For the REDD+ Project Secretariat
The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, REDD+ Secretariat, Ministry of
Environment and Forest
Study of causes of deforestation and forest degradation in Ethiopia
and the identification and prioritization of strategic options to
address those
Mid-Term Report
Authors:
Oy Arbonaut Ltd, FM-International OY FINNMAP and Baseline
Surveying Engineering Consultant
28th April 2015
1
Project Title:
Study of causes of deforestation and forest degradation in
Ethiopia and the identification and prioritization of strategic
options to address those
Project number:
Country:
WB Consultant:
R-PPR/C- 03/13
Contact person:
Phone:
Email:
Ethiopia
The Consortium:
Oy Arbonaut Ltd, Finland
FM-International OY FINNMAP
Baseline Surveying Engineering Consultant
Jarno Hamalainen
+358 45 279 29 69
jarno.hamalainen@arbonaut.com
2
Table of Contents
Acronyms ........................................................................................................................................7
1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................9
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
Description of the assignment ............................................................................................... 9
Scope of the study ..................................................................................................................... 10
Objectives of the assignment................................................................................................ 10
Expected Outputs...................................................................................................................... 11
Objective and tasks of the first research and assessment phase ............................ 11
2 Methodology ........................................................................................................................ 12
2.1 Assessment of magnitude and impact of identified underlying causes and
drivers of deforestation in Ethiopia ............................................................................................. 12
2.2 Spatial land cover analysis of DD hotspot areas and direct causes of DD ............ 12
2.3 Socio-economic data collection and analysis the underlying causes of
deforestation and forest degradation .......................................................................................... 14
3 Forest resources and their contributions in Ethiopia........................................... 21
3.1
3.2
3.3
Forest resources ....................................................................................................................... 21
Trees outside forests............................................................................................................... 23
Economic contribution of the forestry sector ................................................................ 24
4 History, magnitude and impact of deforestation and forest degradation ..... 26
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
4.5
4.6
4.7
History of forest under different regimes ....................................................................... 26
Forest cover change ................................................................................................................. 26
Magnitude of deforestation and forest degradation.................................................... 27
Direct and underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation ............... 27
Impact of deforestation and forest degradation ........................................................... 28
Forestry and climate change mitigation activities ....................................................... 29
Summary of the literature review ...................................................................................... 30
5 Spatial analysis of deforestation and forest degradation (DD) hotspot areas
and direct causes of DD ........................................................................................................... 33
5.1 Approach Overview ................................................................................................................. 33
5.2 NDVI analysis ............................................................................................................................. 33
5.3 Deforestation assessment ..................................................................................................... 37
5.4 Forest degradation assessment .......................................................................................... 37
5.5 Sample plot interpretation ................................................................................................... 38
5.6 Land use classification of selected woredas ................................................................... 41
5.7 Comparison of the results with other reference sources........................................... 42
5.7.1 Global forest change study 2000-2013 (Hansen et al. 2013) ....................................... 42
5.7.2 EMA maps 2003, 2008 and 2013.............................................................................................. 44
5.7.3 Other LULC mapping products .................................................................................................. 46
5.8 Magnitude of historical emissions to land use change and forest degradation
for the reference period (2003-2013) ......................................................................................... 47
5.9 Spatial Analysis - Summary and conclusions ................................................................. 47
6 Current regional forest resources & drivers of deforestation and forest
degradation ................................................................................................................................. 50
6.1 Tigray National Regional State (TNRS) ............................................................................. 50
6.1.1 Overview ............................................................................................................................................. 50
6.1.2 Kola Tembien Woreda .................................................................................................................. 52
6.1.3 Atsbi Wonberta Woreda............................................................................................................... 56
6.1.4 Conclusions for the region........................................................................................................... 60
6.2 Amhara National Regional State (ANR) ............................................................................ 61
3
6.2.1 Overview ............................................................................................................................................. 61
6.2.2 Matema Woreda .............................................................................................................................. 63
6.2.3 Tarma Ber Woreda ......................................................................................................................... 66
6.2.4 Conclusions for the region........................................................................................................... 70
6.3 South National Nations and Peoples Region State (SNNPRS) ................................... 71
6.3.1 Overview ............................................................................................................................................. 71
6.3.2 Wondo Genet Woreda ................................................................................................................... 73
6.3.3 Chena Woreda .................................................................................................................................. 77
6.3.4 Arbaminch Zuria Woreda ............................................................................................................ 81
6.3.5 Conclusions for SNNP Region .................................................................................................... 84
6.4 Gambella National Regional State (GNRS) ....................................................................... 85
6.4.1 Overview ............................................................................................................................................. 85
6.4.2 Abobo Woreda.................................................................................................................................. 86
6.4.3 Goge Woreda ..................................................................................................................................... 90
6.4.4 Conclusions for the region........................................................................................................... 94
6.5 Benishangul Gumuz National Regional State (BGNRS) ............................................... 95
6.5.1 Overview ............................................................................................................................................. 95
6.5.2 Assosa Woreda ................................................................................................................................. 97
6.5.3 Bambasi Woreda ........................................................................................................................... 101
6.5.4 Conclusions for the region......................................................................................................... 104
6.6 Afar National Regional State (ANRS) .............................................................................. 105
6.6.1 Overview ........................................................................................................................................... 105
6.6.2 Aysaita Woreda .............................................................................................................................. 107
6.6.3 Conclusions for the region......................................................................................................... 110
6.7 Somali National Regional State (SNR) ............................................................................ 111
6.7.1 Overview ........................................................................................................................................... 111
6.7.2 Kebri Beya Woreda....................................................................................................................... 113
6.7.3 Conclusions for the region......................................................................................................... 116
6.8 National level sosio-economic conclusion on DD ...................................................... 117
6.8.1 Main drivers affecting forest cover and conditions of degradation ......................... 117
6.8.2 Population growth and immigration into an area ........................................................... 117
6.8.3 Firewood and other wood energy needs............................................................................. 118
6.8.4 Timber and wooden construction materials ..................................................................... 120
6.8.5 Agricultural expansion................................................................................................................ 121
6.8.6 Livestock rearing ........................................................................................................................... 125
6.8.7 Road construction ......................................................................................................................... 127
6.8.8 Biophysical landscape characteristics .................................................................................. 128
7 National level conclusions on Drivers and Underlying causes of DD ........... 132
7.1
7.2
7.3
7.4
Literature ................................................................................................................................. 132
Spatial analysis ....................................................................................................................... 134
The negative drivers of deforestation and degradation ......................................... 136
Mitigating actions .................................................................................................................. 139
8 References ......................................................................................................................... 141
Annexes ..................................................................................................................................... 146
Annex 1. Deforestation impact screening list for Ethiopia................................................ 146
Annex 2.Individual Household Interview Questions ........................................................... 148
Annex 3. Assessment of forest degradation over time in sample plots ........................ 150
Annex 4. Land use change matrices of EMA LULC maps ..................................................... 150
Annex 5. Tigray spatial analysis.................................................................................................. 150
Annex 6. Amhara spatial analysis ............................................................................................... 150
Annex 7. Benishangul-Gumuz spatial analysis ...................................................................... 150
Annex 8. Gambella spatial analysis ............................................................................................ 150
Annex 9. SNNPR spatial analysis ................................................................................................. 150
Annex 10. Afar spatial analysis.................................................................................................... 150
Annex 11. Somali spatial analysis .............................................................................................. 150
4
List of Tables
Table 1. List of the finally selected woredas and the forest types these sites
represents. ........................................................................................................................................ 15
Table 2.Forest resources estimates (million ha) of Ethiopia as reported in different
documents......................................................................................................................................... 22
Table 3. Distribution of high forests, woodlands and shrublands by regions to WBISPP
(2005) ................................................................................................................................................. 23
Table 4. Average biomass density (tonnes/hectare) by regions, based on biomass and
forest types (WBISPP 2000) ...................................................................................................... 23
Table 4. Change in the forest resources of Ethiopia from 1990-2010 ................................ 27
Table 5. Estimation of changes with time of the main emission drivers (CRGE, 2011)
............................................................................................................................................................... 28
Table 6. Image acquisition dates of the 10-day NDVI composites that were used to
calculate November-January averages. ................................................................................. 34
Table 7. Mean NDVI values by region .............................................................................................. 35
Table 8. Summary of drivers of deforestation and forest degradation by spatial
analysis............................................................................................................................................... 39
Table 9. Summary of the forest gains and losses following Hansen et al. (2013) ......... 43
Table 10. EMA LULC mapping 2003 and 2008............................................................................. 44
Table 11. EMA LULC by regions ......................................................................................................... 45
Table 12. Land cover in Ethiopia in 2010 ...................................................................................... 46
Table 13. Estimated magnitude of CO2 emissions due to deforestation and
aboveground biomass degradation over the reference period 2003-2013 ............ 47
Table 14. Vegetation, agriculture and bare land cover in Tigray .......................................... 52
Table 15. Framework analysis of the underlying causes of DD vis-à-vis societal
situation in Kola Tembien, Tigrey Region. ........................................................................... 55
Table 16. Framework analysis of the underlying causes of DD vis-à-vis societal
situation in Atsbi Wonberta, Tigrey Region......................................................................... 59
Table 17. Framework analysis of the underlying causes of DD vis-à-vis societal
situation in in Metema, Amhara Region. ............................................................................... 65
Table 18. Framework analysis of the underlying causes of DD vis-à-vis societal
situation in Tarma Ber woreda, Amhara Region. .............................................................. 68
Table 19. Framework analysis of the underlying causes of DD vis-à-vis societal
situation in Wondo Genet woreda. .......................................................................................... 76
Table 20. Framework analysis of the underlying causes of DD vis-à-vis societal
situation in Chena woreda, SNNP Region. ............................................................................ 79
Table 21. Framework analysis of the underlying causes of DD vis-à-vis societal
situation in Arbaminch Zuria, SNNP Region. ....................................................................... 83
Table 22. Framework analysis of the underlying causes of DD vis-à-vis societal
situation in Abobo woreda. ........................................................................................................ 88
Table 23. Framework analysis of the underlying causes of DD vis-à-vis societal
situation in Goge woreda. ........................................................................................................... 93
Table 24. Framework analysis of the underlying causes of DD vis-à-vis societal
situation in Assosa woreda, Benishangul-Gumuz Region. .......................................... 100
Table 25. Framework analysis of the underlying causes of DD vis-à-vis societal
situation in Bambasi woreda, Benishangul-Gumuz Region. ....................................... 103
Table 26. Framework analysis of the underlying causes of DD vis-à-vis societal
situation in Aysaita, Afar Region. .......................................................................................... 109
Table 27. Framework analysis of the underlying causes of DD vis-à-vis societal
situation in Kebri Beya, Somali Region. .............................................................................. 115
5
Table 28. High severity drivers of deforestation and degradation (DD) and main
mitigating actions conducted so far to reduce DD pressure in seven regions of
Ethiopia in 2015. ......................................................................................................................... 135
6
Acronyms
ALOS
ANRS
BARD
BAU
BGRNS
CDM
CRGE
CSA
DD
EFAP
EMA
eMODIS
EDRI
EPA
EWCA
FAO
FCPF
FNF
FPP
GDP
GFAP
GHG
GIS/RS
GNRS
GTP
JAXA
LUC
LULC
MA
MEF
MMU
MRV
NDVI
NFPA
NGO
NIS
ONRS
PARD
REDD+
RFAP
PFM
R-PP
SAR
SLM
Advanced Land Observing Satellite
Amhara National Regional State
Bureau of Agriculture And Rural Development
Business as Usual
Beneshangul-Gumuz National Regional State
Clean Development Mechanism
Climate-Resilient Green Economy
Cloud Security Alliance
Deforestation and Forest Degradation
Ethiopian Forestry Action Program.
Ethiopian Mapping Agency
Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
Ethiopian Development and Research Institute
Environmental Protection Agency
Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority
Food and Agriculture Organizaton of the United Nations
The Forest Carbon Partnership Facility
Forest-Non-Forest
Forestry program proposal
Gross domestic product
Gambella forestry action program
Green House Gas
Geographic information systems/Remote Sensing
Gambella National Regional State
Growth Transformation Plan
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
Land Use Changes
Land Use and Land Cover
Millennium Assessment
Ministry of Environment and Forest
Minimum Mapping Unit
Measurement, Reporting and Verification
Normalised Difference Vegetation Index
National forest priority areas
Non-governmental organization
Network Information Service
Oromiya National Regional Sate
Partners to Rural Development
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation,
Enhancement of Forest Carbon Stocks, Sustainable Forest Management
and Conservation
Regional Forestry Action Program
Participatory forest management
Readiness Preparation Proposal
Synthetic Aperture Radar
Sustainable Land Management
7
SNNP
SNNPRS
TNRS
UNECA
UNFCCC
USGS
WHO
South Nations, Nationalities and peoples
SNNP Regional State
Tigray National Regional State
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
U.S. Geological Survey
World health Organization
8
1 Introduction
1.1 Description of the assignment
Greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation have come to
the forefront of the international discussions on climate change given its overall
significance. Since 2005, REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest
Degradation, Enhancement of Forest Carbon Stocks, Sustainable Forest Management
and Conservation) has been discussed in the context of the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) assists selected countries in their
REDD+ efforts. It has the dual objectives of building capacity for REDD+ (the
“Readiness Fund”), and testing a program of performance-based incentive payments
in some pilot countries (the “Carbon Fund”). Assistance under the Readiness Fund
includes support for: (i) developing a national reference scenario for REDD+; (ii)
adopting a national socially and environmentally sound REDD+ strategy that would
reduce emissions and at the same time conserve biodiversity, enhance the livelihoods
of forest dependent peoples and other forest dwellers; (iii) setting up implementation
management framework for the effective and efficient implementation of REDD+; and
(iv) designing and implementing accurate measurements, monitoring and verification
systems to enable countries to report on emissions from deforestation and forest
degradation.
Ethiopia is committed to transforming the country’s economy while achieving a
Climate Resilient Green Economy (CRGE) by 2025. The Ministry of Environment and
Forest, is responsible for one of the four pillars1 of the CRGE Strategy: Forestry. In the
forestry sector, the government is engaged in the REDD+ Readiness process, with
support, among others, from the World Bank.
Ethiopia was selected as a REDD+ country participant in the FCPF in 2008. The
Government started preparation of a Readiness Preparation Proposal (R-PP) in April
2010, involving various analyses of the current issues around forest cover loss in the
country through a highly participatory process. The final R-PP of Ethiopia was
approved in Vietnam in March 2011 and will cost about US$14 million to implement.
The World Bank, as Trustee of the FCPF, has provided US$3.6 million and Norway and
UK US$5 million each through the BioCarbon Fund for the implementation of key
activities identified in the R-PP Assessment Note. The activities include support to the
national readiness management arrangements, support to the design of the national
REDD+ strategy and preparation of the national REDD+ implementation framework.
Ethiopia officially launched the implementation of the R-PP Assessment Note
implementation in January 15, 2013. The preparation of the National REDD+ Strategy
1The
green economy plan is based on four pillars:1. Improving crop and livestock production practices for higher food
security and farmer income while reducing emissions; 2. Protecting and re-establishing forests for their economic and
ecosystem services, including as carbon stocks; 3. Expanding electricity generation from renewable sources of energy
for domestic and regional market; 4. Leapfrogging to modern and energy-efficient technologies in transport, industrial
sectors, and buildings. The implementation is to be led by the Prime Minister office itself having a Steering Committee
at ministerial level. Since May 2013 the newly constituted MEF has taken a leading role with REDD+ Secretariat under it.
9
is one of the priority building blocks of the Readiness process. Hence, the National
REDD+ Secretariat has requested consultants’ services to fulfill the present
assignment, which should serve as the base for the REDD+ Strategy preparation.
1.2 Scope of the study
The study covers the whole country. The sub-national consultation and socioeconomic data collection efforts will be focused on the regional states of Amhara,
Tigray, SNNP, Benishangul Gumuz, Gambella, Afar and Somali. In Oromiya region
various studies have already been conducted and their results will be complemented
only when needed.
The study assesses immediate and underlying cause of drivers of deforestation and
forest degradation, evaluates the impact of the identified drivers at all levels, and also
looking beyond the forest sector and considering their relationship to all land use
activities. The study will also assess the REDD+ environment (policy and institutional
gaps), the potential for increased carbon removals through afforestation and
reforestation and provide a roadmap for the finalization of the national REDD+
Strategy.
The consortium will also help in the creation of capacity for REDD+ strategy
development nationally, particularly within the government, by providing training to
experts working on REDD+ strategy.
The REDD+ strategy will be in line with the CRGE Vision, particularly the Green
Economy strategy for the land use sector, including forestry, agriculture and livestock.
It is expected that this strategy will also contribute to the preparation of Investment
Plans to REDD+, following the procedures set by the CRGE Facility.
1.3 Objectives of the assignment
The overall objective of this study is to provide the building blocks for the preparation
of Ethiopia’s national REDD+ strategy.
The specific objectives include:
1. Thorough identification, analysis and normal scale quantification of the
contribution of all direct and underlying causes and drivers of deforestation
and forest degradation in the country;
2. Assess the likely future scenarios of the main drivers of deforestation and
forest degradation identified under different options;
3. Identify policy, legal and institutional gaps that would hinder effectiveness of
REDD+ implementation, and identify suitable strategies to address these gaps;
4. The identification and prioritization of additional strategic options to address
these causes.
10
1.4 Expected Outputs
The main outputs of the Project are the following:




An inception report detailing the methodology adopted and the timeline for
conducting the study, incorporating stakeholder comments from the Study
Kick-off meeting 16.1.2015;
Mid-term progress report, which constitute the identified drivers of
deforestation and forest degradation;
Draft final report, presenting the indentified strategic REDD+ options in a
prioritized way;
Final report, proposing a roadmap for the finalization of the National REDD+
Strategy and linkages to the SRM (Sectoral Reduction Mechanism) process and
CRGE Facility. This final report should also contain the detailed reports from
all public consultations held in the form of annexes.
Secondary outputs include:
 Policy brief leading to policy formulation produced for the final workshop;
 Workshop reports relevant to the study;
 Training courses organized in conjunction to the validation workshops;
 Manuals and guidelines to support the national capacity building activities
related to REDD+ strategy
 Stakeholder forums
 Final/Synthesis report
1.5 Objective and tasks of the first research and assessment phase
This first research and assessment phase of the project responses to the 1st Overall
Objective of the Project: “Thorough identification, analysis and normal scale
quantification of the contribution of all direct and underlying causes and drivers of
deforestation and forest degradation in the country.” and 2nd Expected Output: “Midterm progress report, which constitute the identified drivers of deforestation and forest
degradation”
This first phase of the project covers the following Tasks:
Task 1.1. Assessment of magnitude and impact of identified underlying causes and
drivers of deforestation
Task 1.2. and 1.3. Spatial land cover analysis of DD hotspot areas and direct causes
of DD
Task 1.4 Socio-economic analysis of the underlying causes of deforestation and forest
degradation
Task 1.5. Stakeholder workshop with training and presentation of the Mid-term
progress report
11
2 Methodology
There are four sub-tasks (Tasks 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 and 1,4), which allowed us to a full crosscutting and comprehensive study. All of the sub-tasks go hand in hand, are interlinked
and follow a case study approach rather than sampling. Task 1.1 concentrates on
literature research and expert interviews, Task 1.2 and 1.3 covers the spatial analysis
and Task 1.4 socio-economic research in the field. The idea is to capture the various
cases of forest and people interaction, and data was collected focusing on
representative hotspot areas. Therefore, developing the hotspot map was the first
step also to know which areas and sites to visit in the field assessment.
2.1 Assessment of magnitude and impact of identified underlying causes and
drivers of deforestation in Ethiopia
First, we identified and performed a desk review of all relevant literature on DD and
biomass/inventory reports and studies for forests in Ethiopia or comparable forest
types and similar conditions outside of Ethiopia. This resulted in a collation of facts
and figure that form the scientific basis – to the extent possible – on the basis of which
decisions will partially be based.
We also identified the key areas and project activities that provide typical examples of
the specific DD drivers. The R-PPR-PPR-PP already identified a list of pilot forestry
projects addressing climate change and REDD+. This helped us to identify and analyze
important issues regarding the practical implications and effectiveness of tackling
deforestation and forest degradation in Ethiopia. We conducted interviews with key
stakeholders and experts, at a national level and at the level of the key areas and
(pilot) projects to identify key co-benefits from the possible future implementation
REDD+ activities.
A substantial amount of relevant literature was retrieved from Internet and directly
from the regional offices in Ethiopia. Besides reports from Ethiopia there are also
substantial amounts of REDD+ related carbon calculations, MRV guidelines and other
REDD+ economic calculations which have been standardized elsewhere in the world
and can be used to provide all relevant economic calculations for this assignment.
2.2 Spatial land cover analysis of DD hotspot areas and direct causes of DD
Under this sub-task an in-depth comprehensive spatial analysis of proximate and
underlying causes of deforestation and forestry degradation in Ethiopia project areas
were conducted, drawing on and complementing the 2010 ‘Efforts on Green Growth’
conducted by the Ethiopia Development and Research Institute (EDRI), by leading
and carrying out the spatial analysis of previous GIS/RS layers and LULC map timeseries analysis.
It is important to adopt clear definitions of forested area, forest degradation,
deforestation and forest regeneration (afforestation/reforestation) from the
beginning. We adopted the existing national forest definition as defined by the
12
Ministry of Environment and Forest on 18 February 2015 (MMU 0.5 ha, Tree Height
at least 2 m, canopy cover 20%) as a threshold for forest cover and change analysis.
The following reference datasets were accessed to support the spatial analysis:









The three LULC maps (2003, 2008 and 2013) by the Ethiopian Mapping
Agency were expected to be available in the end of January 2015, however the
2013 map is not ready yet. The 2003 and 2008 maps were available to us only
in the first week of April, but we have analysed them and calculated land use
statistics over them.
The FAO coordinated mapping initiative for production of a 2013 baseline
map and sampling based land use statistics for some historical points of time;
The FAO Land Cover of Ethiopia map, produced in 2009 (based on Globcover
2005-2006 dataset, 300m pixel size), was useful to review forest types.
Annual NDVI (Normalised Difference Vegetation Index) composites from
eMODIS to analyse vegetation cover and changes from 2000 through 2015
were downloaded and formed the main base for the spatial analysis of this
study.
The Chinese Global Land Cover mapping project, completed in 2014, based on
2000 and 2010 satellite images with 10 LULC classes and a spatial resolution
of 30m (GlobeLand30) was very useful for the interpretation of Landsat
imagery in the absence of the EMA LULC maps
The Hansen Global Forest Change study (2000-2012) was useful to initially
identify hotspots of deforestation and reforestation, and to compare with the
results of our NDVI analysis.
Google Earth
Google Earth Engine
Bing Maps
Especially the three land cover maps (2003, 2008 and 2013) of the Ethiopian
Mapping Agency were of high importance to the project. We assessed their
methodology and quality, and verified the identified classes with current and
historical imagery through the use of Open Foris Collect Earth. We also verified the
results of the Hansen Global Forest Change study and assessed their relevancy for
Ethiopia.
Estimations of historical GHG emissions due to deforestation and forest
degradation
The land use statistics through visual plot interpretation helped to produce
information on historical CO2 emissions from deforestation and forest degradation
over the reference period. Land use changes usually happen in sequence from dense
natural forests or bushlands into degraded forests, agroforestry type of land uses to
open agricultural fields and further over to pasture lands in various stages of
degradation. We estimated the carbon contents of each of the sequence stages with
the support of already existing secondary source map data and literature references
(Annex 3). AGB density values are based on the biomass and forest type maps from
13
the previous Ethiopian woody biomass inventory (Woody Biomass Stock: WBISPP,
2000). The biomass density values were converted into an area-weighted average
over the forest types “Natural forest”, “Plantation forest”, “Highland bamboo” and
“Woodlands” for each region.
Carbon stock per hectare for cropland and grassland was taken from the IPCC 2006
LULUCF Good Practice Guidelines (Volume 4 AFOLU, Tables 5.9 and 6.4). To apply the
correct IPCC default values, the major climate zone for each region was identified with
help of the agro-ecological zone map of Ethiopia (MoA 2000). The activity data was
then converted to emissions using the difference in average AGB density between
forest and cropland, and forest and grassland. AGB density values for settlement and
other land was assumed to be zero. The calculated loss in biomass was converted to
carbon and CO2 emissions by applying carbon (0.47) and carbon dioxide conversion
factors (44/12), respectively.
2.3 Socio-economic data collection and analysis the underlying causes of
deforestation and forest degradation
Selection of regions and woredas for field visit sites
When this assignment was tendered we had been asked to conduct this work for four
main regions of Ethiopia, but during contract negotiations and inception phase the
REDD+ Secretariat and other Ethiopian authorities requested us to up-scale the
assignment to cover all seven regions of Ethiopia, which were not covered by another
assignment that focused on Oromiya Region only.
By comparing the existing map datasets on Ethiopian forest cover and land use, we
have been able to identify certain areas where there has been an apparent loss in
forest cover since 2000. These areas we have to an extent verified during field visits
and socio-economic data collection work, although the short time for the work, the
long distances and other logistical constraints have in some cases forced us to
somewhat reduce the ground coverage of this assignment to woredas which have
been somehow slightly more convenient from accessibility viewpoint than a pure
forest vegetation classification would have required. However, we have then tried to
select a substituting woreda that would well cover the same forest type(as we have
done in Gambella region).
We have been screening various sites in Ethiopia to find the best representative ones.
This work was carried out with the support of satellite image and forest inventory
analysis that has resulted in both synthesized information and GIS maps over Ethiopia
where the representative sites are indicated based on pre-agreed DD criteria within
the project team. In many cases regional experts were also contacted by phone to help
in selecting woredas. In this manner we have selected 13 woredas (2 in Amhara, 2 in
Tigray, 3 in SNNP, 2 in Benishangul-Gumuz, 2 in Gambella, 1 in Afar and finally 1 in
Somali regions) comprising 26 sites overall in the 7 regions, that were visited for the
field socio-economic and DD data collection. The sites were selected on the basis of
forest vegetation types and the location of the forestry priority areas, with some
practical considerations (i.e. logistical and administrative problems encountered).
Table 2 lists the finally selected woredas that were visited.
14
Table 1. List of the finally selected woredas and the forest types these sites
represents.
Woreda
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
Region
Woreda(s)
Forest type
Tigray
Tigray
Amhara
Amhara
Afar
Benishangul-Gumuz
Benishangul-Gumuz
Gambella
Gambella
SNNP Region
SNNP Region
SNNP Region
Somali
Atsbi Woneberta
Kola Temben
Metema
Tarma bir
Asayita
Bambasi
Assosa
Abobo
Goge
Wondo Genet
Tsena
Arba Minch Zuria
Kebribeyah
Everegreen dry fotest
Woodland
Woodland
Everegreen dry fotest
Lowland wood/shrublands
Lowland bamboo forest
Lowland woodland
Lowland wood/scrubland
Lowland wood/scrubland
Everegreen dry fotest
Moist evergreen forest
Woodland
Lowland wood/scrubland
At a national level we have also discussed many issues e.g. opportunities for
secondary data and the forthcoming steps in the overall work. This includes also
discussions on key co-benefits from the possible future implementation REDD+
activities.
Assessment of divers of deforestation and degradation
15
This task started with the identification and performing desk review on relevant
literature on DD and biomass/inventory reports and studies of forests in Ethiopia or
comparable forest types and similar conditions outside of Ethiopia. Eventually we
found many useful and fairly recent study and project reports regarding natural
resources and wood based energy within Ethiopia, which has formed the core
background literature for this assignment. From these we collected facts, secondary
data and figures, which supported or formed parts of our own primary and secondary
data collection. These reports also form part of the scientific basis – to the extent
possible – on which decisions of importance of different drivers of deforestation and
degradation have been taken and validated.
Perhaps most important tool in the identification of DD drivers has been a long
screening form(See Annex 1), which we have been filling for each woreda site visited.
Before filling this form (used for screening at the site possible drivers of DD, which
could then be ticked off on the form) we held a woreda authority meeting to discuss
issues about the general situation of the woreda and to get statistical data and other
facts available at the woreda level. In addition, we conducted household and group
interviews to get some statistical data to use in forthcoming calculations and analyses
(more about this under sub-heading “Primary and secondary data collection” below).
We have also, to an extent, focused on some key areas and project activities e.g. in
Wondo Genet woreda and in Humbo CDM Community managed natural resources
project (managed by World Vision Ethiopia) near Soddo in SNNP region, that provide
typical examples of specific DD drivers. The R-PPR-PP R-PP had already identified a
list of pilot forestry projects addressing climate change and REDD+. We have made a
few visits to some of these (e.g. the Humbo CDM project, and Watershed Management
Programme in Wondo Genet) and several project reports found on Internet to
understand their situation and the solutions these projects promote. We also studied
some of the important issues regarding the practical implication and the effectiveness
of tackling deforestation and forest degradation in Ethiopia.
The spatial GIS materials produced from satellite images provided a good support for
the final estimation of the hectare coverage for each land use type that existed in each
of the selected woredas. The final estimation was conducted based on available
primary field data and secondary information (i.e. various reports, articles and official
statistics) from or about each selected woreda. In this manner we have tried to
categorize the existing vegetation into forest lands, home gardens, cultivated fields or
pasture lands, which is not always possible to conduct from satellite images.
Additionally, from the primary data and from the Central Statistical Agency surveys it
was possible to estimate the average size of household farm lands and home gardens,
which could then be multiplied by the number of farming households and thus get
fairly accurate figures for cultivated lands in some of the more developed regions
such as SNPP, Amhara and Tigrey Forest lands can in some cases be almost barren of
forest vegetation and local knowledge is therefore needed to separate pasture lands
from logged-over and burnt over forests, which are rehabilitating, but need
protection..
At the task inception we have in many cases used the reports and information of the
following authorities and institutions to determine the existing land use, land cover,
forestry, road network, settlement and demographic data related documentation,
map layers and field inventory data:
16









Ministry of Agriculture
Ministry of Environment and Forest
Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy
Central Statistical Agency
Ethiopian Mapping Agency
Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority
Oromiya Water Works Design and Supervising Enterprise
Oromiya Forest and Wildlife Enterprise
Regional Bureaus of Agriculture
Additionally, Ethiopia attracts quite a large amount of financing for international
projects and research operations, which results have been useful (presented in
various reports on Internet). A substantial amount of relevant literature has been
retrieved from them (in internet and directly from Ethiopia) to support the various
tasks. Besides reports from Ethiopia there is also some REDD+ related carbon
calculations, MRV guidelines and other REDD+ economic calculations, which have
been standardized elsewhere in the world and have been used to set standards for
economic calculations for this assignment.
Primary and secondary data collection
Some household economic surveys are needed to identify constraints and reasons
behind the rural community needs for wood and non-wood forest products as well as
the manner in which these forest-based products are harvested and exploited. The
analysis assessed commercial and subsistence activities separately and the actors for
each kinds of operations. The dependency of local communities on forest resources
and external commercial interests was further separated to understand expansion of
agriculture lands into forest areas and pressure from external investors. See the field
form in the Annex 2.
