Impacts of artisanal gold mining on the environmentand community of kape area, west guji zone, oromia, southern Ethiopia

The study were to assess on the impacts of mining activities on land degradation, land stability, atmosphere, water resource, biodiversity and on local residents as well on local uses of mineral resources in Kape area.Data’s employed were gathered through field observation, group discussion, and asking local peoples aboutimpact of gold mining, their consequences and their activities in the study area. Theoperations that practiced in the study area characterized by shallow diggings some meters depthunderground and on the surface, which follow the reefs. This activities meansriverbed gold panning creates a number of serious environmental impacts such as landdegradation, land stability, soil erosion, deforestation and impacts on both surface andsubsurface water. Because the local people gets income daily from this activities and have highdemand for gold leads to increase in mining activities which results in land use changes. Therefore,the government and its partners should make efforts to harmonize forestry and mininglaws to avoid conflicts of interest which lead to sustainable management of bothforest and mineral resources.