Early multidisciplinary surveys in the Lakes region of central/south Ethiopia show a highly variable land cover pattern characterised by complex interactions between environmental parameters and socioeconomic dynamics. From an ecological point of view the area is highly sensitive and both food security and soil conservation are becoming serious problems for the rapidly growing population. The intensive land cover changes observed in this area during the last few decades beg accurate analysis. Land-cover change analysis over a long time-span was performed. Interpretation (API) of aerial photographs dated 1972 and classification of a 1994 Landsat TM image were used. Problems due to the heterogeneous nature of the data were overcome with a method for quantifying land cover on aerial photographs, thus producing data comparable to TM classification results. As land cover is linked, through land use, to social dynamics, in ground control use was made of the results of parallel socio-economic investigations. From the analysis, a general trend of increase in cultivated surfaces was noted. Unique strategies of land allocation according to physical settings were observed. A trend in the evolution of badlands was identified: rapid reactivation of previous erosion in newly cropped areas occurred; within a few decades this erosion reached quasi-equilibrium. The methods adopted showed some accuracy limitations, but allowed land-cover change analysis over a 22-year time-span, providing important insight into recent phenomena and present trends.