The work started with some relevant desk reviews. Various official socio-economic
statistics available from the Central Statistical Agency in Ethiopia was screened for its
usefulness for this particular study. This was partly done before the first mission to
Ethiopia during January 2015. As the combined sets of statistical data from several
official CSA surveys could be used together and thus cover many socio-economic data
requirements that was needed we could reduce the household interview questions,
while also reduce the number of households to be interviewed per woreda. In this
manner the expansion of regions and thus woredas to be covered could be
incorporated into the intensive work constrained by time limits.
The main own primary household economic field data collection focused on only a
few questions related to wood-and non-wood forest products, livestock management
and on household farm land size. These household questions were further supported
by group interview and a woreda authority interview session that took 1-2 hours.
We organized two group and twenty household interviews per woreda at two
different sites. Partly due to some administrative constraints in the regions and partly
due to time constraints we decided to meet 10 village household heads per site - thus
17
a total of 20 household interviews per woreda and overall 260 household interviews
in the study regions were conducted. These household and group interviews were
supported by data and statistics provided by the woreda authorities and that
extracted from official CSA statistics, which should enable fairly good carbon
opportunity cost calculations for each selected woreda.
The actual screening of the reasons for deforestation and degradation at each selected
site in Ethiopia was additionally conducted with a standardized screening form
(Annex 1) in which most potential DD reasons were listed. The identified reasons,
their impacts (scale and indication of whether the impact is positive/negative etc.)
were then ticked off for each site and thus we had two forms filled for each selected
woreda.
We also met and discussed on local DD and socio-economic issues with international,
national, regional and local stakeholders that had relevant expertise and information
on the subject in Ethiopia. Such expertises were found e.g. in WHO, World Vision
Ethiopia, Umbo CDM project, foresters at Wondo Genet School of Forestry and
Ethiopian Development and Research Institute (EDRI). Their opinion and work was,
besides from field projects, further available for us through various reports on
Internet, which we have consulted.
The international experts provided, as part of the work on-the-job training, for four
Ethiopian team members on data collection (on GIS interpretation, socio-economic
data collection and DD screening, various carbon opportunity cost and co-benefit
economic calculations, as well as on policy formulation), so that these experts can
later take over any necessary expansions of the field data collection if needed.
The International Ecological Economist accompanied by relevant local experts made
visits to Humbo CDM project in Soddo, the Watershed Management in Wondo Genet
sites, Desa Forest in Tigray, various woodland areas, regional and woreda levels
offices of agriculture and among others for this specific study to observe and discuss
the situation with local stakeholders, in order to have a first-hand impression of the
particular sites, which will enable the core team to have a deeper understanding of
socio-economic statistics and demography, while also allow them to see potential
opportunities in each area for the carbon opportunity cost and co-benefit calculations.
Analysis of drivers of deforestation data
There are four main stages of analyses, which have been conducted for this report:
 Analysis of background information and statistics
 Analysis of spatial information and its interpretation
 Analysis of DD forms
 Analysis of socio-economic data
The first step in analysis was to download from Internet and collect various reports,
articles and other written materials for each region separately, with particular focus
on the selected woredas if possible. These written reports gave a better
understanding of the various data and information collected by the team about the
selected woredas, as well as the basis for understanding the distinguishing features of
each of the seven regions and the zones involved in the assignment. A synthesizing
short chapter text has been written for each region based on this material combined
18
with some special information the team members observed while visiting the project
sites.
Based on the notes from the woreda authority interview sessions we further wrote
the synthesizing text for the sub-chapter on each Woreda (Information was hard to
find for most of the woredas from other sources). The interview information was
collected with a model list of questions, prepared before the first woreda authority
meeting and we followed this outline throughout the entire field data collection in all
seven regions. Some additional support for the synthesis text came also from the
group and household interviews, which provided some grassroots-level community
perspective on the woreda.
Analysis of DD forms
The pre-prepared drivers of deforestation and degradation forms prepared for the
Inception Report served rather well in the various regions of Ethiopia. The field data
collection team was able to fill in these screening forms in a good manner and the
unclear issues could be checked from household, group or woreda interview notes
prepared by the field team. Additionally the field team members took some digital
photos of landscapes, wood products, people, land and forest fires and similar issues,
which were sent to the analyzer with the other field data.
The analyzer first assessed the screening forms for errors or weaknesses in
interpretation, after which unnecessary (i.e. for an area non-existent drivers) were
deleted from the form of a specific woreda. The remaining identified drivers of
deforestation were then left in the screening form as a list of observed drivers of
deforestation and degradation. This list also included the main observed mitigation
efforts to counteract on drivers of deforestation and degradation and became thus a
one page list of factors affecting on nature in a specific woreda.
The analyzer then ticked off the main clusters of drivers of deforestation and
degradation from the screening form list, so that totally some 8 to 12 primary drivers
or mitigating actions were distinguished. These primary drivers and mitigating
actions were the transferred to a matrix table for further in-depth analysis from
various angles. For each selected and analyzed woreda we have then included in the
report such a framework analysis matrix, which (for each respective selected woreda)
will form the basis for the business-as-usual (BAU) scenario in forthcoming carbon
opportunity cost calculation to be conducted later on during this assignment in
another report. The future scenarios of changed actions will then use the BAU
scenario as the basis, from where mitigating actions are identified as solutions for
current destructive behavior and practices. Similarly we have also identified, during
the field data collection and from secondary sources, a large number of potential cobenefits which are to be incorporated into the future scenario calculations.
Analysis of socio-economic data (household and group interviews):
The household interviews provided the analyzer with useful information about the
interviewed households’ farm land size and livestock ownership, wood and non-wood
forest product use and prices of the products. Once this statistical information is
combined with available recent official CSA statistics for the relevant woreda, we can
in the forthcoming future scenario report use this data for carbon opportunity and co19
benefit calculations. We have also got a possibility to estimate wood and non-wood
forest product use in the woreda, which provide use with data for wood utilization in
each woreda selected for calculations. This further supports income calculations for
various land use categories in the woredas. All in all we are satisfied with the
collected primary data which combined with secondary data enables us to carry out
the work as planned. The amount of work at hand has forced us to somewhat
minimize the primary data collection, which therefore became rather targeted on
specific information needed in the analyses and calculations.
20
3 Forest resources and their contributions in
Ethiopia
3.1 Forest resources
Ethiopia is a country of great geophysical and biological diversities, and is located
between 3⁰ 24' and 14⁰ 53' northern latitude and 32⁰42' and 48⁰12' eastern longitude
with total area of 1.12 million km2. 126m below sea level in Danakil depression
(Dalole) to 4620m above sea level (masl) at Ras Dejen (Dashen). A total of 18 agroecological zones and 49 sub-zones have been identified (Bekele et al., 1999)... Owing
to diverse altitudes, terrains and climates, the vegetation types of the country ranging
from tropical rain and cloud forests in the southwest and on the mountains to the
desert scrubs in the east and north, and parkland agroforestry in the central plateau
and indigenous multi-strata agroforestry system in the south eastern rift valley
escapements (Teketay et al. 2010; Negash 2013; Moges et al., 2014). The country has
a long history of tradition to retain and plant trees. The first historic account of tree
planting was from the mid-15th century when King Zera-Yakob (1434-1468) ordered
some afforestation for fuelwood supply. This was to overcome grave fuelwood
scarcity. This had also been witnessed by some European travelers by the time
(Bekele and Girmay, 2013). Similarly, the first eucalyptus plantations were
established on the hill slopes outside Addis Abeba in 1895 on the order by king
Menilek II to mitigate sever fuelwood shortage to Capital city.
The country is estimated to contain 6,500 to 7000 species of higher plants, of which
780 to 840 are endemic representing 12 percent of the flora (Teketay, 2000). Woody
plants account for about 1000, out of which about 300 are tree species (Haas and
Janßen,1995 cited in Bekele et al., 1999). Besides, out of 284 wild mammals, 10%
endemic; 14% endemic to Ethiopia and Eretria of 861 bird species, 201 species of
reptiles, 5% are endemic and 63 species of amphibians, of which 54%endemic (EPA,
2003; Tewolde-Berhan, 1991; IBC, 2009 cited in Moges et al. 2014). Ethiopia is the
world’s only gene pool reservoir of ‘wild Arabica coffee (Coffea arabica), the wild
relative of teff (Eragrostis tef), Niger seed or noug (Guizotia abyssinica), andEnset
(Enset ventricosum (EPA, 2003;Lemenih and Woldemariam, 2010). These make the
country to be considered as an umbrella to sub-Sahara areas for Abyssinian centre of
crop diversity in accordance to Vavilov centre of crop origin. The country also
contains two of the 34 hotspots, namely the Eastern Afromontane and Horn of Africa
biodiversity hotspots (Lemenih and Woldemariam, 2010).
Officially, nine vegetation types have been recognized in the country such as Dry
evergreen montane forest, Combretum–Terminalia (broad-leaved) deciduous
woodland, Acacia–Commiphora (small-leaved) deciduous woodland, Lowland semievergreen forest, Desert and semi-desert scrub, Wetland (swamps, lakes, rivers and
riparian) vegetation, Evergreen scrub, Moist evergreen montane forest, and
Afroalpine and subafroalpine vegetation (Zerihun, 2000; Lemenih and Woldmariam,
2010; R-PP, 2011). Latter, Friis et al. (2011) classified the vegetation into 12 potential
vegetation types include Desert semi-desert scrubland, Acacia-Commiphora woodland
and bushland, wooded grassland of the western Gambella region, CombretumTerminalia woodland and wooded grassland, Dry Evergreen Afromontane Forest and
grassland complex, Moist Evergreen Montane Forest, Transitional rain forest,
21
Ericaceous belt, Afroalpine belt, Riverine vegetation, Freshwater like, lake shores,
marshes, swamps and floodplains vegetation, and Salt-water lakes, lake shores, salt
marshes and pan vegetation.
FAO (2001) defines a forest as “land with a tree crown cover of more than 10% and
an area of more than 0.5 hectare; the trees should be able to reach a minimum height
of 5 meter at maturity”. WBISPP (2004) classified the forest of the country into
natural forest, woodland and shrub land. However, the new Forest Development,
Conservation and Utilization Policy proclamation (No. 542/2007) has used the FAO
(2001) definition of forest that includes high forests, woodlands, and bamboo forests.
Through no formal survey being conducted on the actual high forest cover in the
country, the estimates by WBISPP (2004, 2005) based on national inventory seems
more reliable than the others estimate (Table 2). For instance, the FAO (2005)
estimates to 2005, the natural high forest cover was by 3 times higher than WBISPP
(2005) estimates. According to WBISPP (2005), using the definition of FAO (2001),
the vegetation of Ethiopia that may qualify as ‘forests’ are natural high forests,
woodlands, plantations and bamboo forests, which is estimated to 35.504 million ha
(32.3% of total area of the country), of which high forest accounts for 11.5%, 83% for
woodland, 3% for plantation and 1.4 % for bamboo forest. If we further add shrub
lands, the total vegetation cover of the country is estimated to 61.91 million ha.
Among the regions, Oromiya accounts for the highest natural high forest (63%),
followed by South Nations, Nationalities and peoples (SNNP) (19%), and Gambella
(9%) while the largest proportion of woodland covers are reported for SomaliSomali
(45%), and Oromiyaya (34%) (Table 3). In 2003, plantation forests cover was
estimated to cover about 230,000 ha constituting mainly Eucalyptus and Cupressus
lusitanica that cover 59.3 and 20.6 percent, respectively, of the planted forest area in
industrial plantations. These are followed by indigenous Juniperus procera that covers
5.7 percent (Lemenih and Woldmariam, 2010). Currently, the total state and
community owned planted forests are estimated to approximately 500,000ha, of
which 27% were established as community plantations between 1978 and 1989
(WBISPP, 2005; FAO, 2010; Moges et al., 2010). These plantations constituted from
Eucalyptus species (58%) and Cupressus (29%) are the dominant plantation species.
Other species include Juniperus procera (4%), Pinus species (2%) and the rest (7%).
The vegetation resources in the country have a capacity to sequester about 2.76
billion tonnes of CO2e (Moges et al., 2010). A recent FAO (2010) estimates to the
natural high forest alone would sequester 219 million tonnes of carbon stocks from
around 12 million hectares of forest.
Table 2.Forest resources estimates (million ha) of Ethiopia as reported in
different documents
Forest Resources
Natural high forest
-Slightlydisturbed
forest
-Highly disturbed
forest
Woodlands
Bush lands
EFAP, Reusing, FAO, WBISPP, WBISPP, FAO,
FAO,
1994
1998
2001
2004
2005
2005
2010
2.3
5.755
4.506
4.072
4.073
12.509 12.296
0.7
1.680
0.235
12.509 12.296
1.6
4.075
4.271
5.0
20.0
31.55*
29.24
26.40
29.549
26.403
44.650 44.650
22
**Plantations
Highland bamboo
Lowland bamboo
Farm forests
Relative reliability
ranking of the
sources
0.2
0.216
0.216
NA
3
NA
4
NA
1
2
0.502
0.310
1.070
0.419
0.511
NA
4
NA
4
Table 3. Distribution of high forests, woodlands and shrublands by regions to
WBISPP (2005)
Regions
Oromiya
SNNPRs
Gambella
Amhara
Tigray
Benishangul-Gumuz
Afar
Somali
Others (Harari, Dire Dawa)
Total
High forest
Woodlands
Shrublands
Total ha
% of Total ha
% of Total ha
% of
total
total
total
2,547,632 62.5
9,823,163
34
7,750,422
29
775,393 19.0
1,387,759
5
2,434,779
9
535,948 13.2
861,126
3
146,103
1
92,744
2.3
1,040,064
4
4,352,672
17
9,322
0.2
294,455
1
1,841,182
7
68,495
1.7
2,473,064
8
1,422,191
5
39,197
1.0
163,657
1
3,024,697
12
4,257
0.1
13,199,662
45
5,384,022
20
216
0.0
0
0
44,132
0
4,073,214
100
29,242,950
100
26,400,200
100
Table 4. Average biomass density (tonnes/hectare) by regions, based on
biomass and forest types (WBISPP 2000)
Region
Oromiya
SNNPRs
Gambella
Amhara
Tigray
BeneshangulGumuz
Afar
Somali
Others
Natural
forest
69
71
100
34
51
N/A
Highland
bamboo
14
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
14
Plantation
Woodland
Shrubland
83
45
27
34
N/A
11
9
21
11
9
15
7
6
17
7
8
13
7
25
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
100
6
11
N/A
2
5
2
Afroalpine
3
N/A
N/A
3
2
N/A
N/A
N/A
3.2 Trees outside forests
Though no clear account on the extent of farm plantation, it is estimated on the basis
of various reports (Lemenih and Woldemariam, 2010) to be 57,000ha well stocked
plantations, which is equivalent to at least 143 million trees. In this study, farm
plantation refers to private trees retained or planted for commercial and/or
consumption purposes outside forests on agricultural landscapes, this mainly include
23
woodlots. On-farm trees significantly contribute to households’ livelihood and income
in the form of firewood, charcoal, timber, posts, farm implement and medicine. The
national estimate of on-farm woody biomass sustainable yield in 2013 is 110.2
million tonnes (Geissler et al, 2013). The continued on-farm tree planting between
2000 and 2010 also saved 8% of the socks that would have been consumed from the
forests (WBISPP, 2005). Many of on-farm trees are exotic species mainly Eucalyptus,
followed by Cupressus, Pinus and Grevillea.
Similarly, the area cover of trees integrated within agroforestry systems in Ethiopia is
not well documented. But, some estimates based on satellite imagery for the base year
2006 estimated some 2.32 Mha . (Brown et al. 2012). The figure did not include
scattered trees on crop and grazing lands. In addition to supporting households’
livelihoods, agroforestry system serves to provide wider ecosystem services including
climate regulation, biodiversity conservation and watershed protection. For instance,
a study by Negash and Starr (2015) in the three indigenous agroforestry systems of
southern-eastern Rift valley escarpments of Ethiopia showed that smallholding
ecosystem accumulated in average 233, 255 and 256 tons carbon per ha (ranged from
173 to 375 tons per ha, total biomass carbon plus soil organic carbon (SOC, 0–60 cm))
for Enset-tree, Enset-coffee-tree, Fruit-Coffee-Tree systems, respectively. Further
simulation of carbon sequestration potentials of the above three systems using
CO2FIX model for a period of 50 years indicated that the total average simulated total
C stocks (biomass and soil) were 209, 286 and 301 tons per ha for Enset-tree, Ensetcoffee-tree and Tree-coffee systems, respectively. Of which, the SOC stocks accounted
for 60–64% of the total carbon in the studied systems (Negash and Kanninen, 2015).
WBISPP (2005) also reported above ground biomass carbon stocks of about 1.78 tons
per ha for open cereal fields lightly stocked with trees, 2.47 tons per ha for
moderately stocked fields and 1.6 tons per ha for irrigated fields.
In conclusion, in spite of a wider coverage and significant roles of trees on agricultural
landscapes, there are no clear empirical accounts at country level on their status and
roles to complement ecosystem services except some fragment studies at different
parts of the country. Thus, those trees outsides forest should be documented and
their potential contributions should be accounted in forestry sector.
3.3 Economic contribution of the forestry sector
The forest, woodland, shrub lands/bush lands and other tree resources of the country
greatly contribute to the national economy through exports, import substitution,
employment generation and expansion of gross domestic production (Lemenih and
Woldmariam, 2010). Forestry sector contributes 4-5.2% to the GDP of Ethiopia, and
to 5% of the workforce through the production of honey, forest coffee and timber
(CRGE, 2011; FAO 2011). Lemenih and Woldmariam, (2010) based on various sources
estimated USD 2.02 billion for the total annual gross financial turnover in the forestry
sector including annual import, production and consumption of values of wood
products. While a total gross annual value from non-wood forest products is
estimated about USD 2.3 billion. However, the specific forestry sector contribution to
overall revenue of the country is hardly documented. For instance, income generated
from 80% of the total coffee national production from forest coffee, semi-forest coffee
and forest garden, gum-resins, herbal medicines, and honey and bee wax production
are under estimated (Lemenih and Woldemariam, 2010). FAO (2011) reports
estimates the consumption of forest products for 2008 was highest for feuldwood
24
(98.5 million m3), followed by industrial wood (2.9 million m3), and other products
(220 m3) including sown wood, panels, pulp, paper and paperboard.
Total rural household consumption of fuelwood in 2013 is estimated to be 91.2
million tonnes per year, of which charcoal accounts for 4.2 million tonnes per year of
(Geissler et al, 2013). Most of this charcoal is produced in rift valley woodland
ecosystem. For instance, more than 55% of the charcoal supply to major city like
Addis Ababa enters through the eastern gate most produced from Prosopis juliflora in
Afar Regional State (Bekele and Giramy, 2013). Tadesse et al. (2007) reported over
300,000 metric tons of natural gum production potentials of the country covering
about 2.9 million ha of woodland ecosystem. The trade volumes of gums and resins
have been increasing since the 1990s. Between 1998 and 2007, the country exported
about 25,192 tones – an average of approximately 2,519 tons per year – of natural
gums and resins with a value of USD 34 138 670 (Lemenih and Kassa (2008).
It is revealed that the economic contribution of the forestry sector to agriculture and
the national GDP is underestimated. The available scanty information in this regard,
have also focussed on valuing the products (timber and non-timber) but other
ecosystem services have been overlooked. For instance, the contribution of the forest
resources in providing various ecosystem services such as watershed protection, ,
biodiversity conservation and climate regulation are not well accounted as part of
economic contribution. These have overshadowed the significance of the sector to the
country’s economy and millennium developmental goal. Thus, detail valuation of the
economic contribution of the forest resources should be conducted to fill the gap of
information, and show up its contribution to the country’s green growth strategy and
developmental goal.
25
4 History, magnitude and impact of deforestation
and forest degradation
4.1 History of forest under different regimes
The forest cover and attention given to the sector in Ethiopia have been changed
through the course of the history of the political economy of the country. During
imperial era (1941-1974), forest land was considered as wastelands to expand both
small scale and commercial agriculture to boost the economy. such as coffee and tea
plantations in southern Ethiopia. In this period, hundred thousand hectares of
forestland were given to royal elites and military forces, and other dignitaries to
convert them to agricultural land (Ayana et al., 2013). In the socialist-Derge regime
(1975-1991), the government nationalized all of the landholdings including forest for
purpose of abolishing the economy base of the landlords and boost state-owned
plantations with fast exotic species (Ayana et al. 2013). Moreover, 58 national forest
priority areas covering approximately 3.7 million ha were established (EFAP, 1994
cited in Zerihun, 199??). These included private crop and grazing lands with forceful
eviction. Under the current federal republic (1995-up present), forest management
has been shared to federal government and regional administrative tiers. Currently,
the regional government regulate 50 national forest priority areas (NFPA) covering
around 2.8 million ha for protecting and conservation of biodiversity (Lemenih and
Woldemariam, 2010). These NFPA shared among regions such as Oromiya National
Regional Sate (ONRS) (31 NFPA), SNNP Regional State (SNNPRS) (5), Amhara
National Regional State (ANRS) (4), Gambella National Regional State (GNRS) (2),
Tigray National Regional State (TNRS) (1), Dire Dawa city council and ONRS (1),
GNRS & SNNRS (1), ONRS and SNNPRS (4), and GNRS, ONRS and SNNRS (1) (Lemenih
and Woldemariam, 2010). More attention is given to agricultural sector to increase
production and productivity where agroforestry is part of the strategies to benefit
locale people. In forestry sector, the government paid special attention to private
sector to engage in forest production and industrial development. Currently, new
Ministry of Environment and Forest (MEF), and REDD+ Secretariat office under MEF
were established. This is believed to create more opportunities to boost the forestry
sector contribution to national economy, growth transformation plan, improving
people livelihoods and implement climate resilient green economy strategy of the
country.
4.2 Forest cover change
The country once covered about 40% of the total area of the country with forests in
1900s (EFAP, 1994). This figure was reduced to 16% in 1950s with rate of
deforestation of about 200,000 ha per annum (Davidson 1988; EPA, 2010)).
According to Reusing’s (1998) satellite imagery monitoring results, the natural high
forest cover dramatically reduced to 4.75% between 1973 and 1976, and then,
reduced to 3.93% poorly stocked potential forestlands between 1986 and 1990 with
the rate of deforestation grew to about 39,000 ha per annum. In 1990s, the forest
cover further went down roughly to around 3% and average rate of deforestation, by
the time , estimated to 40,000 ha per annum between 1990 and 2000 (FAO, 2003).
26
During this period, EFAP (1994) reported much higher rate of deforestation, which
ranged from 163,000 to 200,000 hectares ha per annum and left the country with
forest cover of 2.7%. The high rate of deforestation by the time was mainly attributed
to destruction of state-owned forests in and after the 1991 change of government
(Bekele, 2003). The FAO report also indicates a decline of forest cover from
15.11million ha in 1990 to 12.2 million ha in 2010, during which 2.65% of the forest
cover was deforested (Moges et al., 2010). Despite the high deforestation rate, FAO
(2010) report indicates the forest cover grew to approximately 11 % area of the
country. This could be mainly attributed to more additional information on the rate of
deforestation, natural expansion and afforestation.
4.3 Magnitude of deforestation and forest degradation
The rate of deforestation and forest degradation and associated impacts on forest
cover in Ethiopia remained inconsistent trends through time. Some take the history of
deforestation dated back to 5000 years and others argue the largest deforestation has
been taking place for the last 150 years (Reusing 1998; (Lemenih and Woldemariam,
2010; Ayana et al., 2013). Millennium Assessment (MA, 2005) also considered
Ethiopia as one of the 29 countries which lost 90% of its original forest cover. On the
basis of trend of deforestation, the country is categorized under late forest transition
phase (Hosonuma et al. 2012). This implies slowing of deforestation rate in a small
fraction of remaining forests and eventually will come into the post-transition phase
(Hosonuma et al. 2012).
Overall, the annual rate of deforestation of high forests at national level varied from
5% (Reusing, 1998) to 2.08 (WBISPP, 2005), and to 1.0-1.5 (Lemenih and
Woldemariam, 2010). Rrecently, FAO (2010) reported annual deforestation rate of
1.0-1.1% between 1990 and 2010 with a deforestation rate of 141,000 ha per annum
between 2005 and 2010 (Table 3). CRGE (2011) also predicted deforestation rate to
be 2.5% per annum between 2010 and 2030. The same report also indicated
deforestation rate would grow from around 280,000 hectares in 2010 to around
550,000 hectares in 2030. Unless action is taken to change the traditional
development path, an area of 9 million hectares might be deforested between 2010
and 2030 for farmland alone (CRGE, 2011).
Table 4. Change in the forest resources of Ethiopia from 1990-2010
Forest
Area x 1000 ha
1990 2000 2005 2010
15,114 13,705 13,000 12296
1990-2000
1000ha/yr
(%)
-141
(-1)
Annual change rate x 1000 ha
2000-2005
2005-2010
1000ha/yr
1000ha/yr
(%)
(%)
-141
-141
(-1.1)
(-1%)
Other land with woody biomass
Area x 1000ha
1990 2000
2005
2010
44,650 44,650 44,650
44650
Source : FAO 2005 & 2010
4.4 Direct and underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation
Several studies that assert agricultural expansion (commercial and smallholders) and
unsustainable fuelwood consumption are the two major drivers of deforestation and
forest degradation in Ethiopia, respectively (Zeleke and Hurni, 2001; Feoli et al., 2002;
Dessie and Kleman, 2007; Dessie and Christiansson, 2008; Both R-PP, 2011; CRGE,
27
2011)). Ensermu and Abenet (2011) reported cultivated area in Ethiopia has
increased from 9.44 million ha in 2001 to 15.4 million ha in 2009. The change is
mainly attributed to the expansion of agriculture to forest land. According to climate
Resilient Green Economy (CRGE, 2011) document the total cropland of the country is
expected to reach 27 million hectares, with an annual business-as-usual growth rate
of 3.9%, which is needed for crop growth target of 9.5% per year to ensure food
security and poverty alleviation as per the Growth Transformation Plan (GTP). This
new agricultural lands mainly come from the woodland forests. However, the
deforestation rate on high forest will be declined from 70 to 55% in 2030 (Table 4). At
the same period, the fuelwood consumption will rise by 65% – resulting in forest
degradation of more than 22 million tonnes of woody biomass. This is due to more
than 90% of rural households’ energy supply comes from biomass energy sources (
firewood, charcoal, and branches, leaves and twigs). The same trend is followed in
several Africa countries where commercial and subsistence agriculture together
accounted for 80% of the causes for deforestation and forest degradation (Hosonuma
et al. 2012).
Both man-made and natural forest fires are also reported among the factors for forest
degradation in particular in woodland forests in Ethiopia. For instance, the record by
Teketay (2002) showed that forest fires destroyed 155,966 ha forest between 1990
and 2000. In January 2000, a total of more than 300, 000ha of natural forest land were
lost in South-western forests of Bale and Borena, Ethiopia.
Moreover, underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation are aggravated
due to resettlement programs, and migration. Resettlement program in some regions
for the sake of food security converted a large forest land to agricultural lands. For
instance, in the period between 2000 and 2004, a total of 220,000 households (1.2
million people) were resettled in Oromiya, SNNP and Tigray mainly in natural forest
area and had cleared the forests for crop cultivation (Lemenih and Woldmariam,
2010). Ever increasing population has resulted in increased demand of fuelwood. The
total population of the country is predicted to grow to 134 million in 2030 at growth
rate of 2.62% per annum. Other underlying factors have also been attributed to
poverty, lack of sense of ownership and lack of clear legal policy framework for forest
regulation, conservation and utilization (Bishaw, 2001; Zeleke and Hurni, 2001).
Table 5. Estimation of changes with time of the main emission drivers (CRGE,
2011)
Projected change with time
Key emissions drivers
Increase in crop land area (million ha)
Share taken from forests (% of the new
land)
Population (million people)
2011
12.6
69
2020
18.5
62
2030
27.0
55
80
103
134
4.5 Impact of deforestation and forest degradation
Though Ethiopia is the centre for diverse flora and fauna, these resources are under
immense pressure from deforestation and forest degradation, overexploitation,
overgrazing, habitat loss, invasive species and pollution (Moges et al., 2014).
28
Extensive clearance of the vegetation has resulted in massive soil erosion in the
highland part of the country. Erosion hazard from Ethiopian highlands has also
significant national and international impact in water flows and sedimentation in
particular to the regions which are using the Blue Nile such as Egypt and Sudan
(Zeleke and Huruni, 2001). Yesuf et al. (2005) reported land degradation in the
country has resulted in about 27 million hectares to be significantly eroded, about 14
million hectares was seriously eroded, and over 2 million hectares of farm lands have
reached the “point of no return”. In effect, average annual yield decline for crop and
grass in the highland of Ethiopia is estimated to 2.2 and 0.6 percent respectively that
of the 1985 level. The loss of soil fertility and land degradation leads to financial loss
of about 2% of GDP in Ethiopia (EFAP, 1994). Deforestation and forest degradation
have also resulted in emission of 65 Mt CO2e, accounting for 40% of the total
emission from the country (Mogese et al., 2014). This is mainly attributed to
deforestation for agricultural land (50% of all forestry-related emissions), followed
by forest degradation due to fuelwood consumption (46%) as well as formal and
informal logging (4%) (CRGE, 2011). The emissions will also grow from 26 Mt CO2e in
2010 to 44 Mt CO2e in 2030 due to deforestation for agricultural land expansion, from
24 to 41 Mt CO2e due to fuelwood consumption and from 2 Mt CO2e to 3.5 Mt CO2e
due to logging (CREGE, 2011). Consequently, more than 85% of the annual emissions
in Ethiopia comes from forestry and agriculture (accounting 37 and 50%
respectively), of the total 150 Mt CO2e emissions in 2010 CREGE, 2011). The
projected impacts of climate change on reduction of crops and livestock production in
Cereals Based Highlands of Ethiopia is highly worsened after 2030 in Ethiopia. As the
scenarios’ prediction showed, the climate change would result in a decline of average
income by 30% as compared to absence of climate change over a period of 50 years
(Gebreegziabher et al., 2011).
4.6 Forestry and climate change mitigation activities
The Government of Ethiopia also initiated the climate-Resilient Green Economy
(CRGE) to protect the country from the adverse effects of climate change and to build
a green economy contributing to reach middle income status before 2025 (CRGE,
2011). The CRGE of the country opts to achieve its targets through sustainable land
use and efficient agriculture, sequestration in forests, expansion of renewable and
clean power energy, and resource efficient advanced technology (industry, transport
and building construction sectors). As a signatory for the 1997 Koyoto protocol and
global climate change alliance, recently, the country formally initiated readiness
preparation proposal in 2010-2011 and approved by World bank Forest Carbon
Facilities Partnership Facilities in May 2011 (R-PP, 2011) and later in January 2013
officially launched reducing emission from deforestation and forest degradation,
enhancing forest carbon stocks, forest conservation and sustainable management
(REDD+) initiative (Moges and Tenkir, 2014). The forestry sector is among the four
pillars recognized at climate resilient green economy (CRGE, 201; R-PP, 2011)) to
address within the current legal and policy framework. The country has been in
REDD+ process since 2008, and established the REDD+ Secretariat office under MEF.
