wetland and community perceptions. A cross-sectional research approach was used with a purposeful soil sampling from/in 6 plots sized 50 m × 50 m and >100 m apart along two transect lines, and 200 household heads chosen randomly from three villages(Basaso, Shallo, and Nano Robe) bordering the wetland. Soil sampling, questionnaires, focus group discussion, and key informant interviews were used to collect data and then examined quantitatively and qualitatively. The result shows that the Kadar-Basaso wetland was moderately degraded. The physicochemical analysis of the soil reveals that the pH was acidic, indicating the presence of acidic waste effluents. In addition, the electric conductivity was salt-free, cation exchange capacity were found to be low, the organic matter was relatively low, potassium levels vary very little, and Phosphorous variation was minimal. Expansion of farmland and Overgrazing were the most damaging elements affecting wetland biodiversity. From the analysis, it was noted that communities’ attitudes influence human activities on the wetland. The study recommends that the government and wetland management authorities must establish strategies to minimize deterioration in the area and offer better infrastructure for both livestock keepers and farmers to improve the long-term usage of wetlands. The best management strategies should be devised for all sizes, types, and all site wetlands.