ASSESSING THE PRACTICES OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AND PROTECTION IN MERAWI CITY ADMINISTRATION, AMHARA NATIONAL REGIONAL STATE, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Environmental pollution is a worldwide problem and its potential to influence the health of human population is great. The major contributory factor for it is wood smoking and illegal damping of wastes. Thus, the objective of this study was to assess the practices of environmental management and protection in Merawi City Administration. The approach used in this research was a mixed research with a descriptive survey method, which makes the use of both qualitative and quantitative description. To this end, questionnaire and interview methods of data collections were employed. The study used 142 households who were selected by using simple random sampling techniques. Interviews were also conducted with 4 professional experts who were selected using purposive sampling method. The data collected through survey used was analyzed by using descriptive statistics (cross-tabulation, frequency, percentages and compare means).The findings of quantitative and qualitative data reported that illegal wood burning for charcoal, illegal household waste removal and absence of standardized disposing sites are the main causes for improper environmental management and protection practices. To this end, the concerned body should prevent illegal wood burning, prevent illegal household wastes and prepare standardized disposing sites.