REDD+ Readiness phase was officially launched in January 2013.
The country already listed out current strategies aimed at addressing deforestation
and forest degradation in Ethiopia within the current legal and policy framework such
as plantation forest of exotic species, agroforestry, area exclosures for natural forest
regeneration, protected areas of natural forest, National Parks, CDM project areas
29
related to plantations/reforestations, devolution of forest management through
participatory forest management (PFM), traditional/customary forest management
practices, REDD+ pilots National Bio fuel Strategy: national biogas program, rural
electrification renewable energy, dissemination of fuel efficient improved stoves, food
Security Strategy and integration of REDD+ into budget, laws, policy, strategy,
program (R-PP, 2011).
To reduce deforestation and forest degradation, both Clean Development Mechanism
(CDM) based on Afforestation/Reforestation (AR) projects and REDD+ strategies have
been put in place. Four CDM projects recognized in Ethiopia (Lemenih and
Woldemariam, 2010) such as Humbo Assisted Natural Regeneration (2,728 ha)launched in 2006 by World Vision of Ethiopia, Abote District
Afforestation/Reforestation
(2,000-3,000ha),
Ada-Berga
District
Afforestation/Reforestation (450,000ha), and Sodo Framers Managed Natural
Regeneration and Agroforestry (2,200ha). The nominally protected area system
(including forest priority areas, national parks and sanctuaries, wildlife reserves, and
controlled hunting areas) covers 14% of the country. The Ethiopian Wildlife
Conservation Authority (EWCA) is in charge of managing of 13 national parks. The
country also has 8 wild life reserve areas and 4 wildlife sanctuaries. These resources
will potentially contribute to climate change mitigation besides their flora and fauna
biodiversity conservation and protection roles. Ethiopia is also making a good
progress in initiation of establishing REDD+ based projects in participatory forest
management projects, including the Bale eco-region (500,000 ha), Yayu & Gedo
forests (190,000 ha) and) Baro-Akobo in the southwest forest (7,610,300 ha)
(Lemenih and Woldmariam, 2010; R-PP, 2011).
Currently, the REDD+ Secretariat activities focus on REDD Readiness phase II of R-PP
focusing on awareness creation on REDD+, individual and institutional capacity
building at national and regional levels to support REDD+, more in-depth studies of
REDD+ issues (e.g. studies on identifying drivers of deforestation and forest
degradation, safeguards, institutional set-up, reference level, consultation and
participation, capacity building and communication strategies), piloting REDD+
implementing forest/landscape, establishing regional REDD+ coordinators in
consultation with regions, and working on developing draft REDD+ national strategy.
Among regions, Oromiya, Tigray, Amhara and SNNP regions have already assigned
REDD+ coordinators in their respective region. In Oromiya and Amhara, their
respective forest enterprise will host the REDD+ coordination while in SNNP and
Tigray regions, REDD+ coordination will be hosted by Natural Resources Case team
under the Bureau of agriculture. Regions are also in the process of screening
potential REDD+ pilot sites. Tigray and Amhara regions are following landscape
approach in screening REDD+ pilot sites due to extensive deforestation and forest
degradation of the vegetation resources in the past. While Oromiya and SNNP regions,
the existing high forests will be served for identifying the pilot forest areas due to
better forest cover in these regions. The remaining regions (Gamballa, Afar,
Benishangul Gumuz and Somaliregional states), the REDD+ activities are still in
awareness creation and capacity building phases.
4.7 Summary of the literature review
Ethiopia is rich in flora and fauna diversity, however, there are still inconsistent
values on the actual forest cover, and also no recent survey based data except the
30
pervious report by WBISPP (2005). Those available documents also unaccounted
trees on agricultural landscapes, except some fragment studies at different parts of
the country, though such resources cover wider areas and play significant roles in
supporting local livelihoods. The economic contribution of the forestry sector to
agriculture and the national GDP is also underestimated. The available scanty
information in this regards, have focussed on valuing the products (timber and nontimber) but other ecosystem services have been overlooked. For instance, the
contribution of the forest resources in providing various ecosystem services such as
watershed protection, bio-fuel supply, biodiversity conservation and climate
regulation are not well accounted as part of economic contribution. These have
overshadowed the significance of the sector to the country’s economy and millennium
developmental goal. Thus, detail valuation of the economic contribution of the forest
resources should be conducted to fill the information gap, and show up its
contribution to the country’s green growth strategy and developmental goals.
The forestry resource is viewed differently depending on history of the political
economy of the country. Forest resources were considered as open access and
marginalized resources during imperial era. This, however, changed in socialistDereg regime but the focus shifted to nationalization and more attention was given to
forest protection and conservation than empowering and benefiting the locale people.
After the socialist era, forest resources administration was devolved to the regions
and recently, new Ministry of Environment and Forest is established to account, and
enhance the contribution of the forestry sector to the national economy. However,
still much effort and incentives are needed to attract private investors to involve in
forest development. The government also should promote state owned plantation,
enhancing of stocking of existing stand, and foster ex-closures at wider scales.
Though no clear accounts on forest cover and rate of deforestation in the country, the
fragments studies have shown forest cover of the country has been substantially
reduced until the end of the 20th century but FAO report indicated slowing trend at
the beginning of the 21th century. This is partially attributed to better accounting of
reforestation, afforestation and secondary regeneration of the forest and woodland
resources. However, ground based surveys are needed and will help to plan future
strategies and programs for sustainable forest manage and conservation to fetch
benefits from ecosystem services.
Moreover, some reports have shown the annual rate of deforestation in Ethiopia has
reduced for the last two decades and hence, placed the country at late forest
transition phase, and pave the way to post forest transition phase where the forest
cover change will become positive and increase through reforestation. However, as
CRGE report indicates, the positive development of forest cover can be materialized
only if we change traditional development path that underestimate the roles of the
forestry sector to support green growth and the national economy.
Several studies have also identified three major direct causes of deforestation and
forest degradation in Ethiopia such as expansion of agriculture land (commercial and
subsistence), followed by unstainable fuelwood consumption, and illegal and legal
logging. Agricultural expansion for commercial and subsistence purposes have been
reported as major drivers of deforestation in all studied region except Somali and
Afar. The culture of shifting cultivation in Benashangule-Gumuze and Tigray also
affected forest cover of both regions. Charcoal productions have significantly
contributed to woodland degradation in Somali and Afar. Expansion of tea plantation,
31
coffee management and rubber plantations have resulted huge loss of moist
evergreen Afromontane forest in SNNRP. The CRGE predication also shows that the
woodland resources are more affected than high forests in business-as usual
agricultural production and fuelwood consumption for period between 2011 and
2030. Irregular manmade in particular for traditional shifting cultivation and
traditional team hunting of wild animals have also consumed destruction of larger
forest areas in the Benashangule-Gumuze region.
The main underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation are attributed to
ever increasing population growth, immigration, settlement, promotion of
agricultural investment, poverty, lack of sense of ownership and lack of clear legal
policy framework. Expansion of commercial agriculture in SNNRPs, Gambella and
Benashangule-Gumuze region have deforested significant proportion of high forest
and woodlands whereas settlement and immigration have caused deforestation of
large forest land in Tigray, Amhara, Gambella, and Benashangule-Gumuze regions.
Recurrent droughts in some parts of Afar, Somali and western Tigray have triggered
changing in lifestyle of local people to depend on the forest resources for charcoal
production. Absence of forest policy or weak forest regulation enforcement has been
reported to aggravate the deforestation and forest degradation in the entire studied
region except Tigray. Thus, much effort is needed to intensify agriculture, assess the
opportunity cost of the land, family planning, improved energy efficient technologies,
adaptation short rotation species and substitution of timber product by non-wood
materials. Coordination among stakeholders (government, local people and NGOs),
empowerment of local people, setting clear legal policy framework, building local
capacity and among others are needed to address issues of deforestation and forest
degradation.
Deforestation and forest degradation in the country have resulted in heavy soil
erosion and land degradation and consequently, decline in annual yield for crop and
grass in particular in the highlands of Ethiopia, and increased CO2 emission, and are
also anticipated to increase in the future. If the existing trend is continued, the
impacts are predicted to be worsened after 2030 in particular in the cereal based
highlands of Ethiopia. Furthermore, deforestation and forest degradation have
aggravated loss of biodiversity, habitat loss, decline in household income, expose the
land to invasive species and pollution. Thus, there is a need to develop appropriate
land use policy and strategies to overcome land degradation and its associated
impacts.
Recently, the country has already launched Readiness preparation proposal (R-PP)
and climate-Resilient Green Economy (CRGE) to protect the country from the adverse
effects of climate change and to build a green economy contributing to reach middle
income status before 2025. The forestry sector is among the four pillars recognized in
CRGE to ensure green growth. REDD+ activities officially initiated to address the R-PP,
and currently, it is at REDD Readiness phase II of R-PP. Most of the REDD+ activities
are now focused on building national and regional capacity, awareness creation,
stakeholder consultation and communication, REDD+ strategy preparation and
conducting/biding several platform studies proposed in the R-PP. These efforts
should be further strengthened through enriching human resources, infrastructure
and upgrading capacity at both national and regional levels.
32
5 Spatial analysis of deforestation and forest
degradation (DD) hotspot areas and direct causes of
DD
5.1
Approach Overview
The spatial land cover analysis for the whole of Ethiopia carried out for this study
consisted of analysing existing mapping products as well as processing and
comparing eMODIS NDVI composites from 2000 up to 2015. As the LULC mapping
products of EMA were not ready yet at the start of the study, we undertook land use
classification of selected woredas from Landsat 8 images. We also used Open Foris
Collect Earth to research and verify land use changes in 870 sample plots through
recent and historical imagery from Google Earth, Bing Maps and Google Earth Engine.
5.2 NDVI analysis
Vegetation can be distinguished using remote sensing data from most other (mainly
inorganic) materials by virtue of its notable absorption in the red and blue segments
of the visible spectrum, its higher green reflectance and, especially, its very strong
reflectance in the near-infrared(Zoran et al. 2010). The Normalized Difference
Vegetation Index (NDVI) is a measure of the density of chlorophyll contained in
vegetative cover and is calculated from the red and infrared spectral bands of satellite
images, using the following equation:
where VIS and NIR stand for the spectral reflectance measurements acquired in the
visible (red) and near-infrared regions, respectively. Many studies (e.g. Eckert et al.
(2013), Meneses-Tovar (2011), Donatien Njomo (2008)) have shown NDVI time
series to be a useful indicator of changes in vegetation cover over time. This index
establishes a value for how green the area is, that is, the quantity of vegetation
present in a given area and its state of health or vigour of growth. A degradation of
ecosystem vegetation, or decrease in green, would be reflected in a decrease in NDVI
value.
The eMODIS NDVI images as they are distributed through USGS are the product of a
temporally smoothed 250m NDVI data set, each of the composites created from a
varying number of images within a 10-day period.
To account for seasonal differences and fluctuating values before and after rainfall, we
found it was important to further smooth the values by taking multiple images for
every epoch and calculate the mean NDVI values from these images. Taking the mean
of several of these composites over a three month period has the advantage that the
values can be better compared over longer time periods to estimate the extent and
density of forests.
33
Mean NDVI values over November 2000-January 2001
Mean NDVI values over November 2014-January 2015
Thus, four NDVI images from the three dry months of 2000 and 2001 (November
2000, December 2000, and January 2001) were chosen for their cloud-free
appearance and the mean NDVI values from these four images was calculated. The
same was done for 2002-2003, 2007-2008 and 2014-2015, after which the results
could be compared. Due to persistent cloud cover, it was not possible to use imagery
acquired in November 2014 and instead, two composites from December 2014 were
used. The image acquisition dates that were used to calculate the mean images are
summarized below. The difference between the mean values of these four epochs was
calculated and used to produce maps of deforestation, forest degradation and forest
regeneration for the whole of Ethiopia between 2000 and 2015.
Table 6. Image acquisition dates of the 10-day NDVI composites that were used
to calculate November-January averages.
Epoch
20002001
20012002
20022003
20072008
20082009
20132014
20142015
1st composite
21/11/2000
30/11/2000
06/11/2001
15/11/2001
21/11/2002
30/11/2002
26/11/2007
05/12/2007
26/11/2008
05/12/2008
21/11/2013
30/11/2013
11/12/2014
20/12/2014
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
2nd composite
26/12/2000 –
05/01/2001
06/12/2001 –
15/12/2001
01/12/2002 –
10/12/2002
26/12/2007 –
05/01/2008
06/12/2008 –
15/12/2008
26/12/2013 –
05/01/2014
21/12/2014 –
30/12/2014
3rd composite
01/01/2001 –
10/01/2001
21/12/2001 –
30/12/2001
06/01/2003 –
15/01/2003
01/01/2008 –
10/01/2008
26/12/2008 –
05/01/2009
06/01/2014 –
15/01/2014
06/01/2015 –
15/01/2015
4th composite
26/01/2001 –
05/02/2001
16/01/2002 –
25/01/2002
21/01/2003 –
30/01/2003
26/01/2008 –
05/02/2008
06/01/2009 –
15/01/2009
26/01/2014 –
05/02/2014
21/01/2015 –
30/01/2015
After applying the scale factor of 0.0001, the NDVI values in these eMODIS images
range from -1 to 1, with dense vegetation showing higher NDVI values, while low
values (between 0 and 0.1) indicate bare soil and artificial surfaces like roofs and
paved roads. Water typically has an NDVI value less than 0. The NDVI value of 0.57 is
generally used as a threshold for forest, and values over 0.72 are indicators of high
photosynthetic activity linked to dense forest. Comparing the NDVI values with high
resolution imagery using the OpenForis Collect Earth tool, we found these values to
be generally true for Ethiopia as well. However, we found that NDVI values between
34
0.45 and 0.57 cover woodlands that would still be classified as forest following the
newest forest definition as defined by the Ministry of Environment and Forest on 18
February 2015 (MMU 0.5 ha, Tree Height at least 2 m, canopy cover 20%).
The table below summarizes the mean NDVI values by region. All regions except
Gambella and Harar were found to have a lower mean value in 2014-2015 than in
2000-2001.
Table 7. Mean NDVI values by region
Region
Addis Ababa
Afar
Amhara
Benshangul-Gumaz
Dire Dawa
Gambella
Harar
Oromiya
Somali
SNNPR
Tigray
Total Ethiopia
2000-2001
0,385
0,202
0,394
0,458
0,319
0,489
0,360
0,481
0,254
0,536
0,323
0,379
Mean NDVI values by region
2002-2003
2007-2008
0,333
0,332
0,179
0,161
0,340
0,329
0,429
0,434
0,276
0,258
0,473
0,530
0,357
0,356
0,466
0,423
0,250
0,237
0,586
0,495
0,288
0,298
0,366
0,340
2014-2015
0,294
0,154
0,331
0,418
0,253
0,556
0,398
0,431
0,241
0,499
0,295
0,354
Using the general threshold of 0,57 as a forest indicator, 0,45-0,57 for
woodlands/open forest, and 0,72 to define dense forest, we mapped the estimated
extent of forest cover in 2000-2001, 2002-2003, 2007-2008 and 2014-2015.
Estimated forest cover based on NDVI values in 2000-2001, 2002-2003, 2007-2008, 2008-2009 and 2014-2015.
Only in Gambella the mean NDVI values are higher now than they were in 2000-2001.
Vegetation patterns in Gambella are quite different from the other regions of Ethiopia.
Much of the south of Gambella is formed by wetlands, with higher or lower water
levels according to the amount of rainfall and the incoming river flow. Some of this
35
new growth appears to be riverine forest but some of it could also be dense, green
wetland vegetation. In Somali region, the NDVI values are consistently low, but there
is not a clear downwards trend, indicating that there has not been much deforestation
in Somali and the level of vegetation is quite stable there.
Comparing the maps of 2000-2001, 2002-2003, 2007-2008 and 2014-2015 leads to
the observation that there has been an overall reduction of forested areas, dense
forest has degraded into less dense forest, and moderate forest into open woodland.
However, it remains unclear how much of this reduction in vegetation cover can be
contributed to natural causes and rainfall fluctuations, and to what extent human
activities have impacted the reduction. To determine this, we proceeded to analyse
land use changes using the Open Foris Collect Earth tool and high resolution imagery,
which will be described in paragraph 5.6.
The dense forest (NDVI > 0.72) of northern SNNPR/east Gambella has been gradually reduced in area between 2000
and 2015.
Also the dense forest (NDVI > 0.72) in east SNNPR/Oromiya has become smaller
36
5.3 Deforestation assessment
Deforestation is the conversion of forested areas to non-forest land use such as arable
land, urban use, logged area or wasteland. Deforestation can result from deliberate
removal of forest cover for agriculture or urban development, or it can be an
unintentional consequence of uncontrolled grazing, which can prevent the natural
regeneration Deforestation is defined in this study as conversion of forest to another
land use or the long-term reduction of tree canopy cover below the national forest
threshold.
We mapped the deforestation between 2000 and 2015 by overlaying and calculating
the difference between the mean NDVI images from 2000-2001 and 2015. The
resulting deforestation areas are those that have a value of 0,6 or higher in the 20002001 image, and a value of 0,42 or lower in the 2014-2015 image. In Gambela, where
the values are much higher, we had to follow a different approach: here, deforestation
areas are those which had a value of 0,7 or higher in the 2000-2001 image, and a
value of 0,5 or lower in the 2014-2015 image. These thresholds were validated during
the sample plot interpretation exercise as described in paragraph 5.6.
The map below shows forest cover in 2015 on the left and areas of deforestation on
the right. As can be observed, there has been some loss of forest cover in all regions
between 2000 and 2015, but mostly in Oromia region which is out of scope of this
study.
Vegetation cover in 2015 (left) and areas of deforestation (right). Source: NDVI analysis
5.4 Forest degradation assessment
Forest degradation is a process leading to a ‘temporary or permanent deterioration in
the density or structure of vegetation cover or its species composition’ (Lambin,
1999).
Forest degradation is more difficult to measure using remotely sensed data compared
to deforestation. Degradation of forest-cover is often a complex process, with some
degree of reversibility as the biological productivity of forests is partially controlled
37
by climatic fluctuations. Multispectral images capture the spectral reflection of the
trees as well as the ground vegetation, and the value of a pixel is an average value for
the whole ground area covered by the pixel. In dry periods when many trees in
Ethiopia shred their leaves leaving only the stems and leafless branches, and ground
vegetation has dried up, near-infrared reflectance will be much lower and forests will
look degraded, but in most cases this is only a temporary state and canopy cover will
increase again after rainfall.
In many forested areas, we found the NDVI values in 2014-2015 to be lower than in
2000-2001, which is an indication of forest degradation. However, from low
resolution satellite imagery it is not possible to determine whether this decrease in
greenness is a result of natural climatic fluctuations or of human and agricultural
activities such as selective logging, erosion and overgrazing. Only the sample plot
interpretation allowed us to determine these factors.
5.5
Sample plot interpretation
To verify the identification of deforestation and degradation areas through our NDVI
analysis, a grid of 870 sample plots was prepared to be interpreted using the Open
Foris Collect Earth tool and high resolution imagery from Google Earth, Bing Maps
and Google Earth Engine. The plots covered areas where the NDVI value was 0,6 or
higher in the 2000-2001 mean calculated image, and 0,36 or lower in the 2014-2015
image. The distribution of the sample plots can be viewed in the map below. None of
the sample plots was located in Oromia as this region was out of scope of the study
38
DD areas (in red) and location of sample plots for interpretation
For every plot, current and historical land use was registered as visible on recent and
historical high resolution imagery. The table 12 summarizes the plot interpretation
grouped by woreda/area and DD drivers.
Table 8. Summary of drivers of deforestation and forest degradation by spatial
analysis
Region
Woredas/area
Land use change
Tigray
Saesi
Tsaedaemba,
Atsbi Wenberta,
Hintalo Wajirat
Tigray
Laelay Adiyabo/
Tahtay Koraro
Tigray
Raya Azebo
Open forest/shrub land
bordering with Afar
that degrades and
regenerates largely due
to rainfall fluctuations
Around 600 hectare of
forest was cut and
turned into cropland
and pasture.
An estimated 1100
hectare of forest was
converted into
cropland and
settlements.
Afar
Aysaita, Dubti,
Mille, Afambo
Wetlands that are
occasionally flooded
and land use changing
accordingly
Drivers of
deforestation
and
degradation
Droughts and
natural climate
fluctuations
Sample plots
Agricultural
expansion
4, 5, 6
Agricultural
expansion,
population
pressure
65, 69, 70
Land use
changes are due
to fluctuations
in water level
188-214, 219, 220,
222-226, 230-234,
237-243, 250-253,
256-258, 263-265,
270, 271, 278-280,
282-288, 302-304,
308-311, 313, 314,
316-323, 327-331,
333, 334, 337, 341349, 358
1-3, 7, 8, 34, 39, 4244, 46, 49, 55
39
Afar
Aysaita, Dubti
Afar/Amhara
Artuma/Fursi
(Afar)/ Artuma
Fursina (Amhara)
Amhara
Around Tana lake
Amhara
Wetlands in
Merawi and
Guzamn woredas
Amhara
Metema/Sanja
Amhara
Kobo
Amhara
Kalu
Benishangul
Asosa
Benishangul
Bambasi
Benishangul
Belo Jegonfoy
Benishangul
Dibate/Yaso
SNNPR
Ubadebretsehay,
Kemba, Arba
Minch Zuria
Yeki, Chena,
Menjiwo
SNNPR
Some degradation and
selective logging
This is an area
bordering with Amhara
region, with open
forest/bushland. Forest
degradation and
regeneration
The areas around Tana
lake are wetland with
low vegetation,
sometimes flooded
Logging
244-246, 259, 260
Droughts and
natural climate
fluctuations
449, 454, 456, 457,
460, 463-510
Land use
changes are due
to fluctuations
in water level
Wetlands with
fluctuating water level
and resulting land use
changes
Shifting cultivation
practices in which
forest is burned, used
for cropland and then
left to regenerate. This
has caused a
fragmentation of the
large areas of forest in
north-east Metema and
southern Sanja.
A large stretch of
riverine forest has been
converted into
cropland between 2007
and 2013
Forest has made place
for cropland and
pasture land between
2003 and 2013
Dense forest was cut in
2012 and the land is
now used as pasture
land
Dense forest was cut in
multiple places in
Bambasi woreda
Much of the forest in
southern Belo Jegonfoy
was converted into
cropland between 2003
and 2013
Forest degradation and
fragmentation, partly
caused by natural
climate fluctuations,
partly by logging
activities
Forest converted to
cropland
Land use
changes are due
to fluctuations
in water level
Shifting
cultivation
114, 130, 139, 144,
145, 149, 151, 155,
159, 162-167, 170,
172, 173, 175, 177179
350, 353, 354, 361,
362, 495, 499, 516,
526, 558
Shifting cultivation,
forest converted to
cropland and
settlements
Population
pressure,
agricultural
expansion,
53,54
Cropland
expansion
131, 132, 133, 137
Agricultural
expansion
404, 405, 406
Pasture
543
Shifting
cultivation?
561, 562, 577, 579,
610
Cropland
expansion
624, 625, 626, 627,
628, 629, 630, 631
Droughts,
logging, burning
504, 511, 513, 514,
518, 519, 522, 525,
528, 529, 535
Agricultural
expansion
719,721,726, 736,
740, 750, 752, 755,
756, 766, 758
679-681, 692
40
SNNPR
Hamer
Somali
Gambela
Abobo, Goge
Forest degradation,
which seems reversible
and mostly caused by
natural climate
fluctuations
No significant changes
were detected in
Somali, apart from
small wetland areas in
Dolobay and Kelafo
woredas
All around the edge of
the moist, dense forests
of Gambela, trees have
been cut to make place
for cropland and
grasslands.
shifting
cultivation
Droughts
849, 850
Shifting
cultivation
5.6 Land use classification of selected woredas
As the EMA LULC maps were not ready yet at the start of our study, we proceeded to
classify Landsat 8 images for selected woredas. We produced classifications for Asosa
and Bambasi woredas in Benishangul-Gumuz, for Abobo and Goge woredas in
Gambela, and for Wondo Genet in SNNPR. The land cover classification was made in
four stages for each selected woredas using the current land sat images in ENVI.
The first stage was layer stacking, which is used to build a new multiband file from
multiple georeferenced Landsat image bands. Band 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7, which have a
30-meter spatial resolution were used in order to get a multi-layered composite
image.
In the second stage, the multilayer image was pan-sharpened to get a high resolution
image because the panchromatic image (Band 8) has a 15-meter spatial resolution.
The pan-sharpen method was PC Spectral Sharpening that is used to sharpen a low
spatial resolution multi-band image using an associated high spatial resolution
panchromatic without losing the reflectance information from the original multilayer
30-meter composite.
The third stage was classifying the pan-sharpen image using unsupervised
classification system, which is used to cluster pixels in a dataset based on statistics
only, without any user-defined training classes. The unsupervised classification
techniques that used in this project was ISODATA. That is to calculate class means
evenly distributed in the data space then iteratively clusters the remaining pixels
using minimum distance techniques. Each iteration recalculates means and
reclassifies pixels with respect to the new means. This classification was made to get
20 classes for each woreda.
The last stage was assigning the 20 classes based on knowledge based technique.
Then, the last assignment of classes was used to map the land use land cover of each
selected woreda for the regions.
41
5.7 Comparison of the results with other reference sources
5.7.1 Global forest change study 2000-2013 (Hansen et al. 2013)
In the initial stages of the study, we have relied on the Hansen et al. (2013) study on
Global Forest Change to identify deforestation hotspot areas in Ethiopia using results
from time-series analysis of Landsat images characterizing forest extent and change.
The Hansen et al. study defines trees as vegetation taller than 5m in height and
indicates forest cover in 2000 as a % of canopy cover in ‘2000 Percent Tree Cover’.
‘Forest Cover Loss’ is defined as a stand-replacement disturbance, or a change from a
forest to non-forest state, during the period 2000–2013. ‘Forest Cover Gain’ is defined
as the inverse of loss, or a non-forest to forest change entirely within the period
2000–2012.
The deforested areas as indicated by the Hansen et al. study were verified and
validated using the Open Foris Collect Earth tool and imagery from Bing, Google Earth
and Google Engine. For each region, the most affected areas were singled out and
listed as hotspot areas in the Inception Report. As the spatial analysis progressed we
were able to compare the results of the Hansen et al. study with our own results from
the NDVI analysis and the field visits performed for this study. We found that the
Hansen et al study identified roughly the same deforestation areas as we found with
our NDVI analysis, although they appear smaller, which may be caused by the
difference in resolution. The pixel size of the Hansen images is 30 meter and thus the
areas of forest loss and gain as identified by Hansen et al. are hard to visualise at
national level, but better visible on regional maps.
Forest cover in 2000, in % tree canopy cover. Source: Hansen et al., 2013
42
Forest loss 2000-2013. Source: Hansen et al. 2013
Forest gain 2000-2012. Source: Hansen et al. 2013
Table 9. Summary of the forest gains and losses following Hansen et al. (2013)
Total
hectare
Addis Ababa
Afar
Amhara
Benshangul-Gumaz
Dire Dawa
Gambella
Harar
Oromiya
Somali
SNNPR
Tigray
Total Ethiopia
53881
9596549
15343871
4877459
103169
2488533
36283
31603343
30648181
10926036
4912663
110589969
Loss 20002013 (ha)
185
43
3535
45133
2
11064
16
134322
1207
73795
497
269799
Gain
2000-2012
(ha)
563
11
4116
888
0
1107
0
40476
236
12032
378
59808
Change
(ha)
379
-32
581
-44244
-2
-9956
-16
-93846
-971
-61763
-119
-209991
Change
(%)
0.703
0.000
0.004
-0.907
-0.002
-0.400
-0.044
-0.297
-0.003
-0.565
-0.002
-0.190
Change
per year
(%)
0.0586
0.0000
0.0003
-0.0756
-0.0002
-0.0333
-0.0037
-0.0247
-0.0003
-0.0471
-0.0002
-0.0158
Table 9 summarizes the forest losses and gains by region as identified by the Hansen
et al. Global forest change study. In total over the 2000-2013 period, 269799 hectare
of forest was lost while 59808 hectare of forest regenerated, resulting in a net loss of
nearly 210000 hectare, or 2100 km2.
43
5.7.2 EMA maps 2003, 2008 and 2013
The Ethiopian Mapping Agency (EMA) has undertaken land use and land cover
classification for the whole of Ethiopia over three epochs: 2003, 2008, and 2013.
These LULC mapping products were expected to be available soon after the start of
this study in January 2015. Unfortunately however, we had access to the 2003 and
2008 products only in April, while the 2013 product is not yet available at the time of
finalizing this mid-term report. For each epoch, two classification schemes were
followed: scheme I with six different land use types, and Scheme II with the same six
land use types divided into 17 subtypes. The overall accuracy was calculated at
87,97% (2003, scheme I), 76,52% (2003, scheme II), 86,68% (2008, scheme I) and
82,28% (2008, scheme II).
Land cover in Ethiopia in in 2003 (left) and 2008 (right). Source: EMA, 2015
Table 10. EMA LULC mapping 2003 and 2008
Landuse type
2003
(Km2)
2008
(Km2)
Forest
121407
148176
Grassland
641278
601170
Cropland
192679
204010
Wetland
10898
13363
Settlement
1200
1588
Other land
138624
137776
Source: EMA LULC mapping 2003 and 2008
Change
(Km2)
26769
-40108
11331
2465
389
-848
Change
(%)
22.0
-6.3
5.9
22.6
32.4
-0.6
Change
per year
(Km2)
5354
-8022
2240
493
78
-170
Change
per year
(%)
4.4
-1.3
1.2
4.5
6.5
-0.1
Table 10 summarizes the land use changes between 2003 and 2008 in Ethiopia as
identified by EMA. Land use change matrices were prepared of the Scheme 1 and
Scheme 2 EMA maps and included in Annex 4 of this report. The land use change
numbers suggest that there was more forest in 2008 than in 2003, a total increase of
26769 km2. And not only did the forest cover increase, the location of the forests
changed as well. The Scheme 1 land use matrix shows that, according to these EMA
maps, 54802 km2 of grassland and 23578 km2 of cropland changed into forest
between 2003 and 2008. Also, 32792 km2 of forest changed into grassland and 18945
km2 of forest changed into cropland. The Scheme 2 land use matrix shows the
changes for subclasses. Disaggregating the numbers by region, it shows that during
44
this 2003-2008 period, the amount of forest has increased in all regions except Afar.
The increase in forest, according to the EMA maps, was particularly high in Oromiya
and in Amhara.
Table 11. EMA LULC by regions
Region
Forest 2003
Forest 2008
(ha)
(ha)
Addis Ababa
2931
5291
Afar
224858
149843
Amhara
1282260
1935084
Benshangul-G.
1137792
1276102
Dire Dawa
5001
10119
Gambella
319293
688429
Harari People
1466
2906
Oromiya
5638740
6599583
Somali
856027
1057638
SNNPR
2366706
2709114
Tigray
303668
381751
Source: EMA LULC mapping 2003 and 2008
Change
(ha)
2360
-75015
652825
138310
5118
369136
1440
960843
201611
342408
78083
Change (%)
80.5
-33.4
50.9
12.2
102.3
115.6
98.2
17.0
23.6
14.5
25.7
Change per
year (%)
16.1
-6.7
10.2
2.4
20.5
23.1
19.6
3.4
4.7
2.9
5.1
These findings are surprising when our NDVI analysis as well as the Hansen global
forest change study showed an overall loss of vegetation cover between 2000 and
2015. To understand and analyze the results, we looked at weather information and
rainfall in Ethiopia in 2003 and 2008. Also, in addition to the mean NDVI values we
had for the period November 2007-january 2008, we calculated the mean NDVI
values for November 2008 - January 2009. When plotted in a line graph by region, the
November 2008 – January 2009 values showed a peak compared to the NDVI values
of other years. Indeed, when comparing mean NDVI values by region between 20022003 and 2008-2009, there is an increase in most regions, suggesting an overall
“greening” of vegetation cover between these epochs. However, seen over the whole
2000-2015 period, the values indicate a loss of vegetative cover as described above. It
is expected that the EMA 2013 LULC maps will show a reduced amount of forest
compared to the EMA 2008 maps.
45
Mean NDVI values for 2000-2001, 2002-2003, 2007-2008, 2008-2009, 2013-2014 and
2014-2015 in Ethiopia disaggregated by region. Source: NDVI analysis.
FAO, USAID and various other sources reported on droughts throughout Ethiopia in
2002-2003, while FAO (2009) reports abundant meher rains from June-October 2008
in crop-growing regions in Ethiopia. Comparing land use classification from dry 2003
and wet 2008 may lead to the conclusion that the extent of forest has increased, while
this is not necessarily the case.
The changes in forest cover as identified by the EMA 2003 and 2008 LULC maps will
be further explored in the regional spatial analysis chapters (Annex 5-11).
5.7.3 Other LULC mapping products
The China Global Land Cover mapping project (GlobeLand30) undertook land cover
classification of the earth between latitude 80N to 80S for the year 2010, using 30meter resolution multispectral images, including the TM5 and ETM + of America Land
Resources Satellite (Landsat) and the multispectral images of China Environmental
Disaster Alleviation Satellite (HJ-1). Besides multispectral images, auxiliary data was
used in the process, including the existing land cover data (global and regional),
MODIS NDVI, global geographic information, global DEM, thematic data (global
mangrove forest, wetland and glacier, etc.) and online resources (Google Earth, Bing
Map, OpenStreetMap and Map World).
Table 12. Land cover in Ethiopia in 2010
Land cover in 2010
Hectare
Km2
Cultivated land
21247895
212479
Forest
13656765
136568
Grasslands
57599423
575994
Shrublands
13721309
137213
Wetlands
259605
2596
Water bodies
776379
7764
Artficial surfaces
152097
1521
3177040
31770
110590512
1105905
Bare land
Total Ethiopia
Source: China Global Land Cover mapping 2010
The extent of forest as identified by GlobeLand30 is 13656765 hectare, which is more
than the EMA 2003 map, but less than the EMA 2008 map. Grassland covers
57599423 hectare, somewhat less than on the EMA maps, while cultivated land
covers 21247895 hectare, slightly more than on the EMA maps. The class Artificial
surfaces is comparable to the Settlements category in the EMA maps, and the extent of
Bare land is roughly the same as EMA’s Other land.
46
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has produced the 4 year-25m spacing
global PALSAR mosaics, that Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS)/ Phased
array Type L-band SAR (PALSAR) collected globally from 2007 to 2010, resulting in
Forest-NonForest (FNF) maps of 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. Summarizing data that
was shared with us indicated that according to these PALSAR mosaics, 93513 hectare
of forest was lost between 2008 and 2010, and 64058 hectare of forest was gained,
resulting in a net loss of 29454 hectare between these years.
5.8 Magnitude of historical emissions to land use change and forest
degradation for the reference period (2003-2013)
As the LULC 2013 map was not available by the mid-term report, the alternative
means had to be adopted for historical emissions due to deforestation over the
reference period 2003-2013. Instead a sub-sample of visually interpreted plots was
applied to assess the magnitude of CO2 emissions due to land use changes and forest
canopy degradation by regions (Annex 3).
Table 13. Estimated magnitude of CO2 emissions due to deforestation and
aboveground biomass degradation over the reference period 2003-2013
Forest to
Forest to
Forest to
Forest
Aboveground
Cropland
Grassland
Settlement
to
Degradation
Other
Carbon dioxide equivalent tons per year (CO2-e ton/yr)
Region
Afar
857
56 802
na
28 333
11 497
Amhara
82 468
540 406
36 830
36 830
110 488
Benshangul81 206
45 327
na
25 616
99 075
Gumaz
Gambela
na
na
na
na
4 272
Somali
na
na
na
na
na
SNNPR
1 228 325
1 299 479
149 115
na
100 396
Tigray
39 544
64 956
15 623
15 623
12 613
5.9 Spatial Analysis - Summary and conclusions
For the spatial analysis of deforestation and forest degradation and direct causes of
DD, we have analysed and compared existing LULC maps as well as conducted an indepth analysis of NDVI time series. We have used the new national forest definition as
defined by the Ministry of Environment and Forest on 18 February 2015 (MMU 0.5
ha, tree height of 2m or higher, canopy cover 20%) as a threshold for forest cover and
change analysis.
Mean NDVI values were calculated from 250m eMODIS NDVI composites over the dry
months (November, December and January) to produce temporally smoothed images
of the years between 2000-2001 and 2014-2015. The dry months were chosen
because there is less cloud cover affecting the eMODIS images from these months.
Comparing these mean NDVI images from year to year, we could see that the NDVI
values increase and decrease following dry and wet years, though not as much as non-
47
temporally smoothed NDVI values would show increases and decreases during the
various stages of crop seasons.
The NDVI index establishes a value for how green the area is, that is, the quantity of
vegetation present in a given area and its state of health or vigour of growth. Because
of the dry nature of Ethiopia, many trees will shed their leaves during dry years but
thrive again during wet years, and this will cause the identification of the dry
Ethiopian forests and woodlands through NDVI images, and indeed, all remote
sensing techniques, to fluctuate between open shrublands and denser woodland.
We analysed the EMA LULC maps of 2003 and 2008 (the 2013 EMA map was not yet
available the time of finishing this report) and noted the considerable increase of
forest cover between these years. This increase can be explained by the above
mentioned variation in forest cover due to fluctuating rainfall conditions, and should
not be interpreted as evidence of widespread afforestation or reforestation efforts.
We looked at the documentation of weather conditions during 2003 and 2008 and
found that 2003 was a particularly dry year, while for 2008 abundant meher rains
(June-October) were reported. As the EMA maps were produced from non-temporally
smoothed imagery, comparing the two would lead to the observation that grassland
(including shrubland and open woodland) was converted into forest in areas that
were affected by the lack of rainfall in 2003. Our analysis showed that in several
woredas (Asosa and Bambasi, in Benishangul-Gumuz, and Abobo and Goge in
Gambella) areas that had been identified as forest in 2000 (by Hansen et al.) were
classified as grassland in the EMA 2003 map and subsequently as forest in the EMA
2008 map. Visual inspection of high resolution imagery allowed us to verify that no
actual land use changes had taken place in these woredas, and that, in these woredas
at least, the fluctuating rainfall conditions are the cause of the increase in forest as
identified by EMA. Also in Amhara and in Tigray, we found similar cases where forest
areas had been classified as grasslands on the 2003 EMA map, and then as forest in
the 2008 EMA map.
Our NDVI analysis showed a slight overall decrease of NDVI values over the 20002015 period, though there were peaks and valleys between the start and final year.
Although the NDVI values of dry woodlands fluctuate with dry and wet years, the
values of the two densely forested areas in northern SNNPR/east Gambella and in
east SNNPR/Oromiya showed a decline. From the NDVI values alone it is not possible
to determine whether this decrease is due to natural climate fluctuations or caused by
human activities, and we proceeded to verify land use changes through visual
inspection of high resolution imagery in 870 sample plots.
The grid of sample plots was created by selecting areas that showed an NDVI value of
0,6 or higher in 2000-2001, and a value of 0,36 or lower in 2014-2015. The plots were
inspected by a team of interpreters, after which the results were merged and
analysed. The resulting table of land use changes and drivers showed the areas of
deforestation that have been identified in Tigray (Laelay Adiyabo/ Tahtay Koraro and
Raya Azebo), Amhara (Metema/Sanja, Kobo, and Kalu), Benishangul (Asosa/Bambasi,
Belo Jegonfoy, and Dibate/Yaso) and SNNPR (Ubadebretsehay, Kemba, Arba Minch
Zuria, Chena, Menjiwo and Yeki). The main drivers of deforestation were found to be
agricultural expansion and the growth of settlements.
The plots also covered considerable amounts of wetlands, where the vegetation cover
fluctuates with the changing water level. Although land use changes are found here,
48
they can hardly be contributed to human activities, and these wetland areas should be
excluded from the deforestation map.
Forest degradation was found in the area that runs from north-east Tigray and west
Afar into east Amhara, covering the woredas of Saesi Tsaedaemba, Atsbi Wenberta,
Hintalo Wajirat, Yalo, Kobo, Kalu, Dawa Chefa, Artuma, Fursi, Artuma Fursina and
Ankober. The drivers of this degradation appeared to be mainly droughts, but some
selective logging may have contributed to the degradation in these areas.
A considerable limitation of the plot interpretation exercise was the lack of historical
imagery. Often, no high resolution imagery from before 2011 could be found. This was
especially the case in Gambella and in Somali. In Gambella, NDVI values were found to
be considerably higher than in the other regions, and a separate grid of sample plots
should have been prepared for this region. The mapping of forests through NDVI
thresholds must also be done separately for Gambella.
Other LULC mapping products were evaluated, among which the Hansen et al. global
forest change study, the China Global Land Cover 2010 map, and the PALSAR mosaics
from JAXA. The Hansen et al. study identified a loss of forest cover of 269799 hectare
between 2000 and 2013, and a forest gain of 59808 hectare between 2000 and 2012,
resulting in a net loss of 209991 hectare. The areas of loss and gain were generally
smaller than those found through our NDVI analysis, which may be caused by the
difference in resolution.
Overall, the spatial analysis of deforestation and degradation concludes that the loss
of forest cover is greater than the gain, resulting in a net loss of forest cover over the
period of 2000-2015, the main identified drivers being agricultural expansion and the
growth of settlements.
For a consistent country-wide analysis it is recommended to apply radar or/and lidar
data to assess forest canopy changes over time. This would have the advantage of
having harmonized/comparable time series data for the whole country time
eliminating the interpreter-specific error from visual interpretation while at the same.
Furthermore, lidar and radar applications allow interpreting the vertical forest
structure changes in the most efficient way.
49
6 Current regional forest resources & drivers of
deforestation and forest degradation
6.1 Tigray National Regional State (TNRS)
6.1.1
Overview
Tigray National Regional State is one of the regional states of Federal Democratic
Republic of Ethiopia located between 14°10'N and 38° 50' E. It covers approximately
5,457,165 ha and total population size of around 4,316,988 with growth rate of 3%
per annum. The altitudes ranges from 500 to 3900 m.a.s.l and mean total annual
precipitation of 400 to 800 mm and mean annual temperature varies from 15-17 ⁰C in
the lowland to 20-27⁰C in highlands (TNRS-BARD, 2014a).
According to WBISPP (2005), the total forest cover of the region is estimated to 2.2
million ha including high forest, woodland and shrub lands. In 2014, a remote sensing
and ground based survey (TNRS-BARD, 2014a) on forest cover of the region is
estimated to 2,802,250 ha (53 % of region area) in 2012, constituting forest/dense
shrub land (37% of the region forest area cover ), shrub land (53%), Boswella (3%)
and mixed Boswellia and other trees (7%). These forests are estimated to sequester
approximately 56 million tonnes of CO2e (Moges and Tenkir., 2014). According to the
regional experts, the total high forest cover is estimated to 488,732 ha, accounting
about 8% of the regional areas. The exclosures area is estimated to1,368,513 ha until
2014, accounting about 25% of the region total area. This implies substantial
increment that of 10-15% of area covers in 2007 (Babulo, 2007; Babulo et al., 2009).
50
The notion of exclosure has also addressed the conservation of soil and water on
steep landscape of the region. The exclosure landscapes also become a potential
ecosystem to enhance landscape connectivity for forest birds and are, therefore, an
effective instrument for conserving species in a fragmented landscape in the region
(Aerts et al., 2008). The annual biomass energy consumption (4.1 million tonnes) in
the region in 2013 is also approximately five times higher than the supply (0.81
million tonnes) (Geissler et al. 2013).
Dry forests of the region are rich in Acacia, Boswellia and Commiphora species that
are known to produce commercially important gums and resins (TNRS-BARD,
2014b). The same study confirmed that a total of 419,950 ha of potential land
available to develop plantation of Boswellia in the Western and North-western two
zones of the region. Currently, the total dense and mixed Boswellia land area readily
available for harvesting of incense is estimated to 220,973 ha. It is also projected that
revenue generated from the total volume of incense harvest over a project of 30 years
will be Ethiopian Birr 9.1 million. Currently, a study in the region (TNRS-BARD,
2014b) shows that the sustainability of resins production from Boswellia papyrifera is
mainly affected due to poor regeneration capacity of the species. Similarly, income
contribution from resins are affected due to lack of standard, weak monitoring
system, unregulated competition among whole sellers, absence of up to date market
information, too much producer and weak technical support.
The Tigray region has five regional forests that have been officially registered and
gazetted (forest establishment act no. 64/2011, 65/2011 and 74/2012), namely,
Harmi natural forest (total area 30,987 ha), Wojige Mehego-Warene Ago forest
(16,507ha), Asinba forest (4,253 ha), Waldeba forest (94,845 ha, mainly Bosewalla
species), and Egeburda Gerate Kassu state forest (21,564ha). The region also contains
four forests which supposed to be under federal forests but their administrative
status has not been clearly defined yet. These forests include Desa’s forest, Geasego
forest, Raya-Azebo forest and Kafta-mesile forest. According to the regional experts,
the region is putting its utmost efforts to administer and manage these forests with
limited support from the federal government. Besides, draft forest management plans
of these forests are under preparation.
Currently, heavy deforestation and forest degradation are going in Desa’s forest,
Raya-Azebo and Kafta-mesile forests due to new settlements, shitting cultivation
(locally known as Mofer zemete), overgrazing, charcoal production and fuelwood
collection mainly from bordering regions (Maes, 2010; Moonen, 2010). As the result,
most of the forests gained through reforestation/afforestation in some prats of the
region have been offset by the forest degradation on the rest parts. For instance,
spatial analysis studied on land use change of the region by TNRS-BARD (2014a)
evidenced that overall forest/dense shrub coverage of the region has no significant
change since 1985. The forest cover has risen by 1.22 % in 2000 of 1985, and then,
declined by 1.24% in 2012. While agricultural land is increasing as the expense of the
vegetation cover and bare lands (Table 5). In central zone of the region, the vegetation
coverage and agricultural land area showed a continual increase with an average
increment of more than 5% and 3%, respectively (TNRS-BARD, 2014b). The increase
of vegetation cover observed in Eastern, Central, North-Western and South-Eastern
zones of the region, which was associated to the forest protection. While vegetation
cover declined mainly in Western zone due to agricultural expansion and decrease of
Boswellia cover (TNRS-BARD (2014a). The agricultural expansion resulted from
commercial agriculture and resettlement schemes of the government whereas
51
declining trend of Boswellia and Mixed Boswellia covers is related to agricultural
expansion, traditional tapping and lack of proper utilization and management. The
revenue that would have been generated from Boswellia is also getting low as
compared to the potential resins production. The problem is associated to lack of
product standards and their enforcement, absence of up to date market information
on product volume demanded and prices, minimal value addition activities, absence
of specialization, prolonged and complicated bureaucracy, inadequate extension and
other support services (TNRS-BARD, 2014b).
Table 14. Vegetation, agriculture and bare land cover in Tigray
Land use
1985
Vegetation cover
50.07
Agriculture land
25.78
Bare land
24.09
Source: TNRS-BARD (2014a)
2000
53.00
29.14
17.68
2012
52.81
36.72
10.39
Overall, causes of deforestation and forest degradation in the region are attributed to
expansion of commercial agriculture, resettlement, illegal-wood cutting for sale and
construction, overgrazing and fuelwood collection. Underlying causes for
deforestation and forest degradation include mainly triggered by recurrent droughts,
population pressure and consequent economic problems augmented by a history of
conflict such as the civil war and the Eritrean-Ethiopian war.
As part of REDD+ activity, the region’s natural resource case team under bureau of
agriculture has already assigned REDD+ regional coordinator. Presently, the activities
of the coordinator office focus on awareness creation, capacity building and
identification of potential REDD+ pilot areas with support of federal REDD+
secretariat under Ministry of Environment and Forest. According to regional experts,
two state forests such as Harmi and Egeburda Gerate Kassu state forests are planned
to assign them under participatory forest management schemes. Desa’s forest is also
planned to be under REDD+ pilot area.
6.1.2 Kola Tembien Woreda
The latest population count of Kola Tembien woreda in 2014 gave 152,775 persons of
which 76,111 were males and 76,664 were females. The average rate of birth per
woman in the woreda was further estimated to be 5 children. The number of
households registered at the time were 33,212, with a very high number of female
headed households that were 16,666 while the male headed were 16,546. The
population in the woreda is entirely constituted by the Tigrean ethnic group with
some the Afar pastoralist ethnic group migrating both inside and outside the woreda.
The three main sources of energy are fuelwood, dried cow dung and quite substantial
amounts of crop residues. Many households are further using solar panels at least for
lighting in the evening. There is no wood industy located in the woreda – not even
charcoal. Charcoal is not even produced or consumed in the rural areas of Kola
Tembien, but it is traded from Afar region to be sold in the urban centers of Tigray
region. There are checkpoint controls along all the main roads into urban centers,
which are supposedly stricktly following a ban on charcoal. One can only wonder how
52
it can still be sold in the urban markets. For construction purposes are only eucalypt
wood legally accepted on the local market.
The woreda authorities have substantially promoted the use of alternative energy
sources so that all households would at least initially use these for lighting and then
later for cooking purposes. The distribution of energy efficient cooking stoves and
electric cooking stoves has begun in those areas where electricity is available and
biogas establishment is also supported.
Agriculture is the main economic production sector in the woreda and the major rain
fed crops are maize, sorghum, finger millet and teff. Small-scale irrigation systems
have recently been introduced in the woreda and now are therefore also cultivated
onion, pepper, tomatoes and cabbage. The average yield ofmaize per hectare in this
woreda is currently estimated to be 30-35 quintals with the application of fertilizers,
whereas the sorghum yield is estimated to be 27-30 quintals per hectare.
Generally, all the soil types have low fertility and they consists of 68% silt, 20% sand,
9.5% black soil, 3% silt clay and 2.5% clay. Soil and water conservation activities have
been widely practice in Kola Tembien since 1992 - soon after the change of the Derg
government. Projects such as SLM and MERET have also supported these efforts. In
addition to the physical soil and water conservation works there have also been trees
planted to act as biological stabilizers. As a result of these efforts have soil erosion
declined during recent years, but not sufficiently. Chemical fertilizers are therefore
widely applied by the farmers to increase soil fertility. The irrigation systems in use
are fed water from surface sources such as ponds, through river diversions, with
surface and bore wells and with rainwater harvesting by some individual farmers.
The flow rate of in the rivers depends on the season and therefore there is a need to
allocate water to the users under the supervision of a community irrigation
administration committee. Now the water flow has become more balanced andis
further supported by some watershed development works, which have been
conducted in the woreda.
In 2014 the livestock population numbers in the woreda counted 47,205 oxen, 76,064
cows, 53,279 sheep, 229,184 goats, 18,373 donkeys, 149 mules, 2 horse and 293
camels. The livestock are all of local varieties. According to the local experts livestock
populations have declined in number in recent years due to enforced communal and
degraded lands closures where no grazing is allowed and there is also forthcoming
policy that urges zero grazing in the very near future. The woreda authorities also
indicated that there is a regional level strategy for destocking of livestock and a
simultaneous wide introduction of hybrids livestock. The focus is then on improving
milk and meat productivity per cattle. The distribution of some hybrids has begun –
there are already 20 holstein cows, 74 borena cows and some small number of other
varieties in the woreda.
Cattle are mainly free grazing with some 20% of stall-feeding. Free grazing occurs on
farmlands and plains, but also on wood and bush lands. Livestock are allowed to free
graze during the dry season while some stall feeding is practiced during the rainy
season.
The agriculture is constrained by stem boring beetles, their larvae, some insect pests,
fungal diseases and by seasonal flooding. Some kind of invasive weeds are also
53
reported. However, no drought related livestock deaths have been reported in recent
years.
The woreda authority forester estimate that the current total forest cover of the area
is about 31,000 ha. This figure would include both dense forests that are totally
protected from human activities, some other forests and then some open access
woodlands. Still according to the woreda forester have the woreda forests during the
last 20 year shown some recovering. This rehabilitation is due to continuous
awareness raising among the community members and from planting of tree
seedlings on degraded lands to rehabilitate these lands. There are further some
keepers of forests in the woreda who were beneficiaries of a Productive Safety Net
Program (PSNP). This programme has now been completed and no replacement
programme is currently in the pipeline, but the woreda authorities still expect that a
change of attitude in the community will prevail and some new norms for forest
conservation will be developed in the near future.
20 years ago the major causes for deforestation and forest degradation were over
grazing, inefficient farming practices, and tree cutting for construction and woodfuel
purposes. The current major causes of deforestation are considered to be farmland
expansion and tree cutting for woodfuels. The Afar pastoralists who occasionally visit
the woreda with their livestock are also considered to be part of the problem.
Attempts to stop illegal fuel wood collectors and charcoal makers from using wood for
their own domestic consumption and for trading are somehow in place as there are
established check points at some major road junctions close to urban centres. Unlike
Atsbi Wonberta, - the other selected woreda of Tigrey for this assignment- Kola
Tembien has almost no planted eucalypts mainly as a consequence of the unsuitable
dry climatic conditions that prevail in the woreda.
The dominant tree species in the local forests and plantations are Ziziphus spina-cristi,
Cordia Africana, Faidherbia albida, Croton microstacus and Eucalyptus camaldulensis.
Over six million tree seedlings, over fifteen million cuttings and sowing spots have
been planted and sowed in 2014 for reforestation and afforestation purposes. The
total planting area in 2014 covered around 9,600 ha and the future annual planting
amounts are planned to be held at the same level. The woreda forester and the local
community members see planting with indigenous species such as Ziziphus spinacristi, Cordia Africana, Faidherbia albida, Croton microstacus as a priority. Introduced
species such as Eucalyptus camaldulensis and Grevillea sp. are to be planted mainly
on the degraded lands. The survival rate of seedlings (a year after planting) has been
on average 67% according to an inventory, which was made recently. The survival
rates are lower in areas due to the fact that most of the planted areas are not
protected from livestock intervention in particular.
There are many forest-related cooperatives among the rural communities in the
woreda. These cooperatives have engaged themselves in bee keeping and in fattening
of some livestock outside the protected areas, where the cooperative members are
cutting and carrying grass to the animals from the forest they conserve. Further,
about seven hectares of land has been afforested with different tree species by these
cooperatives.
There are totally seventeen nurseries controlled by the woreda agricultural office.
The seedlings raised in the nurseries are distributed to individual farmers and
foremost planted on degraded lands for soil conservation purposes and in forests
54
areas to increase density of the stands. The establishment and one year operational
costs for a medium sized nursery have been recently estimated to be around
1,500,000 birr.
Table 15. Framework analysis of the underlying causes of DD vis-à-vis societal
situation in Kola Tembien, Tigrey Region.
Specific drivers
Agent
Underlaying causes
Infrastructure
Socio-econ &
economic.
Biophysical&
environment
Livelihoods&
technical
Nature
Topographical
risks for
erosion &
degradation
Most local
people are
aware of
these risks
Cultivation &
roads in steep
terrain are
ex-posing
land to
erosion
Some poor
persons and
Afar pastoralists are still
risk ignorant
Tormential
rainfall
Nature
Heavy rainfall
on exposed
slopes and low
land waterlogging
Any area
that is
exposed by
cultivation
or grazing is
at risk
Roads and
paths on
slopes acts as
flushing small
rivers on
slopes
Most people
are rather
well aware of
environmenttal degradation issues
Illegal forest
cutting
Afar and
Kunana
ethnic
groups
Forest
encroachment
by men and
livestock
Illegal
charcoaling
and grazing
513 forest
guards to
protect
forests
Illegal
charcoal transported to
Afar and
Eritrea
Poor
smallholder
farmers
Remaining
forest well
protected &
thus
increasing
Eucalypts
are sold for
fuelwood &
construction
poles
Transported
to markets
along roads
Local people
are highly
aware about
environment
protection
Soil and water
conservation
Poor
smallholder
farmers
Poor
smallholder
farmers
People work
for free or
through
community
initiatives
People cut,
carry and
buy livestock
fodder
Building of
terraces,
culverts etc.
Livestock are
stall-fed
Watershed
management
practices
Poor
smallholder
farmers
Local people
are highly
aware about
environment
protection
Local people
are highly
aware about
environment
protection
Local
population is
nowadays
quite well
aware about
environmental
conservation
Land tenure
security
Poor
smallholder
farmers
Terracing &
various other
SWC operations are
common
Cattle are
stall-fed, but
sheep graze on
fields after
harvest
Some 8 million
woreda
nursery raised
seed-lings
planted yearly.
In far-mer
nurseries
additional 3
million seedlings for
planting
Land parcels
are often small
Negative
drivers
Altitude, steep
slopes & soil
texture
Positive
mitigating
activities
Private
eucalypt wood
as fuelwood
Farmers are
given seedlings and
seeds to
plant on
degraded
and forest
lands
Land
registration
is in order
Projects of
Farm Africa,
NRDEP &
woreda agriculture office
16 woreda
tree nurseries
and 210
farmer nurseries. Farmers
are given
fruit tree
seedlings as
planting
compensation
Some forests
are
communal &
have free
access rules
Local population maintain
often well
their lands
Institutional &
Policy
Trend now
Many
policies and
directives
are in place,
but still
some
ignorance
Many
policies and
directives
are in place,
but still
some
ignorance
There are
serious
conflicts
with these
two groups
Due to
increasing
population
the trend is
at least the
same
Functioning
forest
administration &
forest
protection
Promoted by
GIZ, SLM &
Woreda
agriculture
office
Promotion of
hybrid
livestock is
increasing
Deforestation
has almost
stopped
Woreda
agriculture
office and
SLM project
have quite
good supervision
Increasing or
on same level
annually
Policies are
quite OK in
order
Reduces
quite much
deforestation
Due to
increasing
population
the trend is
at least the
same
Forest cutting has declined, but
these people
are
problematic
Degradation
has been
substantially
reduced
Completely
reduced
impact
55
Closed areas
from grazing
and tree
cutting
Poor
smallholder
farmers
Substantial regeneration in
closed areas
Most people
follow well
the
restriction
513 woreda
forest guards
guarding
forests
Only Afar
people are
violating rules
Functioning
extension
service
Substantially
improving
situation
Non-wood &
alternative
energy
sources
Poor
smallholder
farmers
Crop residues,
dung and solar
panels in use
Most people
understand
the need to
reduce fuelwood use
Support with
solar panels
purchase
Majority of
households
use
Woreda
authorities
promotes
Substantially
improving
situation
6.1.3 Atsbi Wonberta Woreda
Atsbi Wonberta woreda is located in the northeastern part of Tigrey region and about
70 km from Mekele, the regional capital city. The total population of the woreda
(2014) was 134,086 persons of which 65,371 were males and the rest 68,715 were
females; the average rate of birth per woman in the woreda was further estimated to
be 5 children. The woreda is largely inhabited by the Tigre ethnic group, with some
Afar ethnic people also residing in the region. The total number of households was
23,400 in 2014 of which 15,388 were male headed and 8,012 were female headed.
Fuel wood is the main source of household energy with dried cow dung and crop
residue supplementing it. Further, a sizeable proportion of the households in the
woreda are using solar energy, at least for lighting in the evenings. Apart from other
areas in Ethiopia covered by this assignment, there is a strong sense of forest
ownership and the local forests are protected and watched by all members of the
community. Charcoal is not produced and consumed in the rural areas of the woreda.
The charcoal is reported to come from a nearby woreda in Afar Region and is sold in
the urban centres of Tigray region. There is no industry related to wood processing.
However, exotic tree species, mainly Eucalyptus globlus and E. camadulensis are
harvested from outgrower farmers’ plantations and transported to Maychew
particleboard factory (south of Atsbi Wonberta). Eucalypt wood is also transported to
Wukro (some 30 km away from Atsbi Wonberta) and to Mekele for fuelwood
consumption, as there are plenty of eucalypt plantations on private farm lands.
Furtermore, there is a clear plan to promote all the households to become users of
alternative energy sources - initially as source of lighting and later hopefully also for
cooking purposes.
The economic base of the woreda stems from agriculture with major crops
comprising of wheat, barley and beans using irrigation as well as rain fed farming.
Maize is also widely cultivated in small-scale irrigation systems in the woreda. The
average yield of wheat per hectare in this woreda is reported to be about 50 quintals
achieved with the fertilizers and plowing, whereas the same yield figures of barley
and beans are 33 and 21 quintals, respectively. In addition to the above mentioned
crops, there are also a variety of vegetables (onion, tomato, pepper, cabbage and
potato) and fruits produced in the woreda in small-scale irrigation systems.
The main soil type of the woreda is silt clay, which has a rather low fertility. Soil and
water conservation activities have been widely practiced in the area since 1992, soon
after the change of the Derg government in 1991. This activity has been supported by
such projects as SLM and MERET. Apart from the actual physical works related to soil
and water conservation, people havealso used a variety of soil fertility improving tree
species such as Sesbania sp., Leucena sp. and Faidherbia albida, which have been
56
planted on farm lands. As a result of these measures, soil erosion has markedly
declined in the last decades after the start-up of these programmes. Both organic (i.e.
compost) and inorganic fertilizers are widely applied by the farmers to improve soil
fertility. Ten years ago only 600 ha of land were irrigated through traditional smallscale irrigation systems based mainly on river diversions. In 2014 this figure has
reached 6935 ha using a variety of irrigation sources such as water from rivers, ponds
established for this purpose or rain water harvested in catchments by individual
farmers. Lately a slight decline has emerged in the river flows for downstream users,
mainly due to an increased number of users. This problem has been solved
byestablishinga community irrigation administration committee, that rules over
water distribution.
In 2014 there were 21,218 cattle, 4438 equines, 24,560 goats and 4073 sheep in the
woreda. According to some woreda authority experts, the livestock population had
declined almost immediately following the time, when an area closure of communal
and degraded lands was enforced. The same experts also stated that there is a
strategy set at regional level for destocking of livestock and a general introduction of
hybrid livestock, which improves meat and milk productivity while reducing the
number of cattle mouths foraging.
The main cattle feeding practice is now stall feeding. Free grazing is now reported to
be non-existing in forests and hill areas. Enclosures are governed by community laws,
which contain serious punishments for discrimination of the rules by community
members. Livestock may now only be set free to graze on individual farmer’s own
land after the crop harvesting. Therefore, besides some cut and carry grass from the
enclosures, the farmers in the woreda keep crop residues and hey for feeding their
cattle during dry season. Industrial by-products from sugar and beer factories are also
purchased from other parts of the region and sold locally in Atsbi wonberta as feed
for the livestock. No drought related livestock deaths have been reported lately, as
there is sufficient water and grass in the woreda. In case drought would become a
prolonged problem, there is an early warning system installed which advice farmers
to further reduce livestock numbers.
The main agricultural disaster reported in Atsbi wonberta is frost during the nights,
rather than any pests and flooding. In some cases, there are also fungal diseases
infesting wheat and barley. Some invasive weeds and tree species invading fields are
also reported.
The total forest cover of the area is about 89,000 ha. Desa forest, located in the
western part of the woreda at the border with Afar, makes up the largest share of the
woreda forest cover. Besides Desa, there are about 40 ha of dense forests located
around churches as sacred forests. The forest cover of the woreda has clearly
recovered to a certain extent in the last 20 years time. This rehabilitation is due to a
continuous awareness campaign among community members and to planting of
seedlings on degraded lands. There are further 513 guards for the forests in the
woreda. However, they are still few as compared to the wide area coveraged by
forests. The attitudes of the community members of the woreda have changed to
protect forests, because people have observed a change in microclimate in the last
twenty years time. Consequently, the community has developed norms related to
forests and anyone found guilty of violating the norms is seriously punished.
57
The major causes for deforestation and forest degradation twenty years ago were
related to over grazing, bad farming practices, tree cutting for construction and fuel
wood purposes, shifting cultivation and other wasteful use of natural resources.
Almost all of these drivers have been resolved by the community members of the
Atsbi Wonberta woreda, who are now aware of the consequences of forest
disappearance. The remaining major threats to forests are currently some Afar
pastoralists who encroach into forest with their livestock. These Afars still cut forest
trees for charcoaling, fuel wood for both consumption and commercial purpose and
for house construction. In addition to the Afars, the Kunama – another minority group
at the border area with Eritrea - also cut forest trees for charcoaling and fuel wood
purposes. They often transport these wood products to Eritrea and sell them there for
better price. Attempts to stop these illegal tree cutters has led to serious conflicts
between the guards and the illegal Afar cutters, which has also become a political
conflict between the two regions. Discussions at regions level between Tigray and
Afar regions have not yielded in any solution so far.
Previously, marketing and trading of forest products of native tree species was
conducted in the woreda, but now such marketing/trading is strictly prohibited and
there are check points for controlling that. . Eucalypts harvested from individual
growers’ farm land is observed to be widely sold for fuel wood as replacement. Not
everybody is allowed to market the eucalyptus species in the woreda and only 34
certified local merchant can supply eucalypts for Maychew particle board factory. A
100kg of eucalypt fuelwood is sold for 200 birr at Atsbi Wonberta town market and
for 300 birr at Mekele city market. Now, there are worries that eucalypts will cover
the whole woreda due to the better price paid for it and the trade opportunity, which
does not exist for the local tree species.
The is also a fear that the local community members would also reengage in
deforestation activities due to the fact that the Afars and the Kunamas are not being
punished properly by any legal body. There have lately been some attempts to settle
in the forest areas bordering to Afar region.
The dominant tree species which compose the main ones in the local forests are Olea
africana and Juniperus procera in the high lands, and acacia and kitkita (a local
ethnoname) in the low land parts of the woreda. During plating of seedlings, Olea sp.
and Juniperus species are planted in the forest lands and exotic species are planted
only on the degraded sites. Generally, the survival rate of the native tree seedlings is
higher (94%) because the places where these seedlings are planted are protected
ones from any intervention. There are sixteen government nurseries producing
seedlings for the state forest and for plantings as watershed development measures.
There are also some 210 farmers in the woreda who have been given training on
nursery establishment and operations. These farmers produce between 50,000 to
350,000 seedlings each, thus net earning between 5,000 – 15,000 birr every year.
58
Table 16. Framework analysis of the underlying causes of DD vis-à-vis societal
situation in Atsbi Wonberta, Tigrey Region.
Specific drivers
Agent
Biophysical&
environment
Livelihoods&
technical
Nature
Topographical
risks for
erosion &
degradation
Most local
people are
aware of
these risks
Tormential
rainfall
Nature
Heavy rainfall
on exposed
slopes and low
land waterlogging
Illegal forest
cutting
Afar and
Kunana
ethnic
groups
Forest
encroachment
by men and
livestock
Any area
that is
exposed by
cultivation
or grazing is
at risk
Illegal
charcoaling
and grazing
Poor
smallholder
farmers
Remaining
forest well
protected &
thus
increasing
Soil and water
conservation
Poor
smallholder
farmers
Livestock are
stall-fed
Poor
smallholder
farmers
Watershed
management
practices
Poor
smallholder
farmers
Land tenure
security
Poor
smallholder
farmers
Closed areas
from grazing
and tree
cutting
Poor
smallholder
farmers
Negative
drivers
Altitude, steep
slopes & soil
texture
Positive
mitigating
activities
Private
eucalypt wood
as fuelwood
Underlaying causes
Infrastructure
Socio-econ &
economic.
Institutional &
Policy
Trend now
Many
policies and
directives
are in place,
but still some
unawareness
Many
policies and
directives
are in place,
but still some
ignorance
There are
serious
conflicts with
these two
groups
Due to
increasing
population
the trend is
at least the
same
Due to
increasing
population
the trend is
at least the
same
Forest cutting has declined, but
these people
are
problematic
Functioning
forest
administration &
forest
protection
Promoted by
GIZ, SLM &
Woreda
agriculture
office
Promotion of
hybrid
livestock is
increasing
Deforestation
has almost
stopped
Woreda
agriculture
office and
SLM project
have quite
good supervision
Increasing or
on same level
annually
Local population maintain
often well
their lands
Policies are
quite OK in
order
Reduces
quite much
deforestation
Only Afar
people are
violating rules
Functioning
extension
service
Substantially
improving
situation
Cultivation &
roads in steep
terrain are
ex-posing
land to
erosion
Roads and
paths on
slopes acts as
flushing small
rivers on
slopes
513 forest
guards to
protect
forests
Some poor
persons and
Afar pastoralists are still
risk ignorant
Eucalypts
are sold for
fuelwood &
construction
poles
Transported
to markets
along roads
Local people
are highly
aware about
environment
protection
Terracing &
various other
SWC operations are
common
Cattle are
stall-fed, but
sheep graze
on fields after
harvest
Some 8 million
woreda
nursery raised
seed-lings
planted yearly.
In far-mer
nurseries
additional 3
million seedlings for
planting
Land parcels
are often small
People work
for free or
through
community
initiatives
People cut,
carry and
buy livestock
fodder
Building of
terraces,
culverts etc.
Local people
are highly
aware about
environment
protection
Local people
are highly
aware about
environment
protection
Local
population is
nowadays
quite well
aware about
environmental
conservation
Substantial regeneration in
closed areas
Most people
follow well
the
restriction
Farmers are
given seedlings and
seeds to
plant on
degraded
and forest
lands
Land
registration
is in order
Projects of
Farm Africa,
NRDEP &
woreda agriculture office
16 woreda
tree nurseries
and 210
farmer nurseries. Farmers
are given
fruit tree
seedlings as
planting
compensation
Some forests
are
communal &
have free
access rules
513 woreda
forest guards
guarding
forests
Most people
are rather
well aware of
environmenttal degradation issues
Illegal
charcoal transported to
Afar and
Eritrea
Degradation
has been
substantially
reduced
Completely
reduced
impact
59
Non-wood &
alternative
energy
sources
Poor
smallholder
farmers
Crop residues,
dung and solar
panels in use
Most people
understand
the need to
reduce fuelwood use
Support with
solar panels
purchase
Majority of
households
use
Woreda
authorities
promotes
Substantially
improving
situation
6.1.4 Conclusions for the region
Tigrey is one of the regions of Ethiopia where a high civilization has been prevailing
from ancient times, which has led to a rather high human population throughout the
centuries and thus a long history of deforestation and degradation. The deforestation
and degradation eventually became such a huge problem during the chaotic years
when the Derg regime lost their power and a new regime started to gain power, that
the local people eventually became aware of environmental problems. Since mid1990s there have therefore been various kinds of state soil and water conservation
programmes to rehabilitate the region. The main inhabitants of the two selected
woredas, Kola Tembien and Atsbi Wonberta, have become rather well aware of the
role of forests and trees in a sustainable development of these two woredas.
In Atsbi Wonberta the environmental conservation message has been well delivered
to the woreda’s settled communities. The forest resources have therefore improved
considerably with the support of the local community members. However, this
woreda has got a problem with two minority ethnic groups from Afar region (i.e.
Afars) and from Eritrea (i.e. Kunana), which are still highly ignorant of environmental
issues. Both ethnic groups are involved in serious conflicts with the woreda employed
forest guards, who try to protect the Desa forest bordering to Afar Region and to
Eritrea. It is likely that the situation in Afar and in Eritrea may not be particularly
good from environmental perspective, which forces these two ethnic groups to come
to Tigrey to exploit the forest resources on the Tigrean side of the borders.
The situation in Kola Tembien is rather similar as migrating Afar pastoralists are also
in this woreda causing substantial amounts of the deforestation and degradation,
although this woreda is further away from Afar. The main problem also here is how
to get those migrating Afars to abide by the various rules and policies, which the
woreda authorities have been trying to enforce.
In both Kola Tembien and in Atsbi Wonberta the environmental mitigating actions are
rather well developed and most communities stand firmly behind these activities.
Large amounts of tree seedlings are planted out in these two woredas every year.
60
6.2 Amhara National Regional State (ANR)
6.2.1 Overview
The Amhara National Regional State is located in the north western part of Ethiopia. It
is located between 8o 45’-13o 45’ N latitude and 35o 15’- 40o 20’ E longitude. The
altitude ranges from 600 masl at Metema, North Gonder, to 4620 masl at Ras Dashen,
North Gonder, which is also Ethiopia's highest point. Annual mean temperature of the
o
o
region ranges from 12.4 C to 27.8 C (Desta et al., 2000). The region covers about
15,712,684 ha with total population about 20,650,419 people in 2007 (CSA’s census).
The region shares boundaries with four regional states (Oromiya in the south, Afar in
the east, Tigray in the north and Benishangul-Gumuz in the west), and with
neighbouring Sudan in the West. About 87.3% of the population live in rural areas
and the 12.7% live in urban areas. Agriculture and livestock production are the main
farming systems of the region (ANRA-BOA, 2012).
The recent satellite imagery and ground survey by ANRA-BOA (2012) using FAO
(2006) forest definition, the total forest cover of the region is estimated to about
1,288, 383 ha(8.2% of total area of the region), of which natural forest for 2.95%,
woodland accounts 4.71%, plantation for 0.4% and riverian for 0.13%. If we add up
shrub land into these values (889,911.91 ha), the vegetation cover of the region
would grow up to about 2,178,295 ha (13.85% of total area of the region). However,
based on the assessment of Bureau of Agriculture, the forestcover of the region
officially known in policies workshop as 5.91% of the total area of the region; of
which Natural high forest (0.48 % of the total area of the region), woodland (4.2%),
and plantation forests (1.23 %) (Abera, 2008; Bane et al., 2008, cited in ANRA-BOA,
61
2012). The same study further made detailed classification of forests types (2,178,295
ha) into dense woodland (accounting 2.64% of total vegetation cover), natural dense
forest (2.95%), open woodland (2.07%), riverian forest (0.13%), dense bush land
(3.07%), open bush land (2.59%), and planation (0.40%). Desta et al (2000) also
reported 54,722 ha of community based exclosures in the region between 1992 and
1998. The region’s forest resource is estimated to sequester about 203.4 million
tonnes CO2e (Moges and Tenkir., 2014).
The region also contains 17 forest priority areas. Of which, Alatish and Semen
national parks, and Denkoro chaka (forest) are among the priority state forests, which
are the most important forest resources hosting various wild lives within the forest.
Besides, some forest planation projects in the region include Gondar fuel wood
plantation, Desie fuel wood plantation and Debre Birhan fuel wood plantation
projects (ANRA-BOA, 2012). Boswellia papyrifera is one of the commercial species
grown in the region. It is mostly found in western, northern and north-western
lowlands areas of the region, accounting the lion share incense production of Ethiopia.
For example, in Metema district of the Amhara region, B. papyrifera on average
accounted for 51% of the woody plant density with stem density of 64 to 225 trees
per ha (Eshete, 2002; Gebrehiwot, 2003). The species yielded 6.7 – 451.4 g per tree
per year, and others reported an annual yield of 207 – 352 g per tree (Tadesse et al.,
2002). Bamboo is also important vegetation resource of the region located in the
lowland at altitude of less than 1800 masl following the Abay basin and the Sudan
boarder while the highland bamboo grow in the highland altitude (more than 1800
masl) (Bereket, 2008; cited in ANRA-BOA, 2012).
Likewise, the national trend the vegetation resource in Amhara region serve as source
of household’ energy. For instance, there is a deficit between households’ biomass
energy supply and consumption, amounting approximately 5.9 million tonnes and
24.3 million tonnes, respectively. The region’s annual rate of deforestation in 2000
was estimated to 20,000ha for fuelwood, logging and construction purposes (Desta et
al. 2000). Besides, larger proportion of the households (about 40%) use biomass
energy from the farms and communal lands mainly Eucalyptus species (Desta et al.
2000). Unlike the conventional thinking, on-farm trees are increasing with increasing
population density in the region. In the region fuelwood consumption rates appear to
have been declining in the face of declining stocks of natural woodland and shrub land
while dung consumption rates have been increasing (WBISPP, 2005). For example, a
study by Yismaw et al. (2014) in Banja district of Amhara region indicated that forest
cover of the district declined from 6,044 ha in 1973 to 2,856 ha in 1986, and to 2,447
ha in the year 2003, at deforestation rate of 4% per annum between 1973 and 1986,
and declined to 0.8% per annum between 1986 and 2003. This was mainly due to
increase of the demand for the expansion of agricultural land, fuel wood and
construction materials.
The direct causes and forest degradation in the region is attributed to agricultural
expansion, over grazing, fire, illegal logging, resettlements, poor forest management
and utilization and investment activities. Forest degradation is aggravated to the
rearing of large number of cattle and the grazing effect retards the growth of the
newly growing forest seedlings and saplings (ANRA-BOA, 2012). In 2000, it was
estimated (ILRI, 2000) that some 35% of all livestock in Ethiopia were living in
Amhara region. The total annual available feed from those lands was estimated to be
around 9.1 million tons of dry matter while the total annual demand could reach 20.6
million tons of dry matter. The agricultural investments (e.g. particularly sesame),
62
growing settlement, and overgrazing in the region are also deforesting economically
important forests species such as Boswellia papyrifera. Others causes of deforestation
and forest degradation in the region include poor survival rate of planted forest
seedlings. The underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation is associated
with absence of regional forest policy, strategy and proclamation, population growth
and land shortage (particularly Afroalpine and subafroalpine vegetation), weak
institutional capacity, turnover of skilled man power, lack of awareness of the
community to forestry extension and poor infrastructures (Lemenih and
Woldmariam, 2010; ANRA-BOA, 2012).
As part of REDD+ activity, the region already assigned regional coordinator.
Currently, awareness creation, capacity building and identification of potential
REDD+ pilot areas are ongoing with support of REDD+ secretariat/MEF.
6.2.2 Matema Woreda
In December 2014 the total population of Metema woreda was 141,949 of which
73,262 were males and 68,687 females. The average rate of birth per woman in the
woreda has been recently estimated to be five children. Metema has a total of 21,349
households of which 18,901 are male headed and 2448 female headed. The
population is organized in 21 kebeles and is mainly comprised of the Amharan, the
Tigrean and the Gumuz ethnic groups and several other small ethnic groups, which
have immigrated and settled in the urban centers of the woreda.
The main source of energy for households of this woreda is fuelwood. About 60% of
the households are also using solar panels at least as a source for lighting. Biogas has
not yet taken a hold as an alternative energy source. This woreda has got no official
wood processing industry but unofficial charcoal making is widely practiced and
charcoal sacks can be openly on display for sale in rural areas all the way from
Yohannis town in Metema to Gondar zone. In Metema and the region as a whole
charcoal production is an illegal activity and there are checkpoints near urban towns
along all main roads. The woreda authorities have actively promoted energy efficient
stoves, which are widely being distributes to reduce the pressure on the forest.
The economic base of the woreda stems from rainfed agriculture and major crops
cultivated are sesame, sorghum, and cotton. With small-scale irrigation systems are
further cultivated onion, pepper, tomatoes and cabbage. The average yield of sesame
per hectare in this woreda is estimated to be 4 quintals, whereas sorghum and cotton
yield 25-27 and 16-18 quintals per hectare, respectively.
About 80% of the soils in the woreda constitute of clay and silt clay and sandy soils
constitute the remaining soils. The fertility of these soils is considered medium. Soil
and water conservation activities have not been widely practiced, but there are some
few farmers who have made some efforts in this respect. Chemical fertilizers are
widely applied in the last few years by the farmers, which has led to an increase in
yield. The yield increase is also attributed to the use of the fallow practice. Some 10%
or 2076 of the total number of households in the woreda use small scale irrigation.
The sources of water for irrigation systems are surface water (e.g. ponds), river
diversion, ground water and rainwater harvesting by individual farmers. The ground
water is easily accessed at a depth of 6 – 12 meters. The overall flow rate of rivers
63
shows some decline in recent years – particularly in the dry season – although it is
also affected by the increased number of irrigation systems in use.
For 2014 the livestock statistics show for Metema 58,663 oxen, 105,450 cows, 53,212
bulls, 44,468 heifers, 52,602 calves, 22,649 sheep, 67,496 goats, 19,909 donkeys, 284
mules and finally 36 camels. All of these livestock belong to local varieties. According
to the local experts have livestock populations declined in numbers during recent
years due to diseases and the conversion of grazing lands into sesame cash crop
fields. Livestock deaths are sometimes registred in late dry season (i.e around June)
due to lack of fodder and water.
The cattle are normally free grazing and stall feeding is only practiced for fattening of
some particular animals. Livestock roam around in forests, on farm lands, on plains
and along the rivers.
The remaining existing forest cover of the area is stated to be about 72,406 ha and the
actual demarcated forest area is still some 99,998 ha. Forest areas are not protected
from livestock intervention and what used to be very dense forest with very big trees
is currently devoid of such trees and also otherwise rather degraded. This has mainly
happened in the last 20 year period. Several factors for the forest decline can be
recognized of which, the most important ones are government supported new
settlements and private and commercial farm land expansion. The latter is mainly
linked to an increase in the price for sesame – a cash crop. A legally supported
settlement established in 2003 caused a large farm land expansion in the middle of a
dense forest. There are further over 384 commercial investors in the woreda at four
investment sites, which are mainly engaged in agricultural operations. These
investors have got forest lands for their leases and thus large tracts of forests are
cleared.
There are additionally the migrant farmers (mofer zemet ersha) who seasonally settle
for a while with their livestock in some location and thereby cause grazing damage to
an area. Tree seedlings in forests and in more open areas are often browed, which
cause growth damage. This is often linked to wild fires that cause the burning and
killing of boswellia trees, which bark is used for incense making.
There is furthermore and increased demand for construction poles and fuelwood in
the woreda. Both charcoal production and tree cutting for fuelwood is also aiming for
export trade with Sudan where it is sold in the border town Galabat in Sudan.
The dominant tree species found in the forest are several acacia species, balanite and
boswellia trees. No invasive prosopis trees are reported in Metema. Over 800,000
seedlings have been planted every year for the last six years for reforestation and
afforestation purposes. However, the survival rates of these planted seedlings are low
due to the free grazing and to wild fires. The above mentioned tree species are usually
planted on degraded sites which may also be part of the explanation for low survival
rates. Farmers are additionally given fruit tree seedlings for their private home
gardens.
There are several forest related cooperatives in most of the eight kebeles of Metema.
These cooperatives have mainly engaged in incense and gum production. Most of the
cooperative members are youths, who are provided frequent training on incense and
gum production by woreda authority experts and NGOs. Boswellia trees get often
64
damaged by outside incense collectors who come from nearby urban centers of the
woreda or from Tigray, but these people do not have the technical skills or knowhow
on how to properly collect incense.
The woreda authorities had also estimated tree nursery operation costs. Taking
outplanting cost of seedlings as free of charge labour, the establishment cost and
operation of a 500,000 seedling nursery is estimated to be around 750,000 birr.
Table 17. Framework analysis of the underlying causes of DD vis-à-vis societal
situation in in Metema, Amhara Region.
Specific drivers
Agent
Underlaying causes
Infrastructure
Socio-econ &
economic.
Institutional &
Policy
Trend now
Most local
people are
aware of
these risks
Cultivation &
roads in steep
terrain are exposing land to
erosion
Some poor
persons and
Afar pastoralists are still
risk ignorant
Many policies
and directives
are in place,
but still some
ignorance
Landfires
spread easily
larger than intended and
deplete soils
Fires are lit
for hunting
purposes
Only few
roads, so hard
to put out fires
This concerns
mainly one
poor minority
ethnic group
Farmers are
poor and
may need
support
Small hilly
fields that
needs irrigation & terracing etc.
Many households are poor
and lack cash
for terracing
Smallscale
farmers
In 2003 new
settlement in
dense forests
caused large
forest
clearance
Livestock free
graze on all
type of lands
Forest
extension is
functioning,
but policies
may not reach
this ethnic
group
Woreda
policies are in
place, but
enforcing not
Due to
increasing
population
the trend is
at least the
same
One minority
ethnic group
still continue
this practice,
but declining
problem
A little cut &
carry stall
feeding
practiced
No hybrid
cattle in this
woreda
Livestock
policies are
weak and not
updated
Fuelwood collection, charcoal
production &
incense
collection
Smallscale
farmers,
town business men
operations
Fuelwood
collection &
charcoal
burning
widely
practised
Roads ease
transportation.
Check points
near town as
charcoal is
illegal to make
Forest poli-cies
are in place,
but
enforcement is
insufficient
despite check
points
Increasing
trend as
there is
overpopulation and lack
of other work
Lack of income
opportunities
&
overpopulation
Local
people
Forests are
exploited
Farmers
use. Trade &
town
commercial
businesses,
petty
incense
business
People have
no choice
than produce charcoal
and incense
Some seaso-nal
migrant
pastoralist have many
livestock free
grazing
Many people
lack other
income source
& thus charcoal
burning is only
option
Roads ease
transportation
to towns
Urban youths
and men
without
options
Increasing
trend as
there is
overpopulation and lack
of other work
Unclear land
tenure
Smallscale
farmers
Forests are
communal –
unclear
tenure
Part of
population
has unclear
tenure to
land
Only part of
population has
their land
registered
Overpopulation
and lack of
options to
farming for
households
Forest poli-cies
are in place,
but
enforcement is
insufficient
despite check
points
Many policies
and directives
are in place,
but too much
overpopulation
Impact of
closed areas on
other forest
Local
population
Closed forests
& pastures
cause
There is
high
demand for
Monitoring is
better close to
urban areas
Overpopulation
and lack of
income options
Many policies
and directives
are in place,
Biophysical&
environment
Livelihoods&
technical
Nature
Topographical
risks for
erosion &
degradation
Landfires
Gumuz
ethnic
group
Badly
performed
agricultural
practices
Smallscale
farmers
Livestock
grazing
Negative
drivers
Altitude, steep
slopes & soil
texture
65
Declining
trend as
people become more
aware of
environment
Same level as
before
Increasing
trend as
there is
overpopulation and lack
of other work
Increasing
trend as
there is
lands
Positive
mitigating
activities
Private
eucalypt wood
as fuelwood
Poor
smallholder
farmers
pressure on
other lands
grazing and
forest use
Eucalypts
are sold for
fuelwood &
construction
poles
People work
for free or
through
community
initiatives
Farmers are
given seedlings and
seeds to
plant on
degraded
and forest
lands
Transported to
markets along
roads
Most rural
people
follow well
the
restriction
Most people
understand
the need to
reduce fuelwood use
Soil and water
conservation
Poor
smallholder
farmers
Watershed
management
practices
Poor
smallholder
farmers
Closed areas
from grazing
and tree
cutting
Poor
smallholder
farmers
Remaining
forest well
protected &
thus
increasing
Terracing &
various other
SWC operations are
common
Some 0.8
million nursery seedlings
planted annually. Free
grazing &
fires impact
on survival
rates
Substantial
re-generation
in closed
areas
Non-wood &
alternative
energy sources
Poor
smallholder
farmers
Crop residues,
dung and
solar panels
in use
but too much
overpopulation
overpopulation and lack
of other work
Local people
are highly
aware about
environment
protection
Local people
are highly
aware about
environment
protection
Local rural
population is
nowadays
quite well
aware about
environmental
conservation
Functioning
forest administration &
forest
protection
Promoted by
SLM and
Woreda
agriculture
office
Woreda
agriculture
office and SLM
project have
quite good
supervision
Deforestation
has almost
stopped
Closed areas
are demarkated
Urban people is
still a problem
as rules are
vio-lated
Functioning
extension
service among
rural people
Substantially
improving
situation
Support with
solar panels
purchase
60% of households use solar
panels. Most
use residues &
dung
Woreda
authorities
promotes
Substantially
reducing
pressure on
forests
Building of
terraces,
culverts etc.
Woreda tree
nurseries
produce 0.8
million
seedlings
annually
6.2.3 Tarma Ber Woreda
This text is based on an interview session with the woreda authority experts in Tarma
Ber. In 2014 the total population of Tarma Ber woreda was 95,971 persons of which
48,561 were males and 47,410 females. At that time the total number of households
was 13,734 of which 11,343 were male and 2,391 female headed. The woreda is
mainly inhibited by the Amhara ethnic group and by a minority ethnic group Oromo.
Fuelwood is the main energy source in many of the households, with supplementary
energy derived from dried cow dung and eucalyptus leaves. Electricity is used for
lighting in many households in most kebeles of the woreda. Alternative energy
sources such as solar panels or biogas have yet not been promoted properly in the
woreda and very few use them. Charcoal is further illegally produced and consumed
in some parts of the rural areas of the woreda.
There is no wood processing industry located in the woreda, but the Amhara Forest
Enterprise has recently been harvesting large areas of mature eucalypt plantations.
This enterprise has been harvesting trees (various tree species) in several parts of
Amhara and could possibly also have harvested trees in Tarma Ber. The harvested
timber has then been transported outside the woreda for further processing.
Eucalyptus globulus and E. camaldulensis have also been harvested by individual
66
Degradation
has been
substantially
reduced
Increasing or
on same level
annually
farmers from their own plots of land and supplied themto the local market as
construction wood.
The main economy of the woreda stems from agriculture, where the main crops have
been barley, wheat, bean and teff. The average yield of barley per hectare in Tarma
Ber has been estimated as 24 quintals with the use of fertilizers. The recent wheat and
bean yields have been estimated to be 14 - 16 and 8 – 10 quintals, respectively.
Varieties of vegetables (onion, tomato, cabbage and potato) and fruits are further
produced in the woreda with small-scale irrigation systems using river diversions.
The low fertility soils of the woreda consists of clay and sandy loam. These soil types
combined with the many steep slopes means high risk for erosion hazards. Therefore,
the woreda authority has been supervising farmers in soil and water conservation
activities in the SLM (Sustainable Land Management) project. As a result of the
continued efforts to improve soil and water conservation the land productivity has
improved considerably. Chemical fertilizers are also widely applied by the farmers in 2014 over 12,000 quintals of chemical fertilizers were distributed in the woreda.
Additionally, already for a few years many households in the woreda have been
practicing small-scale irrigation. The water is mainly from river diversion and from
rain water harvesting. Irrigation systems based on river diversion has been supported
by international projects by World Vision Ethiopia, which further promote the
improvement of rural livelihoods in several manners. There has recently been a
decline in the water flow rates of several rivers during the dry seasons, but a water
committee has been now established in each kebele, which has a mandate to see that
the water is fairly allocated and distributed along each river in the respective kebele.
In 2014 the total number of livestock in Tarma Ber was 59,482 cattle, 13720 equines,
514 camels, 40635 goats and 34,755 sheep. According to the woreda livestock
experts, the livestock populations have more or less remained constant during the
last ten years. Almost all livestock are free grazing and stall feeding is only practiced
in special cases (e.g. when fattening cattle and in very few cases with smallruminants). The cattle are set free for grazing in farmlands, forests and communal
lands allocated by the community for grazing.
The major agricultural disasters reported here are foremost related to landslides and
occurancy of frost. There have also been a few cases of fungal diseases infesting wheat
and barley. Invasive weeds (D4D) are also registered, but no invasive tree species
have been reported yet. No drought related livestock deaths have occurred during the
last years as water and grass is sufficient for the current livestock populations.
According to the woreda forester the total forest cover of the area is around 3265 ha
of which plantation forests constitute currently 3071.7 ha and natural forest
stands193.6 ha. Forest ownership is as follows: 136.75 ha of community forests, 56 ha
of church forests, 397 ha of individual farmers’ eucalyptus plantations and finally the
remaining 2675.2 ha of forests are government (i.e. state enterprise owned).
Some 30 years ago the forests in the area were usually dense, but Tarma Ber was
heavily deforested as a consequence of the serious 1984/85 famine of Ethiopia. The
local people were heavily engaged in tree cutting as the last resort to survive during
that terrible period. The down fall of the “derg” regime a few years later further
aggravated the deforestation, when everybody engaged in cutting of trees for fuel
wood and charcoaling. The concept of “forest keepers” was not put in place until
67
1998 and the area had very low forest during those years, the “Wof washa forest”
being an exception. Today individual farmers practice tree planting on their lands and
the tree cover has improved considerably. Interestingly, there is now an increasing
concern by the woreda agricultural office, that farm lands may soon be converted in
excess into eucalyptus plantations. The natural forests have now almost full
protection status by the local population with the exception of few illegal cutters.
These persons conduct also charcoal making in the lowland kebeles of the woreda.
These culprits have been punished by both the community norms and legal
procedures when they have been caught.
There is currently a situation where even fallen tree branches decay on the ground as
no fuelwood collectors are allowed to collect any wood. This is possible as the attitude
of the local people has changed towards forest conservation, while the planted
eucalypts have provided a new substituting supply of fuelwood. However, during the
last five years there has been a major decline in forest cover as the state owned
Amhara Forest Enterprise has been conducting large-scale harvesting of forest
plantations in Tarma Ber. These harvestings occur in several woredas and cover
several tree species and not only eucalypts.
Forest products such as charcoal, fuelwood and timber were previously widely
marketed in the woreda, but now forest products marketing is strictly prohibited and
the woreda authorities try to control the prohibition with check points near urban
centres (before the forest products reach the market). Eucalypt wood and leaves are
also harvested and widely sold for fuelwood directly from individual farmers’ land.
The dominant tree species in the local forests and plantations are Hygenia abyssinica,
Podocarpus falcatus, Olea africana, Juniperus procera, and eucalypt and cupressus
species. There are currently thirteen government managed nurseries in the woreda,
which for instance in 2014 produced 46,259,000 tree and plant seedlings as well as
cuttings, which were planted on 4033 ha in the woreda. Of the total number of tree
seedlings (10,517,223), 2,430,720 were indigenous species and the remaining
8,086,500 seedlings were eucalypts and other introduced species. The survival rate of
the seedlings was about 80% on average, as the seedlings were usually planted in
protected areas, with little intervention by men or livestock. Participatory forest
management practices (PFM) are practiced in one kebele (i.e. Wof washa kebele).
Table 18. Framework analysis of the underlying causes of DD vis-à-vis societal
situation in Tarma Ber woreda, Amhara Region.
Specific drivers
Agent
Underlaying causes
Infrastructure
Socio-econ &
economic.
Institutional &
Policy
Trend now
Most local
people are
aware of
these risks
Cultivation &
roads in steep
terrain are exposing land to
erosion
Some poor
persons and
Afar pastoralists are still
risk ignorant
Many policies
and directives
are in place,
but still some
ignorance
Farmers are
poor and
may need
support
Small hilly
fields that
needs irrigation & terracing etc.
No hybrid
Many households are poor
and lack cash
for terracing
Woreda
policies are in
place, but
enforcing not
Livestock
Livestock
Due to
increasing
population
the trend is
at least the
same
Declining
trend as
more and
more terracing is done
Constant
Biophysical&
environment
Livelihoods&
technical
Nature
Topographical
risks for
erosion &
degradation
Badly
performed
agricultural
practices
Smallscale
farmers
Livestock
Small-
Steep hill are
cultivated and
many are still
without
terracing
Livestock free
Negative
drivers
Altitude, steep
slopes & soil
texture
A little cut &
68
grazing
scale
farmers
graze on all
type of lands
Fuelwood collection, charcoal
production &
incense
collection
Smallscale
farmers,
town business men
operations
Fuelwood
collection &
charcoal
burning
widely
practised
Large eucalypt
plantations
harvested
Stateowned
Amhara
Forest
Enterprise
Local
people
Plantations
are being
harvested on
large-scale
Local
population
Poor
smallholder
farmers
Lack of income
opportunities
&
overpopulation
Impact of
closed areas on
other forest
lands
Positive
mitigating
activities
Private
eucalypt wood
as fuelwood
carry stall
feeding
practiced
Farmers
use. Town
com-mercial
busi-nesses,
petty
incense
business
Farmers use
their own
plantations
for wood
resources
People have
no choice
than produce charcoal
and incense
cattle in this
woreda
rearing is old
fashioned
Roads ease
transportation.
Check points
near town as
charcoal is
illegal to make
Many people
lack other
income source
& thus charcoal
burning is only
option
Wood is
transported to
another
woreda for
processing
Roads ease
transportation
to towns
Some native
trees may still
be cut on the
same time as
plantations
Urban youths
and men
without
options
Closed forests
& pastures
cause
pressure on
other lands
There is
high
demand for
grazing and
forest use
Monitoring is
better close to
urban areas
Overpopulation
and lack of
income options
Remaining
forest well
protected &
thus
increasing
Terracing &
various other
SWC operations are
common
Some 10
million nursery seedlings
planted annually. Free
grazing &
fires impact
on survival
rates
Substantial
re-generation
in closed
areas
Eucalypts
are sold for
fuelwood &
construction
poles
People work
for free or
through
community
initiatives
Farmers are
given seedlings and
seeds to
plant on
degraded
and forest
lands
Transported to
markets along
roads
Most rural
people
follow well
the
restriction
People get
income
several
times in a
year from
multi-crops
Most people
understand
the need to
reduce fuelwood use
Forests are
exploited
Soil and water
conservation
Poor
smallholder
farmers
Watershed
management
practices
Poor
smallholder
farmers
Closed areas
from grazing
and tree
cutting
Poor
smallholder
farmers
Agroforestry
homegardens
Poor
smallholder
farmers
Fruit trees
and other
crops are
combined in
homegardens
Non-wood &
alternative
energy sources
Poor
smallholder
farmers
Electricity,
crop residues,
dung and
eucalypt
leaves in use
policies are
weak and not
updated
Forest policies
are in place,
but enforcement is insufficient despite
check points
trend
Forest policies
are in place,
but a large
company may
stretch rules
Forest policies
are in place,
but enforcement is
insufficient
despite check
points
Many policies
and directives
are in place,
but too much
overpopulation
Plantation
areas are
hopefully
temporarily
without trees
Increasing
problem and
it is already
big
Local people
are highly
aware about
environment
protection
Local people
are highly
aware about
environment
protection
Local rural
population is
nowadays
quite well
aware about
environmental
conservation
Functioning
forest administration &
forest
protection
Promoted by
SLM and
Woreda
agriculture
office
Woreda
agriculture
office and SLM
project have
quite good
supervision
Deforestation
has almost
stopped in
many places
Closed areas
are demarkated
Urban people is
still a problem
as rules are
vio-lated
Functioning
extension
service among
rural people
Substantially
improving
situation
Intensive
irrigated
cultivation on
small farm
lands with
fertilizers
Support with
solar panels
purchase
Many
households
have adopted
this kind of
cultivation
Promoted by
the woreda
agricultural
office
Increasing
with
irrigation
Solar panels &
efficient stowes
have not yet
been promoted
Energy policies
still need some
upgrading for
solar panels &
efficient
stowes
Substantially
reducing
pressure on
forests
Building of
terraces,
culverts etc.
Woreda tree
nurseries
produce 10
million
seedlings
annually
69
Low or
medium
pressure due
to eucalypt
plantations
Increasing
problem in
open wood
lands &
forests
Degradation
has been
substantially
reduced
Increasing or
on same level
annually
6.2.4 Conclusions for the region
When compared to Tigrey Region with similar historical deforestation and
degradation, the Amhara Region seems to be one step behind in environmental
awareness in many perspectives. These perspectives could perhaps be summarized as
follows:
Firstly, there appears to be policies and regulations prepared for watershed
management, but enforcement is less efficient than in Tigrey. The enforcement may
also be slightly more difficult as there is a substantial overpopulation in Amhara (e.g.
in Metema and Tarma Ber woredas in this study). The overpopulation combined with
a serious lack of non-agricultural income opportunies force youths in particular to
engage in various forest disturbing activities, such as charcoal burning and
commercial trade and marketing, as well as badly performed incense collection
(which destroys the boswellia trees).
Secondly, the livestock population is free grazing on all types of lands and very little
stall-feeding is practiced. There are also no hybrid cattle introduced in these two
woredas, which would reduce considerable the number of cattle needed for the same
amount of meat and milk.
Thirdly, there appears to be more efforts needed in soil and water conservation and
other environmental rehabilitation actions than in Tigrey. This may be at least partly
attributed to the fact that Amharan region has got larger altitude differences and thus
more varied topography than Tigrey.
In Metema there is further some minority ethnic groups, which has not been well
incorporated in the woreda development as the majority groups of people. Both the
Gumuz and some migrant pastoralists have not yet accepted the general
environmental protection policies and cause some deforestation and degradation in
Metema e.g. liting landfires and having larger herds of livestock grazing and browsing
freely on all kinds of lands in the woreda.
70
6.3 South National Nations and Peoples Region State (SNNPRS)
6.3.1 Overview
The SNNPRs is one of regional states of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.
The region is located between 4⁰27'-8⁰30' N and 34⁰21' - 39⁰11' E. The total area of
the region is about 11,353,900 ha, which covers 10% of the total area of the country.
The altitudinal ranges from 376 masl at Lake Rudolf in South Omo to 4207 masl at
mount Guge in North Omo . The rainfall ranges from 400 mm in the southern to parts
and over 2 200 mm in the west (Sheka and Kaffa zones)and average temperature
ranges from 15 ⁰C to 30 ⁰C (SNNPRS-RFAP, 1999).. The total population of the region
is estimated at 15 million with a density of 136 persons per square metre, and is
growing at 2.9% per annum, and the rural population constitutes close to 90% of the
total population in the region (Girma and Hassan, 2014). The region is conducive for
survival and reproduction of many crops, forage species, trees and shrubs. The land
holdings, generally, very small and usually the average falls less than one hectare per
house hold. Farming system in the region includes: multiple cropping, inter-cropping,
relay cropping and crop rotation. Major crops include: maize, teff,Enset (false banana),
coffee, potato, wheat, fruits and vegetables. Enset (Ensete ventricosum) is a widely
produced staple food in the region. The region is the origin of native Coffea arabica.
Coffee is grown in natural forest area of Bench Maji and Keffe Sheka. Cultivated coffee
mainly from Sidama and Yiregachefe is cherished because it high quality and fetch a
better price in the world market.
The total forest cover of region is estimated to approximately 4.9 million ha (WBISPP,
2005). Of which, the high forest accounts for 16% (7% of the total area of the region),
woodlands 28% (12%), shrub land 50% (22%), and the remainder ones constituting
riverian forest, bamboo forest and planation. These forests are estimated to sequester
approximately 401.8 million tonnes of CO2e (Moges and Tenkir., 2014). The FAO
71
(2010) country report estimates the region’s forest cover to around 2.8 million ha
including high forest, high woodland, plantation and low woodland and shrub land.
Over 70% of the high forest is classified as heavily disturbed forest (SNNPRS-RFAP,
1999). However, this forest is considered as one of the remnant moist evergreen
forests in south-west part of the country. It is the native habitat of varies taxa
including wild coffee, spices, forest honey, and a variety of other timber and nontimber forest products supporting millions of smallholders.
The supply of woody biomass of the region is estimated to around 13.7 million tonnes
while consumption valued around 11.6 million tonnes, of which 99% consumed as
fuelwood and the remainder one is charcoal (WBISPP, 2005). In 2013, the annual
fuelwood supply and consumption are estimated to 9.26 million and 22.25 million
tonnes, respectively, implying a supply deficit of 60 percent (Geissler et al, 2013).
About 88% fuel wood, consumed as a source of energy, comes from the existing
forests of the region. Farm forest is estimated to provide 542,000m3 annually for fuel
wood, poles and fodder (SNNPRS-RFAP, 1999). The annual average fuel wood
consumptions rate per capita in the region is about 1022kg, which is by 32% higher
than country’s average value (about 700kg/capita) (SNNPR-RFAP 1999). This
demand for fuelwood in the rural sector across the region is estimated to increase by
about 2.6% per annum, which is slightly less than the rate of population increase. The
economic contribution of forest resources to region’s GDP is larger but uncounted and
understated to 2.6% GDP of the agricultural sector in 1997 (SNNPRS-RFAP, 1999).
The region is endowed with diverse wild flora and fauna in protected areas. There are
national parks including Nechsiar National park (51,400 ha), Mago National Park
(216,200), and Omo National park (4,086) covering a totall of 271,668 ha. Maze and
Churchura chebera are also among the national parks. Due to wider devastation of
forest resources and illegal hunting, wildlife reserves have been established in the
region for special protection of species that are threatened or endangered. These
include Chelbi wildlife reserve (421200 ha) and Tama wildlife reserves (326,900 ha).
Moreover, the region has got seven controlled hunting areas amounting 1,591,350
hectares (SNNPRS-RFAP, 1999). These could also be potential sites for enhancing of
carbon stocks and contribute to REDD+ strategies.
Like the national trend, the forest coverage in the region shows a decline trend as
well. The major direct drivers of deforestation and forest degradation in moist
evergreen montane forest of the region in past related to heavy timber harvesting and
extensive settlements. It is now under sever threat from over logging as well as
conversion into tea and other commercial plantation (Lemenih and Woldemariam
2010). Biomass clearance for agricultural land accounted for 428,483 tonnes in 2000
and this reduced by 16% in 2010 whereas forest degradation for fuelwood
consumption was estimated to around 2.8 million tonnes and increased by 71% in
2010 (WBISPP, 2005). Several deforestation rates reported from various studies in
the region (WBISPP, 2005; Dessie and Kleman, 2007; Lemenih and Woldemariam
2010; Tadesse et al., 2014). For instance, annual deforestation rate to agricultural
expansion ranged from 2.1% Dereje (2007, Cited in Lemenih and Woldemariam
2010) to 2.35% remnant tropical rainforest (WBISPP, 2005) and to 4.4 % for dry
evergreen montane forest (Dessie and Kleman, 2007). Tadesse et al. (2014) found
over 36% of the forests loss since 1973 in two districts in south-west remaining moist
evergreen forest part of the region. The main factors of the deforestation in this study
associated with demographic pressure from resettlement and agricultural expansion.
The annual loss of natural forest and trees on farms for agriculture is estimated to be
72
28,000-49,000ha (WBISPP 1997). The annual forest clearing to agriculture is so grave
in relatively forested zones of the region, like Sidama, Bench-Maji and Kaffa–Shaka is
reached to 27,787ha in 1995. Based on the same source, the deforestation rate for the
same zone is expected to reach 36,983 and 49,222ha for the years 2005 and 2015
respectively (WBISPP 1997). Besides, the recent increase in production of the cash
crop khat in particular in Sidama has made a significant impact on the forest through
intrusion and permanent settlement within forests (Dessie 2007). Recent study by
Girma and Hassan (2014) in the region based on economic modelling approach also
identified the underlying causes for deforestation and deforestation included upsurge
of road density, population density and access to market were among the factors.. The
same study also indicated elevation was among significant factors for conversion of
forest land to agricultural use in the study area in the region. Those elevations 1770 m
above sea level, which receives more than 1 400 mm of rainfall and has relatively
deep soils with a temperature range of between 18⁰C and 20⁰C seem to provide
conditions that favour agricultural production.
REDD+ activity is too limited and at infancy stage in the region. According the regional
experts, till now there awareness creation workshops have been carried out for
different stakeholders in the region by the national REDD+ Secretariat office/MEF.
Regional REDD+ coordinator has already been assigned. On the top of forests, the
region has protected national parks that can be taken under potential REDD+ plot
sites.
6.3.2 Wondo Genet Woreda
There are a rather large number of drivers of deforestation and degradation found in
Wondo Genet, which are complex and intertwined with each other. In order to sort
these drivers out we will first analyze the standard screening form prepared for
identifying drivers of deforestation and degradation. The form with the identified
drivers is shown on Table 18.
There are several biophysical features of the landscape in the woreda that have
impact on the degradation of the area – most of them have needed a human
interference to become actively cause of degradation. Such human induced causes are
related to a human activity which has exposed the volcanic ash on the slopes or the
soil texture susceptible to become wet easily and thereby flush off the mountain
slopes in heavy and torment rains. As long as the vegetation cover has been dense on
the slopes there has not been an immediate risk of heavy soil loss. Sisay et al. (2014)
assessed soil loss in Wondo Genet as a consequence of various land uses and
concluded that it would vary between zero to over 60 tons/ha/year. The study
concluded that soil erosion was from high to extremely severe on totally 94.47% of
the framed and assessed area, which was not exactly in accordance with current
woreda boundary although about the size of the current woreda. The soil loss was
severe to extremely severe on 81.27% of the original Wondo Genet woreda area (the
current Wondo Genet is about half the size of the previous).
Agricultural and forestry operations are both severely detrimental and beneficial as
regards deforestation and degradation. The agricultural practices in the woreda are
mainly conducted by small-scale farmers using manual or animal draught plowing.
Each household has a small homegarden of 0.1-0.2 ha and a slightly larger open field
of some 0.4-0.6 ha on average in size. The homegardens are covered rather densely by
73
multistory of cash crops, vegetables, and fruit trees and have thus a rather low rate of
soil loss and degradation. The more open fields for maize, barley, and tef or root crops
are not so well protected from soil losses. Many of the homegardens and fields are
irrigated with small-scale systems from ground water sources. The most devastating
agricultural practice is the common practice to open up small illegal khat farming
areas inside the natural forests. Some people consider these areas as beneficial for
stopping further deforestation, but they are not as these khat areas do not allow the
natural forest to regenerate.
The cattle and small livestock populations have been reducing quite fast in the last ten
years. The greatest reduction has happened in the cattle population where the
population has almost halved per household. A part of the reduction is explained by
the increasing numbers of hybrid cattle, which produces more milk and meat than the
local traditional cattle variety. More milk and meat is produced with less fodder,
which is positive development. For small ruminants the decrease in numbers per
household has not been that fast, but their numbers are already down to little more
than one small ruminant per household. The best explanation for the cattle reduction
per household is that around 70% of all livestock (mainly cattle) are now stall-fed and
farmers cut and carry all fodder home. The remaining 30% of livestock that free-graze
do so on the plains, where free-grazing is not very harmful.
The khat farming inside the forest is not the first human activity inside the forest as it
requires a reduced tree cover to be successful. It is therefore the timber, fuelwood and
charcoal extraction operations conducted by various humans that are opening up the
natural forests in the first place.
The wood energy is the main energy source – be it in the form of fuelwood, branches
or charcoal. This is a major driver of deforestation. Each household uses on average
about 8.7 kg of fuelwood equivalent and around 1 kg of agricultural residues or
animal dung per day. The wood is nowadays mainly purchased from the market in
Wondo Genet, but at least half of it has been illegally cut during the night in the
remaining natural forest (by some unindentified community members). A substantial
part of the fuelwood comes also from trees standing in the households’ own
homegarden and agricultural fields or pasture lands.
Some 96% of all households in Wondo Genet have houses that are constructed of
timber. We have calculated based on information found on the SNNP Region
Administration Authority website on a new sawmill investment proposal (2013) that
there would be a need of almost 13 000 m3 of timber (in the form of roundwood,
poles, split wood and sawn timber) for house construction, renovation or fence
maintenance each year. There is now a huge pressure on the remaining natural
forests and the Wondo Genet School of Forestry plantations together with small
private plantations to provide more timber.
Wondo Genet College of Forestry and Natural Resources has got guards permanently
out in the natural forest on the mountain slopes to protect the remaining main natural
forest and the plantations from illegal loggers, of which some are armed with guns. It
is believed that local loggers are not armed – the armed ones are most likely sent out
by a business man with a sawmill outside Wondo Genet. Armed conflicts are reported
to take place few times a year, but almost every night there are some logs cut in the
remaning natural forests.
74
During the last four years the Federal Ministry of Forestry and Environment has
implemented a national Watershed Management Programme, which is operated on
ground in all woredas of Ethiopia under supervision by the woreda forester or natural
resources officer. In each kebele the natural resource development officers coordinate
a team of 40 male and female farmers to carry out watershed management
operations. While in Wondo Genet the team saw how Edu Kaberle farmer team was
planting small seedlings around a gully erosion site, which had been caused due to
soil extraction for a road construction. This serious gully erosion site was just four
years old, but already it had become a deep gully. The soil under the vegetation cover
of these hills consists ancient volcanic ash, which after being exposed to rain falls, just
flushes down the hills creating gullies. The kebele team had already planted small
seedlings in that area previous years, but it is questionable whether the seedlings of
local tree species will grow sufficiently fast to stop the gully erosion.
The newly built roads add clearly to the pressure on forests, as these allow people
easy access to the forests and thereby opportunities to cut logs and transport them to
town or outside the woreda. It is known that outside business men also send in their
illegal logging team to cut trees. The remaining forests are also getting logged by local
farmers or by newcomers from far outside the woreda, who settle illegally in the
fringe forests and start growing khat.
Road construction is very detrimental activity. The companies that have been
contracted to construct main tarmac roads are supposed to also take care of
environmental aspects of the road construction. In numerous cases (perhaps in
almost all cases) these companies cut into hills to extract soil and rock (for gravel) for
road material, but leave these cuts completely open – susceptible to heavy erosion.
These cuts are also very dangerous for persons and animals to fall down from the
steep cut edges. In many cases it would be better to extract gravel from one hill at the
time, using it up completely, before cutting into the next one.
Wondo Genet is already very densely populated (birth rate is also higher than
average in rural Ethiopia), due to its fertile soils. Additionally there is relatively high
amount of newcomers arriving to the woreda each year and the space is running out.
The newcomers are very poor, and many times settle in the forest lands as khat
growers, which is their best chance to make a living. Due to the cash crops (mainly
khat, coffee and sugarcane) the woreda has not required any food aid so far, but soon
the carrying capacity is reached and poverty may become a serious issue.
Currently the cultivated arable land per household is around 0.6 ha and it is
diminishing as the households have many children and the population is growing
quite rapidly. This will soon become a problem to solve. New options for livelihoods,
which don’t require cultivated lands (such as industry work, businesses or
entrepreneurships) are needed. There used to be some ecotourism in Wondo Genet as
there are still wild animals and hotsprings for tourist to see and visit, but the
ecotourism potential is dwindling due to too high pressure on nature.
A major issue causing the dwindling natural resources is the unclear ownership of
land. Particularly in forest areas as there is very few other undivided lands left in the
woreda. In most of Ethiopia this is an important issue to settle. Person who owns land
usually looks well after it, but the common lands are without real owners and the
management of these lands are neglected.
75
Table 19. Framework analysis of the underlying causes of DD vis-à-vis societal
situation in Wondo Genet woreda.
Specific drivers
Agent
Underlaying causes
Infrastructure Socio-econ
& economic.
Biophysical
&
environment
Livelihoods
& technical
Villagers and
poor (long
distance)
immigrants
Steep slopes;
heavy rainfall
flushing, new
trees start
from stumps
A good tarmac
road pass
through
Wondo Genet
Timber
operations
Town
business
man & locals
Steep slopes;
Land fires;
heavy rainfall
flushing
Wood cut in
the night &
sometimes
with machine
guns.
Ruthless
Wood cut in
the night &
sometimes
with machine
guns.
Ruthless
A good tarmac
road pass
through
Wondo Genet
Bad agricultural
practices (khat)
Poor locals
and
immigrants
Villagers and
poor outsiders,
ruthless
cutters
Poor road
construction
Road
Contractors
Ancient
volca-nic ash
on slopes
cause huge
gully erosion;
High risk to
fall down &
die
Foremost
poor persons
from village
and immigrants
Wood cut in
the night &
sometimes
with machine
guns.
Ruthless
Soil
exploitation
for road
construction
is destructive
& left
uncompleted
Expand at the
forest fringe on
hill slopes
inside forests
Protected forests
or closed open
forests conseal
defores-tation
elsewhere
Kath and
coffee plantations inside
forest degrade these
Any other
forests are
cut besides
the protected
ones
Established
positive
mitigation
Intensifying of
farming
Local
farmers
Improved
farming with
more yields
Cut and carry
fodder
Small-scale
irrigation
systems
Stall-feeding of
livestock
Negative
drivers
Fuelwood &
char-coal
collection &
production
A good tarmac
road pass
through
Wondo Genet
Road material
exploited from
mountains that
leaves open
wounds in
these;
Livestock rearing
Local
farmers
A variety of
crops are
grown
Grazing only
on flat plains
Watershed mgt.
operations
Federal
programme
employing
local farmers
Tree planting
around gully
erosion on
hills
40 farmers
from each
kebele work
for free
Farmers get
also seedlings
for their farms
Agroforestry
practices on
farmland
Cash crop
farmers
Intensify
farm yields &
carbon
amounts
More and
continuous
income over
a year
Increase
carbon
sequestered on
farms
Institutional
& Policy
Trend
now
Some 90% of
all energy is
fuelwood
and charcoal
Weak
enforcement;
Lack of commitment &
lack of option
High
pressure
Poor persons
act as
cutters, but
greedy
businessmen
in
background
No social
support nets
for poor
households
Weak
enforcement;
Lack of commitment &
greediness
High
pressure
Weak
enforcement;
Nowhere else
to go.
High
pressure
High
pressure;
Very few
efficient
wood stows
in W-G
Road
construction
contractors
are greedy &
leave job unfinished
Weak
enforcement;
Lack of commitment &
lack of option
High
pressure
Weak
enforcement
by
authorities to
supervise
road construction.
Poor
supervision
track
record
Cash crops &
more income
Anticipated
practice
Increasing
Less
livestock;
produce
more
Wood energy
produced on
farms & erosion stopped
Anticipated
practice
Increasing
Woreda
forester is
coordinating
& report to
federal level
Anticipated
practice
Increasing
Increase
well-being of
community
In Table 18 shown the current business-as-usual (BAU)-senario for Wondo Genet. In
forthcoming report on future scenarios we will explore further how to change the
destructive BAU scenario into a more sustainable future development. This will be
combined with the REDD+ strategy options, which is the final aim of this assignment.
76
Increasing
We have also got a feeling that the woreda authorities are insufficiently looking after
the natural resources, despite the Watershed Management Programme, with its tree
planting and other operations. The use of natural resources does not otherwise seem
to be supervised or managed properly.
Due to the immigrants from Oromiya region there have been some 10 kebeles
separated from the original Wondo Genet woreda, as the Oromos demanded that
their areas included to Oromiya.. This meant that Wondo Genet “lost” five kebeles of
forest lands and five kebeles of agriculture or pasture lands – a quite big issue now
when land becomes very scarce in the remaining Wondo Genet woreda. At the
regional border rules have not been properly followed, as each authority thinks that
some other authority will handle the enforcement of law in the border zones.
As there is a high pressure on natural resources it means, that when a forest area is
closed from wood cutting or livestock rearing the pressure build up in other areas,
which are not properly protected. Any forest area that is closed, is regenerated and all
forest areas could still be recovered even with original tree species. However, in many
cases the local tree species do not grow sufficiently fast to ensure a sufficient wood
production under the current high wood demand. When fuelwood and timber is
needed fast, introduced eucalypts provide an alternative.
During the last four years there are some extension activities and projects for
rehabilitation of forest areas, which show small positive impact on erosion control.
However, much more would be needed.
6.3.3 Chena Woreda
In 2014 the total population of Chena comprised of 188,776 persons of which 92,500
were males and 96,276 females. The woreda is foremost inhabited by the Kafa and
Bench ethnic groups (the dominant ones) with minority ethnic groups of Kembata,
Oromo, Amhara and Guraghe constituting the remaining population. The total
number of households was 21,685 of which 18,351 were male headed and 3305
female headed. There were also 29 households that were under custody of someone
else.
The main sources of energy are fuelwood and crop residues in the rural areas and
mainly charcoal in urban centers. Kerosene is further used as source of lighting in
many rural households. The fuelwood is mostly collected or freely accessed by the
households from the nearby woodlands, although some of the forests are protected.
There are furthermore some encouraging efforts regarding recent installations of
alternative energy sources, such as solar energy used by 10% of the households,
biogas used by many additional households, and electricity that has been introduced
into some of the rural villages.
There is no real local industry located in the woreda except some first-stage coffee
processing consisting of washing machines for coffee beans. However, the forest
resources are utilized illegally (at least partly) by a external business man and his
team of timber jacks and there are further some commercial farming operations
established under false pretenses as presented in more detail down below.
77
The main economic base of the woreda stems from agricultural production, with the
major crops produced being enset, coffee, maize, wheat and haricot bean. The average
yield of coffee in this woreda is estimated to be 11.5 quintals, whereas the yield of
maize, wheat and haricot bean has been estimated to be 40, 24, and 18 quintals per
hectare, respectively.
The soil types of the woreda are of medium fertility and consist of sandy, sandy loam
and loam clay in that order. The woreda is a recipient of the Sustainable Land
Management (SLM) project and further are soil and water conservation project
activities widely being undertaken with the support, for instance, of AGP and NABU
(Natural resource and biodiversity union). The use of fertilizers has been increasing
in the last couple of years and about 90% of the farmers apply them. Additionally,
data from 2015 shows that, the 13,100 households(10,749 male headed and 2360
female headed) are using traditional small-scale irrigation systems based on river
diversion. As a result, there are currently 42967 ha of land under irrigation. Recently
the irrigation systems have also been built with the utilization of surface water
(ponds) and groundwater (wells) sources. The flow rates of rivers are now
significantly affected by the irrigation systems and the largest decreases occur during
the dry months of December, January, and February.
In the livestock sector there have also been some good efforts of introducing hybrid
cattle in Chena. So far 56 cows, 5 oxen, 46 heifers and 64 calves have been
incorporated into the local cattle population. In 2014 the overall population of
livestock comprised 175,001 cattle, 20,993 equines, 51,897 goats and 113,505 sheep.
The cattle are mainly free grazing in the fields, farmlands and to some extent in
forests. Some kebeles have already got a shortage or even lack of communal grazing
lands, which has forced many households in those kebeles to keep their cattle to graze
tied with rope to a pole. Regular stall-feeding may also occur.
The agricultural sector is mainly constrained by the fruit fly, maize stem boring larvae
of beetles, and invasive weed plants. During the last years there have been no large
scale drought related deaths of livestock in Chena.
Around 30 years ago, the forest lands were much larger and denser than now and
held very huge trees. However, the forest cover radically shrunk due to wild fires
which were common in those days. The reason for those fires coincided with
government aided resettlement programmes where Amharan and Kembatan settlers
immigrated in 1984/85 and more recently again in 1999/2000, which caused large
expansions of farm lands for both the new settlers, as well as for the original
community members. The remaining forest area of the woreda is estimated to cover
20,098 ha of land, which is supposedly protected by some local forest cooperatives
engaged in the production of non-timber forest products (NTFP) such as coffee,
varieties of spices and honey.
The forests are currently under very heavy pressure from deforestation despite their
so called protection status. One big problem has been a rapid expansion of large-scale
farms owned by external investors, who get licenses in Chena in the name coffee
plantation establishments. Once they have got the license, these investors normally
shift over the production to teff, wheat and other cereal crops, which do not grow
under any tree within the farm lands. In order to enable the switch these external
investors engage in timber harvesting of their licensed land holdings and even from
nearby forests. The external investors are the major reason for the current
78
destructive practices of harvesting large indigenous timber trees. There are also many
new Amharan illegal settlers immigrating to Chena, who cut trees and burn forests for
agricultural land expansion. To make this even worse there are also illegal timber
operations conducted by unemployed youths from the woreda itself. These youths
engage in timber operations both as regularly unemployed and when they have been
given licenses to engage in the production of NTFPs, such as wild coffee collection
from the forest, wild spice collection and honey production with bee hives. These
kinds of operations are allowed and licensed by the woreda authorities, which means
that there exists serious corruption in this woreda which has been going on for many
years without interference from higher level authorities. The reason for this may be
that the timber is mostly transported to far distant locations including Addis Abeba.
Locally, there is an increasing demand for fuelwood and construction wood as a
consequence of increasing population growth. Additionally, new road construction
has also caused substantial deforestation as the new roads are outlined so as to avoid
destroying farm lands. Partly farmers are also given forest lands as replacement for
for some eviction of their lands due to the road construction or to new school or
health centre properties. There are additionally encroachment by farmers living near
to forest lands.
The forest type of the woreda belong to high forests that are composed of indigenous
trees such as Cordia africana, Olea africana, Croton microstacus, and others such as
tikur enchet, kerero (i.e. local names of these species).
Finally, there are also some reforestation attempts by the woreda office of agriculture
and rural development every year. The woreda owns to this end a nursery in each
kebele which supply seedlings for watershed management practices. In 2014 some
1.2 million seedlings were distributed to the famers and outplanted on both common
and the farmers own lands. The major tree species raised in the nurseries were
Cordia africana, Cuppresus lusitanica, Olea africana, eucalyptus globulus, Grevillea sp.
and Pinus patula and some local species such as sesaand birbira. The farmers involved
in planting were also given seedlings of fruit trees such as avocado, mango apple and
some spices to plant on their own land. The survival rate on communal lands in
general has been estimated to be on average 78%.
Table 20. Framework analysis of the underlying causes of DD vis-à-vis societal
situation in Chena woreda, SNNP Region.
Specific
drivers
Negative
drivers
Altitude &
steep slopes
Badly
performed
agricultural
practices
Agent
Biophysical&
environment
Livelihoods&
technical
Nature
Topographical
risks for
erosion &
degradation
Most local
people are
aware of
these risks
Small-scale
farmers
Steep hill are
cultivated and
many are still
without
terracing
Farmers
are poor
and may
need
support
Underlaying causes
Infrastructure Socio-econ &
economic.
Cultivation
& roads in
steep
terrain are
ex-posing
land to
erosion
Small hilly
fields that
needs
irriga-tion &
terra-cing
Institutional &
Policy
Trend now
Overpopulation
cause people to
cultivate steep
slopes
Many policies
and directives
are in place,
but still some
ignorance
Due to
increasing
population
the trend is
at least the
same
Many households are poor
and lack cash
for terracing
Woreda
policies are in
place, but all
work not yet
done
Declining
trend as
more and
more terracing is done
79
Large farm
land
expansion
Resettlement of
Amharan
farmers
Resettlement
on forest land
in 1980s &
1990s convert
forests to
farm land
Livestock free
graze to an
extent in
forests & farm
lands
Livestock
grazing
Small-scale
farmers
Fuelwood
col-lection,
char-coal
production
Small-scale
farmers
Illegal timber
operations
External
investors
acting
under false
pretenses
Road & community facilities
construc-tion
Woreda
authorities
& road
contractors
New roads &
facilities are
planned
through
woreda on
forest land
Local illegal
timber
cutting
Town
business
men and
urban
unemployed
youths
Native forests
are illegally
cut for
woreda town
business men
to sell on
market
Impact of
closed areas
on other
forest lands
Local
population
Closed forests
& pastures
cause
pressure on
other lands
Positive
mitigating
activities
Soil and
water
conservation
Poor smallholder
farmers
Terracing &
various other
SWC operations are
common
Watershed
management
practices
Poor smallholder
farmers
Some 1.2
million nursery seedlings
planted annually. Free
grazing
impact on
Fuelwood
collection &
charcoal
burning
widely
practised
Purchase
license for
semi-forest
coffee, but
immediately
clear cut all
trees on large
areas
The first
settlements
need now
quite large
expansions
in forests
Stall
feeding and
cattle graze
tied to
poles
practiced
Many
households involved despite
plantation
efforts
After clear
cutting the
investors
turn the
land into
open field
for teff,
wheat &
barley
Some
affect-ted
farmers get
new forest
land to
clear for
farming
The youths
get license
to collect
NTFPs but
turn to
illegal
timber
harvesting
for town
business
men
There is
high
demand for
grazing and
forest use
People
work for
free or
through
community
initiatives
Farmers
are given
seed-lings
and seeds
to plant on
degraded
and forest
etc.
Clearcutting of
forests for
farm lands
with oxe
and plough
Some hybrid
cattle in this
woreda
Overpopulation
and thus
pressure on
new forest land
conversions
Livestock
numbers are
few per
household
Many policies
and directives
are in place,
but quite much
ignorance involved
Livestock
policies are
slowly being
updated
Increasing
problem that
lack solution
now
Woreda
authorities are
not enforcing
the protection
of forests
On the
increase as
population is
growing
Woreda
authorities
issue licenses
for coffe, but
do not intervene when
operations
become criminal
Forest policies
are in place,
but enforcement is
insufficient or
ignored
The most
severe
deforestation
issue
currently &
increasing if
not stopped
immediately
Declining
impact due
to fewer
livestock per
household
No checkpoints when
charcoal is
transported
to towns for
sale
Illegally
harvested
timber is
transported
night time
to Addis
Abeba &
other towns
Many are
aware of environmental issues, but
others are
ignorant
In some cases
the cleared
land will
become tree
plantations
that will
generate more
timber income
Roads,
health
centres and
schools are
built on
forest lands
to avoid
destroying
farms
The timber
is
transported
to town and
sold
New roads may
also open up
forests for
other new
households to
get farm land
The youths are
supposed to
collect spices,
wild coffee and
other NFTPs
Woreda
authorities
issue licenses
for NFTPs for
youths, but do
not inter-vene
when operations become
criminal
Increasing
problem as
population
grow and
more youths
are
unemployed
Monitoring
is better
close to
urban areas
Overpopulation
and lack of
income options
Many policies
and directives
are in place,
but too much
overpopulation
Increasing
problem in
open wood
lands &
forests
Building of
terraces,
culverts etc.
Local people
are highly
aware about
environment
protection
Promoted by
SLM and
Woreda
agriculture
office
Degradation
has been
substantially
reduced
Woreda tree
nurseries
are below
capaci-ty
need to
compensate
for tree
Local rural
population is
nowadays
quite well
aware about
environmental
conservation
Woreda
agriculture
office and SLM
project have
quite good
supervision
Increasing or
on same
level
annually
Increasing
problem as
population
grow
80
survival rates
Substantial
re-generation
in closed
areas
lands
Most rural
people
follow well
the
restriction
cutting
Closed areas
are demarkated
Poor smallholder
farmers
Fruit trees
and other
crops are
combined in
homegardens
People get
income
several
times in a
year from
multi-crops
Poor smallholder
farmers
Electricity,
crop residues,
solar panels,
energy
efficient stoves & biogas
Most
people
understand
the need to
reduce fuelwood use
Intensive
irrigated
cultivation
on small
farm lands
with
fertilizers
Support
with solar
panels &
biogas
installa-tion
purchase
Closed areas
from grazing
and tree
cutting
Poor smallholder
farmers
Agroforestry
homegardens
Non-wood &
alternative
energy
sources
Urban people is
still a problem
as rules are
vio-lated
Functioning
extension
service among
rural people
Substantially
improving
situation
Many
households
have adopted
this kind of
cultivation
Promoted by
the woreda
agricultural
office
Increasing
with
irrigation
10% of
households use
these energy
sources
Energy policies
still need some
upgrading for
solar panels &
efficient stoves
Substantially
reducing
pressure on
forests
6.3.4 Arbaminch Zuria Woreda
The total population of Arbaminch Zuria woredawas counted to be 191,374 personsin
2014 of which 96,029 were males and 95,345 were females. The woreda had at that
time a total of 29,494 households of which 26,631 were male headed, 2735 were
female headed and the remaining 128 ones were under custody (caretaker
households). The woreda is mainly inhabited by the Gamo and the Wolaita ethnic
groups in the rural areas, while there is a mixture of many other ethnic groups in the
urban centres.
For households of this woreda fuelwood is the main source of energy, supplemented
with crop residues (such as stalks of cotton, maize and sorghum) and charcoal. 244
households are further using solar panels for lighting, 265 other households are using
biogas both for cooking and lighting in the evening and an additional 1325
households are using efficient fuelwood stoves. The charcoal is mainly produced for
and marketed in Arbaminch town. Unlike Tigray and Amhara regions, there is no
wood and charcoal control system in this part of the country.
There is one textile factorylocated in the woreda, but no other processing facilities.
The main economic base stems therefore from agriculture where major crops are
maize, teff, barley, wheat and cotton through rain fed cultivation. Fruits such as
banana, mango and papaya are also widely produced with small-scale irrigation
systems. The average yield of maize per hectare in this woreda is estimated to be 45
quintals, whereas that of teff is 15 quintals per hectare.
The soil types of the woreda are sandy loam, clay and silt clay and the average fertility
is medium for Ethiopian conditions. There are three agro-ecology zones in the
woreda, which relate foremost to the varied topography of the woreda as some 20%
are high steep hills, 60% are medium steep slopes and the remaining 20% are flat
plains. The hilly 80% of the woreda is exposed to serious land degradation and soil
and water conservation activities are widely practiced even on communal lands.
Chemical fertilizers are also widely applied nowadays by the farmers to boost soil
fertility and this has led to an overall improvement in yields in the last few years.
Additionally, over 70% of the households in the woreda use traditional small-scale
81
irrigation systems - in exact figures this means 21,372 households (20,548 male
headed and 824 female headed) use this practice. The main source of water for
irrigation stems from river diversion, ground water (using pump motor or rope and
washer pumps) and rain water harvesting (a few households) by individual farmers.
The flow rates of rivers have declined to an extent during the dry seasons and
potential conflicts over water has been so far resolved by the establishment of water
committees in few kebeles.
In 2014 the number of livestock existing in the woreda was26.987 oxen, 32,056 cows,
30,714 heifers and calves, 35,226 sheep, 20,894 goats, 1871 donkeys, 16,091 horses,
and 933 mules.All of the above mentioned livestock were local varieties. The cattle is
mainly free grazing (about 65% of all cattle), mainly practiced on the plains. Stall
feeding is conducted near people’s homes and on private plots in the highlands and
slopes. Stall feeding on the plains is only practiced for fattening of livestock, which are
given banana and enset leaves. The free grazing happens in forests, on farm lands, on
plains and along road sides.
The total forest cover of the area is stated to be about 15,807 ha, of which 13,348.6 ha
are natural forest and 2,458.6 ha are plantation forests. The forests used to be very
dense in this area before, but in the last 20 years the density has decreased
substantially.
The major causes for deforestation and forest degradation are all locally initiated as
follows:
 Farm land expansion for banana and mango plantations;
 Tree cutting for construction, charcoaling and fuel wood purposes;
 Free grazing by cattle and small ruminants in the forest.
The dominant tree species found in the forests are acacia species, terminalia and
Eucalyptus camaldulensis in the lowlands and Cupressus lusitanica, Hygenia abyssinica,
highland bamboo and Eucalyptus globulus in the highlands of the woreda. No invasive
tree species are reported in the area. Regarding reforestation and afforestation, there
are annually over seven million timber and fruit tree seedlings planted for the last
couple of years. The survival rates of the average planted seedlings is about 95% in
the highlands, where seedlings have sufficient availability of water and between 80 –
85% in the low lands, both on communal lands and private plots. The main tree
species planted include: acacia species, Cordia africana, eucalypts and fruit trees. The
timber tree species are planted regularly on the forest lands and on degraded lands
and seedlings of fruit trees are distributed to farmers for planting on their own lands.
The seedlings are raised in 29 woreda-owned nurseries located in all the kebeles of
the woreda. If taking the planting cost of seedlings as free public labour, the
establishment cost and one year operational costs for a medium sized nursery site is
estimated around 1.2 million birr.
There are several forest-related cooperatives in the woreda that are engaged in
beekeeping and collection and in collection of forest tree seeds. The cooperatives have
been the major suppliers of forest seeds to the regional bureau of agriculture and
rural development in the last few years.
82
Table 21. Framework analysis of the underlying causes of DD vis-à-vis societal
situation in Arbaminch Zuria, SNNP Region.
Specific
drivers
Agent
Underlaying causes
Infrastructure
Socio-econ &
economic.
Institutional &
Policy
Trend now
Most local
people are
aware of
these risks
70% of
households
use small-scale
irrigation
systems
Many policies
and directives
are in place,
but still some
ignorance
Crop yield
reduction
cause
farmers to
expand
farms
stall
feeding
practiced in
highlands &
slopes
Farmers
and town
people use
native tree
forest
products
This woreda is
rather remote
Most rural
population is
aware, but
youth groups &
outside investors ignore
Farmers need
more income
from
somewhere
Due to
increasing
population
the trend is
at least the
same
Constant
problem
Only local
varieties of
livestock
Still quite much
livestock per
average household
Livestock
policies are
weak and not
updated
Constant
trend
Roads ease
transportation.
No check
points near
towns
Many people
lack other
income source
& thus charcoal
burning is only
option
Woreda
authorities are
not up to their
mandate visavi
forest
protection
Overpopulation cause
high
pressure on
forests
People
have no
choice than
produ-ce
charcoal &
some
NWFPs
There is
high
demand for
grazing and
forest use
Roads ease
transportation
to towns
Urban youths
and men
without
options
Many policies
and directives
are in place,
but too much
overpopulation
Increasing
problem
Roads ease
transportation
to towns
Overpopulation
and lack of
income options
Many policies
and directives
are in place,
but too much
overpopulation
Increasing
problem in
open forests
People
work for
free or
through
community
initiatives
Farmers
are given
seed-lings
and seeds
to plant on
degraded
and forest
lands
Most rural
people
follow well
the
restriction
Building of
terraces,
culverts etc.
Local people
are highly
aware about
environment
protection
Promoted by
SLM and
Woreda
agriculture
office
Degradation
has been
substantially
reduced
There are 29
tree nurseries
– one per
kebele in the
woreda
Nurseries use
forest tree
seeds collected
by youth
community
forest
initiatives
Woreda
agriculture
office, SLM &
Church project
have quite
good
supervision
Increasing
or on same
level
annually
Closed areas
are demarkated
Urban people is
still a problem
as rules are
vio-lated
Functioning
extension
service among
rural people
Substantially
improving
situation
Biophysical&
environment
Livelihoods&
technical
Nature
Topographical
risks for
erosion &
degradation
Pests in crop
fields
Poor
smallholder
farmers
Fruit flies &
crereal stem
booring
beetles
Livestock
grazing
Smallscale
farmers
Livestock free
graze on all
type of lands
on low lands
Fuelwood
col-lection,
char-coal
production
Smallscale
farmers,
charcoal
makers
Lack of
income
opportunities
& overpopulation
Local
people
Forests are
stated to be
protected but
fuelwood
collection &
charcoal burning widely
practised
Forests are
exploited
Impact of
closed areas
on other
forest lands
Local
population
Closed forests
& pastures
cause
pressure on
other lands
Poor
smallholder
farmers
Terracing &
various other
SWC operations are
common
Watershed
management
practices
Poor
smallholder
farmers
Some 7
million nursery seedlings
planted annually. Survival
rates are
stated as high
Closed areas
from grazing
and tree
cutting
Urban
youths
Substantial
re-generation
in closed
areas
Negative
drivers
Altitude,
steep slopes
& soil texture
Positive
mitigating
activities
Soil and
water
conservation
No support
from woreda
authorities on
this issue
83
Agroforestry
homegardens
Poor
smallholder
farmers
Fruit trees
and other
crops are
combined in
homegardens
Non-wood &
alternative
energy
sources
Poor
smallholder
farmers
Electricity,
crop residues,
solar panels,
energy
efficient stoves & biogas
People get
income
several
times in a
year from
multi-crops
Most
people
understand
the need to
reduce fuelwood use
Intensive
irrigated
cultivation on
small farm
lands with
fertilizers
Support with
solar panels &
biogas installation purchase
Many
households
have adopted
this kind of
cultivation
Promoted by
the woreda
agricultural
office
Increasing
with
irrigation
10% of
households use
these energy
sources
Energy policies
still need some
upgrading for
solar panels &
efficient
stowes
Substantially
reducing
pressure on
forests
6.3.5 Conclusions for SNNP Region
Out of the seven regions of Ethiopia included in this study, this region appears to be
by far the most complex in terms of both economy and of drivers for deforestation
and degradation. A first observation is that this region is very densely populated and
the studied woredas are under pressure from more people immigrating into these
areas. The nature in the SNNP region provides a rather good base for that, as the Rift
Valley is running through this region, with all its implications including volcanic ash
enriched fertile soils and available water both in lakes and as run-off from the
mountains and hills around the valley plains.
In two of the studied woredas (Chena and Wondo Genet) there used to be some
decades ago large tracts of tall forests, which have during the last 30 years been under
heavy pressure from deforestation and degradation for various reasons – internally
from the woreda itself, but rather profoundly from external reasons. Both woredas
seems to be exploited by corrupt high ranking government persons or by wealthy
business men with very good connections both locally, regionally and perhaps
nationally. A lot of timber seems to be transported from Chena to distant destinations
such as Addis Abeba and other major towns. The situation in Wondo Genet is not as
flagrant, but same kind of pressure exists to a slightly little lesser degree as the
woreda is already quite exploited and lack tall forests besides what is protected by
the Wondo Genet School of Forestry under Hawassa University.
The third woreda assessed appears to have mainly internal drivers of deforestation
and degradation as this is a drier area with covered mainly by woodlands. There have
also here been influx of settlers from Amhara, which has caused large areas of forests
to be cleared and converted to new farm lands.
In all three assessed woredas the majority of the rural households have quite good
understanding of environmental conservation, but in all three woredas this has
resulted in encroachment by other people from the urban areas and from outside the
woreda who have had less environmental awareness.
In Arbaminch Zuria the environmental awareness among the population appears
more mixed.There the native forests are under heavy pressure for fuelwood collection
and charcoal while in the other two woredas the fuelwood is mainly provided by
small eucalypt plantations from the farmers’ own farming plots. It appears that in
SNNP region the environmental awareness is slightly lowercompared to Tigrey and
Amhara.
84
6.4 Gambella National Regional State (GNRS)
6.4.1 Overview
Gambella regional state is located in the South-western part of the country. It is
situated between 7⁰ - 8⁰ 17' N and 35⁰ - 35⁰ 2' E with a total area of 3,406,300 ha and
projected total population of 304,934 in 2015 with average population density of
around 8 persons per km2 (GFAP, 1999) . The livelihoods of people depend on agropastoral, agriculture, fishing and poultry. Total annual rainfall is erratic ranging 900
to 1500 mm on the elevations of 400-500masl in the west, and 1900-2100mm on the
east at elevation of 2200masl with mean annual temperature ranges from 25ºC to
28.3ºC (GFAP, 1999).
The region’s high forest cover is estimated to 535,948 ha (1.6% of the region’s total
area), woodland 861,126 ha (25%), and shrub land 146,103 ha (4%) (WBISPP, 2005).
The growing stocks for region forest is estimated to 35 m3/ha for high forest, 25
m3/ha for woodland and shrub (each) (GFAP, 1999). The high forest is around 70%
disturbed. The wood land has 20% crown cover, which is intensively used for
fuelwood, poles and livestock grazing (GFAP, 1999). The forest in the region has a
potential to sequester 126.9 million tonnes CO2e (Moges and Tenkir., 2014). Lowland
dry forest is special forest only found in the region located at elevation between 450
and 600masl bordering with Southern Sudan. The region is also endowed with
bamboo thicket and reeds, which cover around 83,884 ha. There are four national
forest priority areas, of which two of them administered in the region such as Goderie
and Abobo-Gog national forest priority areas covering 487,730 ha. Other two national
forest priority also include Mesengo and Dima forests bordering with SNNR, and
Oromiya and SNNP. Goderie forest is planned for production with sustainable
85
utilization while Abobo-Gog, Mesengo and Dima forest are intended for conservation
though they don’t have clear boundary demarcations. The region also has protected
areas including one national parks (506,100 ha) and three controlled hunting areas
including Jikoa controlled hunting area (337,500 ha), Tedo controlled hunting area
(234,700 ha) and Akobo valley controlled area (135,400 ha) (GFAP, 1999).
Currently, biomass annual fuelwood energy consumption (0.365 million tonnes) is by
far lower than the supply (3.32 million tonnes) in 2013 (Geissler et al, 2013).
However, WBISPP (2005) report showed that an increased trend of fuelwood
consumption by 28% in 2010 of 2000 (93,130 tonnes). The main direct causes of
deforestation and forest degradation previously were settle refugees and refugees’
camp. According to GFAP (1999) report, the influence of refugees could extend up to
64,000 ha of forest land to camping and exploitation of the forest resources. But now,
the figure can likely be higher due to expanding to dams, large-scale farming,
refugees, , forest fires, and discovery of oil (GFAP, 1999; Lemenih and Woldmariam,
2010). The rate of deforestation of high forest in the region for agricultural expansion
is estimated to about 1.28% per annum (WBISPP 2005). The underlying causes for
deforestation and forest degradation includes resettlement. Forest destruction due to
encroachment of riparian forest exhausted 90% of this forest cover (GFAP, 1999).
Livestock in particular goat also causes heavy pressure on Acacia thicket and
regeneration of other species of the woodland and shrub land.
REDD+ activities in the region are limited. Focus person is assigned from Federal
REDD+ Secretariat/MEF for awareness creation for regional experts on concept of
REDD+ and current activities.
6.4.2 Abobo Woreda
In 2014 the total population of the woreda was estimated to be31,772 persons of
which 15,589 weremales and 16,183 were females. There are approximately 2832
households in the woreda organized under 19 kebeles. The woreda is predominantly
inhibited bythe Agnuwah ethnic groups, with some settlers from the highlands of the
country. The temperature of the area is on average between 27-33 oC.
Fuelwood with small amounts of charcoal is the main source of energy for the
community households. The fuel wood is freely accessed by the households and thus
collected as much as needed. Charcoal production and selling at the market is also a
livelihood for some households. There are some first attempts made to introduce
energy efficient stoves and solar energy as alternative energy sources in this woreda.
So far only few households have started using these alternative energy sources.
The mainstream economic activity is small-scale agriculture, with crop cultivation
being the most prominent one. The major crops cultivated are maize and sorghum.
These two crops have continued to be the dominant ones under cultivation for the last
several years without any crop rotation cycles. The average productivity of maize per
hectare is between 18 – 20 quintals in Abobo, whereas the productivity of sorghum is
around 12 quintals. These crops are produced with zero tillage. New settlers from
overpopulated and/or heavily degraded sites in Amhara and Oromiya have
immigrated into the area and their farming practices are often unsustainable as
compared to the original population in Gambella.
86
The soil type of the woreda is sandy loam, with a PH of 5 – 6. There have recently
been some soil and water conservation and management activities started up in the
woreda, although these measurements are not much needed on the plains as soil
erosion is normally low. For the same reason fertilizers are not applied in the
agricultural fields. The agricultural operations are mainly rain fed and small-holder
irrigation farming is not practiced in the woreda. In most kebeles there is no usable
river for irrigation and a pumping of water from underground sources is difficult as
groundwater level is deeper than 30 metres.
There are no wood processing or cement factories in Abobo and the only large scale
industrial operations are commercial agricultural farms and a rice processing factory
located on the Saudi Star Farm.
In the overall woreda there are 3411 cattle, 1784 goats, 26 sheep, 92 equines, and
2314 dogs. Similar to Goge, it is reported that the number of livestock has markedly
declined in the last 10-20 years. The reasons stated for this are foremost the
occurence of cattle diseases such as Tripanasomiasis associated with the tsetse fly
and internal and external parasite-related diseases. Another perhaps even stronger
reason is the frequent cattle raiding attacks by Murule ethnic group from South
Sudan, which cause huge losses of cattle to the local people. All remaining livestock
and particularly cattle free graze in the nearby fields (no stall-feeding) is practiced in
the woreda. Cattle mainly graze near to water bodies and forests, but seldom inside
forests.
Small-scale agriculture is constrained by pests destroying crops – mainly maize and
sorghum stem boring beatle larvae, invasive striga and similar weeds. Additionally,
birds are reported to eat seeds from maturing maize and sorghum. The invasive
prosopis tree is also expanding in this woreda. No drought related livestock deaths
have recently occured as sufficient water and grass has been available in Abobo,
which is further secured with the seasonal floodings.
Ten years ago the area of forest land of this community was 10,966 ha , but the forest
area has diminished in size owing to rapid expansion of the large scale farms by
outside investors and continuous clearing of forests for shifting cultivation by the
communities. In 1991 and some years thereafter the two main drivers for
deforestation were fuel wood extraction and shifting cultivation. In 1991 the shift in
government caused a chaotic free access to forests, which radically reduced forests
already in those years.
The main recent drivers of deforestation are the following:
 Investors with large land leases for forest areas to be converted into
commercial farm lands. So far there has been no eviction of small-scale
farmers, but the forests are being destroyed with an increasing speed;
 Wild fires that are lit for various reasons, such as honey collection, hunting
wild animals, improved grassing, agricultural activities and charcoal making.
There is still a substantial ignorance related to protection of trees;
 Increasing demand for fuelwood and construction wood. Often trees are
damaged by axe even if only parts of the trees are cut for fuelwood. The wrong
trees are also often cut as straight stems are preferred to crumpled stems,
leaving forest stands of less quality stems standing;
87
 An expansion of infrastructure, such as road networks that facilitates the
transportation of forest products. For instance, a 50kg sack of charcoal is sold
for 100 birr in Abobo town, which invites many community members to burn
charcoal. This is an attractive alternative to poor people to to cover their daily
needs Similarly both construction poles and fuel wood are getting more
expensive in the local market.;
 Boat making, which is a rather destructive and timber wasting activity. A big
tree, usually Cordia africana is felled and a boat is cut out in traditional
manner. The price for one sold boat range between 25,000 – 50,000 birr on
the local market.
Table 22. Framework analysis of the underlying causes of DD vis-à-vis societal
situation in Abobo woreda.
Specific drivers
Agent
Underlaying causes
Infrastructure Socio-econ
& economic.
Institutional
& Policy
Trend
now
Fire is lit to
collect
honey, get
new grass,
hunt animals
or make
charcoal
Roads & rivers
ease access to
remote areas &
act as fire walls
in many cases
Poor woreda
supervision of
fire regime
and no
punishment
Same
level of
pressure
Established
on forest
lands & cause
large-scale
clearing of
forests with
nutrient
leakages
The felled
trees are
normally not
utilized and
may be
burnt on site.
Heavy machinery used to
clear forest
lands with
bulldozers
even when no
farming is
started up
Often
corruption
and land
grabbing involved. Locals
are often
deprived of
benefits/rights
Increasing
Local
villagers and
settlers from
else-where
in Ethiopia
Every 5 years
farm land become depleted and thus
large area is
kept under
shifting
rotation
Agriculture is
very basic with
no permanent
improvement
structures or
fields.
Shifting
cultivation has
only recently
been
abolished and
land is supposedly under
registration
Same
level of
pressure
Fuelwood
collection by
households
Local
villagers and
settlers
Huge
amounts of
trees are cut
on shifting
cultivation
lands
Increasing
Local
villagers and
settlers
Forest land
has had very
low
protection
status
Wood is
freely
collected or
cheap, why it
is used in
large
quantities
Nobody has
locally power
to protect
forests and
trees from
destruction
or
Poor woreda
supervision of
forests and no
community
forest initiatives
Unsettled land
tenure issues
People use
only hoecultivation
and no
fertili-zers,
which
provide
small income
only
Fuelwood
and some
charcoal
constitute all
household
energy in
use
Nobody is
responsible
for forests as
land is
common
Fellata
groups need
fresh grass
for their
large cattle
herds. People
are ignorant
to impacts.
These farms
are establishhed on good
sites and
thus reduce
local
communities
livelihood
potential
People are
very poor
and without
investments
in land
fertility
Poor woreda
supervision of
land tenure
Increasing due
to
encroachment
of schemes
Biophysical
&
environment
Livelihoods
& technical
Local
villagers and
fellata ethnic
groups
Several
thousands of
ha can burn
very heavily
annually &
thus deplete
nutrients
Commercial
large-scale
farming
Outside
urban
business
investors
Shifting
cultivation and
small-scale
farming
Negative
drivers
Land fires
Roads ease
access to
remote areas
and
transportation
Besides
commercial
farms only
small pieces of
land have
recently become regis-
88
Weak regional,
zonal and
woreda
authorities
Positive
mitigating
activities
Watershed
management
operations
Annual flooding
tered for
small-holders
A national park
exist, but
commercial
farms and
other
operations up
to park
boundary.
mismanagement
People are
ignorant of
nature
values as
they are poor
and struggle
for survival
Authority
administrations
Forests and
wildlife is not
protected
from ignorance and mismanagement
Ecotourism
is dwindling,
although it
could
provide
substantial
new income
if natural
resources
are managed
Woreda
forest
authorities,
NGOs etc.
Some 70 ha of
reforestation
so far
Tree
nurseries,
extension &
planting
operations
One 0.5 million
seedling
nursery
Awareness
raising for
local people
Nature
Large floods
and overflowwings along
rivers that
bring new
nutrients and
water to soils
Agricultural
crops are
destroyed,
but trees get
water to
grow better
No
infrastructure
where flooding
is severe
People
become
poor, but
nature is
replenished
with water
and
nutrients
Ecotourism
potential is
neglected &
nonprioritized in
favour of
commercial
interests
Increasing
problem
as wildlife
situation
deteriorate
Forest
extension &
fire protection
established
but only
former is
functioning
Support for
poor people
from soil and
water
conservation
operations
Increasing
positive
impact
There are also some signs of protection of the forests. For instance, shifting
cultivation has recently almost ceased due to a request for permanent settlement and
registration of land for communities. The land tenure situation is still not very secure
for the local communities and there has been land grabbing by outside investors with
dubious agreements with woreda authorities.
A forest fire protection task force is also established in each kebele of the woreda,
although these have been somewhat inactive and non-functional. The forest fires start
often in cultivated areas.
Additionally, there are some reforestation attempts by the woreda agricultural office
and until now around 70 ha of deforested land has been reforested by the agricultural
office. The main tree species planted are mostly indigenous such as Cordia africana,
Podocarpus falcatus,Acacia lubec, mango tree, and dominantly Betlera paradoxa (the
oil tree) and the success rate has been high. The plantation areas are protected from
cutting and livestock grazing. There are neither cooperatives related to forests nor
any community forestry initiatives in the woreda.
The price provided for wood and non-wood products are still cheap compared to
other products on the market. Timber operations are not common in the woreda and
such practices are only carried out by few poor farmers on a very small scale. The
traditional boat making is considered more destructive than any timber operations in
Abobo.
The estimated establishment cost for a forest nursery is around 500,000 birr
(producing about 300,000 tree seedlings per year) with operational cost of around
300,000 birr annually. Planting cost is 30 birr per day per person.
89
Same
level
6.4.3 Goge Woreda
The total population of Goge woreda is currently 21,410 persons which has not been
gender segregated; the average rate of birth per woman in the woreda is about 5
children per woman. The woreda is predominantly inhibited by the Agnuwah ethnic
groups except the settlers from the highlands of the country and the refugees from
South Sudan living in a camp in Pugnido. The household numbers could be
approximately 1906 if the average household size is the same as in Abobo or 11.23
persons/household.
Fuelwood is the main energy source with some small amounts of charcoal. The forest
is open access for all members of the community, which is a problem from
deforestation viewpoint. The fuelwood is freely collected the households as needed
and charcoal is produced by those who have the skills and need for money, while it
may be purchased by those who cannot do it themselves. There is no alternative
energy source in the woreda.
The mainstream economic activity is agriculture as in neighbouring Abobo woreda,
with maize and sorghum as the major crops cultivated. These crops have been under
cultivation for the last several years with no crop rotation whatsoever being
practiced. The average productivity of maize per hectare is reported to be between 15
– 20 quintals, whereas that of sorghum is between 10 – 15 quintals. These amounts of
the aforementioned crops are considered to be rather high as it is totally hoe-based
cultivation without any use of even oxes for plouging.
The soil type of the woreda is a fertile sandy loam and there are no soil and water
conservation and management activities in the woreda. When asked about fertilizer
application, the woreda authorities reported that the community households are not
willing to apply fertilizers on their farms. The reason for this was stated to be related
to a previous attempt by an NGO to train the community members in fertilizer
application who then used fertilizers for one cultivation season. The cultivated crops
did not yield sufficiently – in fact the yields were much less than they usually
achieved. The community households thus concluded that application of fertilizers led
to an over-fertilization of the land and therefore making the crops greener and
fruitless/seedless instead. Nobody conducted soil analyses, nor checked that nutrient
balance for crops in this case. Regarding usage of irrigation, only households near
water bodies, like the Tata Lake and rivers, use traditional irrigation and cultivate
crops near water bodies following the retreating of water after the rainy season.
There is only one large commercial farm in the woreda and no other processing
facilities.
There are no exact statistical figures for the number of livestock in the woreda, but it
is reported that the number of livestock has markedly declined in the last 10 – 15
years and the reasons are attributed to the following issues:

The frequent cattle raids by the Murule people of South Sudan. These raids have
recently been rampantly practiced by the Murule following the disarmament of
90
the Agnuwahs by the Ethiopian government. This has meant that the Murules
are now armed while the Agnuwahs are non-armed. The Murule raiding
practices also existed earlier, but it was a balanced situation as both groups
were armed and thus the raids were less frequent. Now the power balance has
tipped over into the Murules’ favour and they even go into the interior parts of
Ethiopia e.g. Fugnydo town, located some 150-200 kms away from South Sudan
border to raid cattle. This has led people to abandon livestock at the areas close
to border of South Sudan e.g. in Gogo;
 The frequent occurrence of cattle diseases such as Tripanasomiasis associated
with the tsetse fly and some internal and external parasite-related diseases.
The small numbers of remaining cattle are free grazing in the fields and there no
practice of stall-feeding in this woreda. The livestock do not suffer from drought as
the woreda has got sufficient water and grass resources accentuated by the annual
floodings.
Outside the Ethiopian statistics are, however, large herds of cattle and smaller
ruminants owned by the migrating Fellata ethnic group, which annually and
seasonally come from South Sudan. The Fellata is originally a West-African ethnic
group that now mainly migrate between South Sudan, Ethiopia and the Sudan where
they have partly also settled. These people are armed and quite harsh in case of cattle
raiding, but normally avoid confrontations. The herd of just one family group can
contain some 500 cattle and a substantial numbers of smaller ruminants. The herds
are normally on the move, but use a lot of tree fodder in their way.
The seasonal floods and pests such as maize and sorghum stem boring beetle larvae
destroy annually a substantial part of the agricultural crops, which also are
constrained by the invasive straiga weeds. No invasive tree species are reported,
though.
The woreda authorities do not have any clear figure of the remaining forest areas in
the woreda due to rapid expansion of the large scale farms by outside investors and a
continuous clearing of forests for shifting cultivation by the community members. In a
satellite image taken in January 2015 of Goge, a wild fire area of several thousand
hectares was spotted with a front fire so large that it could easily be seen in the image.
Such intensive fire can totally destroy all the vegetation on its way. This fire was in
the middle of the shifting cultivation area and did not affect directly the main forest
areas, but carbon, nitrogen and many other nutrients are being severely depleted.
Such fires are lit for various reasons such as honey collection in trees, hunting wild
animals, preparation of farm or gracing land, tick removal or for charcoal making. The
fire has either been by lit by the community members themselves or then by the
Fallata with their large livestock herds to regenerate fresh grass for these animals.
The forest cover of the woreda has been declining at an alarming rate due to the
combined effects of different factors in the last 20 – 30 years. Earlier, the cause for
deforestation was mainly fuelwood demand by the local community and the practice
of shifting cultivation, which was small due to small population. The change of
government in 1991 was the start of this change to a normless situation, as the
chaotic power transfer led to a free access to forest resources. The increase of human
population in the area and the resulting farmland expansion by the original and new
91
settlement communities has also increased the problems causing a further expansion
of wood demand for energy and construction material.
During the last ten years more than sixty new commercial farm investors have arrived
in the woreda. Each of these investors has leased on average around 2000 ha of
mainly forest land for their farms. The worst thing is that most of these investors are
not operational, but they have destroyed the forest by clear cutting all trees and left
the land bare even without plowing it. Only 9 of the investors have started up
operations properly on their land. There is a substantial ignorance of forests in all
groups of people in Goge. The only benefit for local people from the investors is that
these provide some employment opportunities for local young people and thus
reduce the dependence of small-scale farming in some households.
In the investors’ wake there has been a relative expansion of infrastructure,
particularly roads, which facilitate transportation of forest products from this area to
the local market. This has led to diminishing of supplies, for instance, of non-wood
forest products such as wild fruits and wild roots, which are widely utilized by the
community during the food shortage months of the year. Now the forests are in
danger of total extinction if these activities continue as usual.
Near the town of Pugnido there is a large refugee camp for South Sudanese and in
2014 there were some 48000 persons living in this camp, which is more than the local
population. These refugees get food and some supplies from the World Food
Programme and others, but they need on average of 1.75-2 kg of fuelwood per person
on a daily basis. This has impacted rather heavily on the wood resources near the
camp.
There are currently some reforestation attempts conducted by both the Government
and a project called Natural Resource and Development and Environmental
Protection (NRDEP). So far, the reforestation by the NRDEP covers some 420 ha
planted and some additional 120 ha by the woreda agricultural office on deforested
lands. The tree species planted are mostly indigenous such as Cordia africana,
Podocarpus falcatus, Acacia lubec, Jacaranda mimisifolia, and rather large amounts of
Betlera paradoxa (the oil tree). There are nurseries in four kabeles of the woreda. The
estimated establishment cost for a tree nursery is around 400,000 birr (producing
about 500,000 seedlings per year) with operational cost of 150000 -200000 birr and
total planting cost about 60,000 birr annually.
There are neither cooperatives related to forests nor any community forestry
initiatives in the woreda. The prices provided for wood and non-wood products are
very cheap. Timber operations are not common in the woreda and only practiced by a
few poor farmers from the community on very small basis. No forest product
statistics are therefore available. In Table 23 is presented the framework analysis of
deforestation and degradation in Goge woreda.
92
Table 23. Framework analysis of the underlying causes of DD vis-à-vis societal
situation in Goge woreda.
Specific drivers
Agent
Underlaying causes
Infrastructure
Socio-econ &
economic.
Biophysical&
environment
Livelihoods&
technical
Local
villagers and
fellata ethnic
group
Several
thousands of
ha can burn
very heavily
annually &
thus deplete
nutrients
Fire is lit to
collect
honey, get
new grass,
hunt animals
or make
charcoal
Roads ease
access to
remote areas
Commercial
large-scale
farming
Outside
investors
Established
on forest
lands &
cause largescale clearing
of forests
with nutrient
leakage
The felled
trees are
normally not
utilized and
may be
burnt on site.
Shifting
cultivation and
small-scale
farming
Local
villagers and
settlers from
else-where
in Ethiopia
Every 5 years
farm land become depleted and thus
large area is
kept under
shifting
cultivation
People use
no fertilizers
and hoecultiva-tion,
which
provide
small income
only
Use of heavy
machinery
that just clear
forest lands
with bulldozers even
when no
farming is
started up
Agriculture is
very basic
with no
permanent
structures or
fields.
Fuelwood
collection by
households
Local
villagers and
settlers
Huge
amounts of
trees are cut
on shifting
cultivation
lands
Roads ease
access to
remote areas
and
transportation
Unsettled land
tenure issues
Local
villagers and
settlers
Forest land
has had very
low
protection
status
Fuelwood
and some
charcoal
constitute all
household
energy in
use
Nobody is
responsible
for forests as
land is
common
Refugees and
ethnic groups
from South Sudan
Refugees
and Fellata
Authority
administrations
Substantial
users of
wood
resources
Ecotourism
is dwindling,
although it
could
provide
substantial
new income
if natural
resources
are managed
Fuelwood
shortage near
Refugee camp
Weak regional,
zonal and woreda
authorities
Depleting impact on
natural
resources
Forests and
wildlife is not
protected
from
ignoran-ce
and mismanagement
Negative drivers
Land fires
Besides
commercial
farms only
small pieces
of land has
recently
become
registered
A national
park exist,
but
commercial
farms and
other
operations up
to park
boundary.
Fellata group
need fresh
grass for
their large
cattle herds.
People are
ignorant to
impacts.
These farms
are establishon good sites
and thus
reduce local
communities
livelihood
potential
People are
very poor
and without
investments
in land
fertility
Wood is
freely
collected or
cheap, why it
is used in
large
quantities
Nobody has
locally power
to protect
forests and
trees from
destruction
or
mismanagement
No responsebility for
local nature
People are
ignorant of
nature values
as they are
poor and
struggle for
survival
Institutional &
Policy
Trend now
Poor woreda
supervision
of fire
regime and
no
punishment
Still very
intensive
and large
Often
corruption
and land
grabbing involved.
Locals are
often
deprived of
benefits.
Shifting
cultivation
has only
recently
been
abolished
and land is
suppo-sedly
under
registration
Poor woreda
supervision
of forests
and no
community
forest initiatives
Poor woreda
supervision
of land
tenure
Increasing
rather
rapidly
Rather much
outside local
woreda
control
No real
control of
land tenure
in the
woreda or
mismanagement in
many cases
Substantial
pressure
93
Still the
main type
of
agriculture
for smallholders
Heavy
pressure
Part of the
forest
problem as
nobody is
responsible for
forests
Many
issues are
now going
out of
hand of
the
authorities
Positive
mitigating
activities
Watershed
management
operations
Annual flooding
Woreda
forest
authorities,
NGOs etc.
Nature
Totally some
560 ha of reforestation
performed
About the
same size
each year
Farmers are
conducted
the planting
of seedlings
Bring in
nutrients &
water on
fields and ,
but destroy
large part of
crop yield
Forest nurseries exist in 4
kebeles
Not much
infrastructure
to stop
flooding into
fields
Good for
awareness
raising that
has been low
Could be
used better,
but now
mainly
poverty
consequences
Woreda
authorities
and NRDEP
supervising
Woreda
authorities
have only
recently
started to
react on this
Increasing
trend
Annual
occurance
6.4.4 Conclusions for the region
This region has got a rather homogeneous forest vegetation cover as only 2%
constitute high forest and the remaining land area is divided on lowland woodlands
and shrublands. The two selected woredas Abobo and Goge have both got woodlands
in the eastern part and and shrublands in the western parts of the woredas.
Gambella is one of the regions which have recently got taste of development in
Ethiopia as the highways connecting this region to the core areas of Ethiopia was built
less than ten years old. The so called development and modernization has therefore
been very fast and devastating from a forest perspective. Many large-scale
commercial agricultural schemes have been established during the last ten years and
most of these have been leased to external investors, who have got forest lands leased
to them. This has meant that huge areas of forests have been cleared from trees
without much consideration for environmental values.
The ethnic groups which traditionally have been living in this region have been
practicing shifting cultivation on large scale for very long time. Their agriculture is
still hoe-based, but it has been environmentally friendly compared to both the largescale commercial agricultural schemes and the immigrant small-holder farmers that
have settled in the region during the last 15 years or so. The traditional farmers
prepare their land rather lightly leaving seedlings and tree stumps remain in their
fields, while the newcomers used ploughs and draught animals and can thus impact
on the cultivated soils more profoundly. The agricultural schemes use heavy
machinery and completely transform the landscape in even more profound way.
The ecotourism potential was originally rather high in this region, but due to very
high level of neglect it is on the verge of disappearing, if no serious effort is set in
motion to stop it. The local small-holders are involved in watershed management
restoration activities, but the environmental awareness and the organization of
woreda authorities are not as high, as among communities in other more developed
regions of Ethiopia.
94
6.5
Benishangul Gumuz National Regional State (BGNRS)
6.5.1 Overview
Benshangul-Gumuz National Regional State (BSNRs) is located in the North-western
part of Ethiopia between 09° 17' -12° 06' N and 34° 10' - 37° 04' E. The total area
covers of 5,038,000 ha with elevation ranging from 580 masl (Blue Nile crosses the
Ethiopian / Sudanese border) to 2,731 masl (the Belaya plateau in Dangur Woreda).
Based on 2007 CSA, the total population is 784345, consisting around 51% men and
49% female with population density of 15.91 persons/ km2. The total annual rainfall
of the region is between 860 and 1275 mm with mean annul. The temperature
reaches a daily maximum of 20-25°C in the rainy season and rises to 35-40°C in the
dry season (BGRS, 2003). The region is divided by the Blue Nile into two
parts.Metekel zone and Pawe Special woreda in the north and Assosa zone, Kamashi
zone and Mao-Komo Special woreda in the south (BGRS-investment office , 2015,
unpublished).
The region is endowed with diverse forest resources. Total forest cover of the region
is estimated to 3,963,750 ha (WBISPP, 2005). This includes 68,495 ha of high forest
(2% of the region total area), 2,473,064 ha of woodlands (62%) and shrub lands
1,422,191 ha (36%). Climax vegetation types of the region are divided into
Arundinaria forest, Aningeria forest,Olea forest,Baphia forest and Mixed Deciduous
Woodland, Hyparrhenia Filipendula Grassland and Riverian Forests (BGRS, 2015,
unpublished). The region has five national forest priority areas covering 375,000 ha
(Lemenih and Woldmariam, 2010). The region’s forest has a potential to sequester
around 140.6 million tonnes CO2e (Moges and Tenkir., 2014), and the biomass energy
95
supply of 4.4 million tonnes while the consumption is estimated to 0.51 million tonnes
in 2005 (WBISPP, 2005). In 2013, the annual biomass energy consumption grew to
0.81 million tonnes whereas supply reduced to around 3.53 million (Geissler et al,
2013). The forest resource of the region is potentially known for its natural gum and
incense producing tree species; however, they are unutilized (Lemenih and Fufa,
2011). Potential annual yield of gum and resins in the region is estimated to 259 and
322 tonnes, respectively (BGRS-investment office, 2015, unpublished). It is also the
only region of the country harboring around 450,000 ha of lowland bamboo
(Oxytenanthera abyssinica) in 2000 (WBISP, 2004). The WBISPP (2003, BGRSinvestment office, 2015) estimates the lowland cover to 1,589,833 hain pure bamboo
stand and mixed stand together with woodland in dense and open stand, assuming
bamboo accounts for about 20 per cent of woodland and shrub land. A study in seven
districts of the region showed that the lowland bamboo reduced from 134,153 ha in
1987 to 64,401 ha in 2007, which was around 50% reduction (BSG FSEG, 2011 cited in
Lemenih and Fufa, 2011). Tana Beles Integrated Rural Development Project
established 3,578 ha of plantations in the Pawe Settlement as part of an effort to offset
the loss of natural vegetation cover (BGNRs-FPP, 1988).
The rate of deforestation and forest degradation on the high forests used to be
relatively loweras compared to other regions of the country due to less population
pressure, forest dependency (e.g. hunting, gathering) and low livestock population
(Lemenih and Fufa, 2011). But, currently, the deforestation and forest degradation is
increasing mainly due to settlement programs and associated forest clearing to
cropland expansion in lowland bamboo thicket since 1977 (Assosa, Bambesi and
Pawe special Woredas), increased demand of fuelwood and construction. For
instance, though no details studies on the rate of deforestation in the region has been
done, for instance in Sirba Abaya district cultivated land expanded by approximately
rate of 100% between 1987 and 1998, and 300% between 1998 to 2007 (BSG FSEG,
2011 cited in Lemenih and Fufa, 2011). WBISPP (2005) also reported that clearing of
woody biomass for agriculture and fuelwood consumption in 2000 was estimated to
236,317 and 984,334 tonnes, and increased by 76 and 86 percent in 2010,
respectively. A study in four districts of the region by Lemenih and Fufa (2011)
estimated forest clearing for cultivation of crops, fuelwood/charcoaling, and
investment attributed to in average 74, 11 and 6 percent of the cause of deforestation
and forest degradation.
Recently, the report by BGRS -Investment Office (2015, unpublished) showed that
using fire for traditional trophy hunting, shifting cultivation, wild honey hunting, road
clearance for gum and incense tapping and defence against wild animals were among
the factors for deforestation and forest degradation (also see the details in Lemenih
and Fufa, 2011). Traditional hunting of wild animals, locally known as "Apara", is
causing serious damage on the natural forest every year. In this practice, in the
months of January and February every year with the order of the tribe leader or chief,
all the people living in the community are invited for hunting to an area suspected
with wild animals. The people encircle the area and set fire in all directions and
destroy a large area of natural forest (UNECA, 1998 cited BGRS -Investment Office,
2015-unpublished). The impact of shifting cultivation is mainly reflected in woodland
areas. However, shifting cultivation practiced on small plots as cause of deforestation
is arguable, where farmers cultivate the land for a period of 2 to 4 years and is
followed by 7 to 10 years fallow (BGNRS, 2003; BGNRS, 2004).
96
Several underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation that include
commercial agriculture investment, immigration, high population growth, weak
institutional capacity for natural resource management, less public awareness and
weak policy and legal frameworks. In the past ten years, the change on agricultural
practice to long term leasing of densely woodland mixed with natural bamboo stand
for medium and large scale commercial agricultural investment has also resulted large
scale deforestation and forest degradation (Lemenih and Fufa, 2011; BGRS Investment Office, 2015- unpublished). Some accounts to 65,000ha of woodland and
boob thicket were given to investors (BGNRs-FPP, 1988). This amount substantially
grew to 738,890 ha of land allocated for 525 agricultural projects between 1992 and
2010 (Lemenih and Fufa, 2011). Construction of access road to commercial
agriculture also allowed easier to small-scale agriculture. Lemenih and Fufa (2011)
also reported based on study in the seven districts of the region, formal and informal
immigration accounting 43% of the seven studied districts’ where migrants’
population’s livelihoods predominantly depend on crop cultivation. Other underlying
causes reported in the region also include less private forest development investment,
less attention to forestry sector, growing competition for land as population growing
and lack of alternative source of energy (BGRS -Investment Office, 2015unpublished).
The region has REDD+ focal person working on capacity building and awareness
creation, but lagging a formal REDD+ coordinator.
6.5.2 Assosa Woreda
The below text is mainly based on an interview session with the woreda authorities
and additional comments from group interviews at the project sites in the woreda.
The total population of the woreda 2014 was 85,365 persons of which 39,230 are
males and 46,135 are females. The woreda is inhibited by the dominant Berta ethnic
group and smaller groups of Mao, Oromo, Tigre, Amhara and Agew. The total number
of households is 18,125 of which 14,698 are male headed and 3,447 female headed.
Fuel wood and crop residues are the main source of energy in the local households
with kerosene and hand batteries used for lightning purposes. The forests are open
for all members of the community since 1991, which means that nobody are
responsible for forest resources. Charcoal is mainly produced by the immigrant
households (mainly from Amhara). Alternative energy sources are not much used.
There is one bamboo processing factory located in the woreda. Otherwise the main
economic base stems from farming, with maize and sorghum as the staple crops. The
average productivity of maize per hectare in this woreda was stated to be 40 quintals
and for sorghum 20 quintals with the application of some fertilizers. These figures are
seen as good ones as the soil type is acidic acrisoil with low fertility. However, the
agricultural yields are constrained by pests and rodents reported to destroy crops maize and sorghum stem booring beetles and their larvae are seen as the most
prominent pest. There are also invasive weeds - especially partinium. No invasive tree
species is reported in this woreda.
There is an ongoing Sustainable Land Management (SLM) project in this woreda and
soil and water conservation activities are widely undertaken under this project. The
97
understanding of fertilizer application is becoming well understood and the usage has
thus been increasing. However, its usage is still low as compared to many other more
developed agricultural regions of the country. Irrigation is now used in about 50% of
the households, mainly as a traditional small scale irrigation system based on river
diversions. There is also sufficient underground water available at shallow depth of
between 10 -15 meters.
In 2014 the number of livestock in the woreda was 21,218 cattle, 4438 equines,
24,560 goats and 4073 sheep. It was stated that the number of livestock has markedly
declined due to the frequent recurrence of cattle disease predominantly
Trypanosome associated with the tse tse fly that uses the bamboo leaves as habitat
and animal lung attacking disease. Another disease is a lung disease. These pandemics
are on-going and the respondents of the group interviews at the two sites of the
woreda indicated that large number of cattle, equines and goats and sheep
continuously die of this disease. No drought related livestock deaths have recently
been reported and there is sufficient water and grass in the woreda.
The cattle in the woreda are almost all free grazing in the fields, forests and farmlands
during the dry season. Some few cattle are kept within a fence during the driest
months of the year after free grazing for few hours per day in the woreda. Some 5% of
all the households (i.e. mainly the settlers of 1978/79) practice such stall feeding.
The woreda authorities do not have any recent figure indicating the forest area of the
woreda, but some older assessment data could be obtained from the regional office.
The forest areas are substantially shrinking due to rapid expansion of the large scale
farms by outside commercial investors, population growth, and illegal immigrants to
the woreda from the Amhara region that get land half illegally through leasing for
sharecropping from local shifting cultivators who do not really have the right to lease
such lands. These latter persons are continuously clearing forests for shifting
cultivation for by their local community and now do more so than they actually need.
Then the immigrants mainly from Amahara are able to get such cleared forest land
through illegal leasing (or renting). The main crop cultivated by these immigrants is
sesame – the major cash crop in the area and thereby they can earn a good amount of
money. These illegal leasing deals are attractive to the indigenous people as they thus
have a lucrative side income source.
The forest cover of the woreda has been declining rapidly due to the combined effects
of various factors in the last 20 – 30 years. Earlier, the cause for deforestation was
mainly due to the government assisted legal settlement of people from the Amhara
region - from Wello area in particular during 1978/79. During this time 6000
households were settle in the woreda at 17 different sites. At each of these sites 5000
ha of land was allocated for their farmland, grazing land and woodland. Some 85,000
ha of land was thus given to settlers during that time. The settlers gradually increased
in number and they have encroached into the forest land in the last few years.
Wild fires are lit for several reasons such as searching for honey in trees and cavises,
for hunting wild animals, for securing of fresh grass growing, for clearing of new farm
land and for charcoal making.
There is also an increase in the demand for fuel wood and construction poles in urban
centres and, in the South Sudan where it is often exported as it fetches substantially
higher market prices on the other side of the border. New roads that facilitate
98
transportation of forest products have been recently constructed and the trade has
thus been growing substantially.
The emerging production of sesame as a cash crop in the country is further a threat
for forests in the region. This together with the immigrants from Amhara that work
on the leased/ rented land is becoming a big problem in Assosa.
There are also some reforestation attempts by the woreda office of agriculture and
rural development. Currently there are seven nurseries in the woreda supplying
seedlings to this end. Some 5 million seedlings have so far planted and distributed to
the famers. The main seedling species provided are mango, avocado, moringa
stenplata, Cordia africana and Eucalyptus camaldulensis. Each farmer has been given
annually some 10 -20 fruit tree and other seedlings free of charge. The growth rate
has been about 90% for fruit trees and about 75% for other trees. There is also huge
support from FARM Africa and the NRDEP project funded by the UNHCR for tree
planting and environmental protection. Termites, however, are mentioned as a major
problem for trees with low growth rate that are planted on degraded lands.
There are no organized cooperatives related to forests and community forestry
initiatives in Assosa. There is, though, an attempt by some cooperatives to maintain
forests and use these forest for apiculture and for collecting fallen branches of trees
so that livestock can not reach these – this happen particularly in areas where settler
communities are residing.
Timber operations are not widely practiced in Assosa, although there are trees
suitable for timber operations such as Cordia africana. The construction poles are
normally of eucalyptus and bamboo, which is widely merchandised in the area. Using
the tarmac road to South Sudan it is easy to transported this construction materials
there. The price of one big eucaypt pole is 60 -80 birr in Assosa and some 100-120
birr in South Sudan. The price of timber in Assosa is 4 birr per one centimetre of
width. A timber of 40 cm width with 2m length and 2cm thickness (i.e. 40cm*4 birr) is
160 birr.
The estimated establishment cost for a tree nursery has recently been studied and it
was found to be 1.45 birr per seedling, on average. Thus, a nursery with a capacity of
500,000 seedlings would cost 500,000* 1.45 birr or 725,000 birr.
On the way to Homosha (ca. 50 km from Assosa town) and Sherkole (ca. 60-65 km
from Assosa town) several large scale investment farms could be seen. An expert from
the regional bureau of agriculture disclosed that the total area of land given for
investment by the federal government is about 2.3 million ha and the vast majority of
this land is forest land. The farms have deforested those areas and left them bare.
Some of the farms are established on slopes, which would not even be advisable for
small holder agriculture farms. Some of these slanting slops showed already
substantial gully erosion.
There are over 10,000 South Sudanese refugees at the Sherkole refugee camp
established in 1997/98. The area was very much degraded earlier, but now there
area show some good rehabilitation of degraded lands. To this end, there is a project
operating under the regional bureau of agriculture and rural development called,
NRDEP (Natural Resource Development and Environmental Protection) funded by the
UNHCR. The project undertakes varieties of activities since its establishment in 1999.
99
It has a nursery of 1.5 ha in size where over 150,000 seedlings of fast growing trees
and fruit trees have been raised for planting by the project and by the local
communities. So far, seedlings have been planted on 589.5 ha. Fuel efficient stoves
have widely been distributed to the refugees. Since these refugees have no continuous
supply of cloths or supplementary food items, they always need money to purchase
such items and therefore many go to the nearby forest to harvest some poles or
fuelwood, which they can sell in order to get cash. There are rules prohibiting the
refugees from cutting live trees and hunting of wild animals, but the law is not
functioning properly.
Table 24. Framework analysis of the underlying causes of DD vis-à-vis societal
situation in Assosa woreda, Benishangul-Gumuz Region.
Specific drivers
Agent
Underlaying causes
Infrastructure
Socio-econ &
economic.
Institutional &
Policy
Trend
now
Proper farm
income generation
require
fertilizers &
irrigation
that many
use
Used for
honey collection, charcoal
burning,
fresh grass,
hunting, land
clearing
Use of heavy
machines to
clear land
that lies idle
after clearing
Some 50% of
households
use now
small-scale
irrigation
from rivers
Traditional
farming
consi-dered
nature.
Modern farming deplete
nature
Weak
woreda
management
over policies,
land use and
institutions
Same
lavel
Roads, rivers
and rock act
as fire breaks
People who
lit fires are
often poor
and ignorant
persons
Woreda fire
committee is
not
functioning
properly
Same
lavel
Use of heavy
machinery
and irrigation
High rate of
immigration
and unclear
land leasing
from local
communities
Increasing
Traditional
and low performance
farming
usab-le when
popu-lation
is small in
number
Increase
poverty and
reduce
livestock
Livestock
populations
decline/ HH
No major inputs required
No support
or policies
that ease
poor farmers
No directives
or policies
provided
Important
part of livelyhood income
Roads ease
transport &
sales in town
and Sudan
Roads ease
transport &
sales in town
and Sudan
Roads ease
access to
Poor man’s
farming that
is suffice
when
popula-tion
is small. Now
wasteful &
degrading
Declining
farm income.
Need for
other income
Cut and carry
fodder
should be
used
Forests provide monthly
income that
is needed
An important
part of the
low income
generation
Renting of
such lands by
Woreda
authorities
do not have
con-trol of
immi-gration
or land
clearing
Local
farmers clear
extra land
and lease
these to new
immigrants
Declining due
to less
livestock
Declining due
to less
livestock
Incresing
Biophysical&
environment
Livelihoods&
technical
Nature
Soils are infertile by
nature
Land fires
Local
communities
Annual fires
deplete many
nutrients in
soils
Large-scale
commercial &
settler farming
Agriculture
investors &
immigrants
Large tracts
of forest have
been leased
out for this
Shifting
cultivation
Poor local
small-holder
farmers
Performed
over large
land areas
Pests, diseases &
invasive weeds
Crop beetles,
cattle diseases & straiga
weeds
Poor local
small-holder
farmers
Reduce
yields & kill
livestock
Negative drivers
Soil texture type
Livestock grazing
Fuelwood &
bamboo collection
& charcoal
burning
Commercial tree
cutting
Poor local
small-holder
farmers
Town
businessmen
induced
Livestock
free graze
and eat
seedlings etc.
High
pressure on
declining
resources
Substantial
amounts of
wood used
Land tenure
system
Local poor
communities
Excess
shifting
Various
micro
businesses
exists in BSG
Some cleared
land leased
Cause shifting
of farmland
No stallfeeding in use
Weak
policies on
forest resources
Weak
policies on
forest resources
Woreda
authorities
100
Declining
Incresing
Incresing
Positive
mitigating
activities
Watershed
management
practices
Area closures
Woreda
agriculture
office & NGOs
Woreda
agriculture
office & NGOs
cultivation
out to immigrants
remote areas
poor farmers
raise income
are not in
control of
this
problem
Reforestation
with 5
million
seedlings for
SWC
purposes
Some
closures exist
where
regeneration
is visible
Farmers get
only some
seedlings as
payment
Nurseries
exists in 7
kebeles
Farmers
benefit from
homegarden
trees & SWC
Supervision
of operations
by Woreda
AO and NGOs
Increasing
Local
communities
follows
access
restrictions
No
infrastructure
involved
Regrowth of
vegetation is
providing
benefits later
Closures
seem to
function
satisfactorily
Increasing
6.5.3 Bambasi Woreda
In 2014 the total population of Bembasi was 62,693 of which 31,539 were males and
31,154 were females. The woreda is inhabited by the dominant Berta ethnic group
and other groups like Mao, Oromo, Tigre, Amhara and Agew. There are also refugees
from South Sudan in the woreda. In 2014 the total number of households is 12,539 of
which 11,912 were male headed and 627 were female headed.
Fuel wood and crop residues are the main source of energy in the local households
with kerosene and hand batteries used for lightning purposes. The forests are open
for all members of the community since 1991, which means that nobody is
responsible for forest resources. Charcoal is mainly produced by the immigrant
households (mainly from Amhara) in the woreda. There are further some alternative
energy sources in the woreda such as fuel wood efficient stoves are distributed since
2006 to households in all kebeles of the woreda at low cost. There are currently some
50 households in each kebele using such fuel wood efficient stoves. Solar energy is
further in use at three government clinics and a few private households are using it as
source of light in the evening.
There are no industrial enterprises located in the woreda. The main economic base of
the woreda is farming, where major crops are maize and sorghum. There has been no
crop rotation during the last several years. The average productivity of maize per
hectare in Bembasi is stated to be 60 quintals with the application fertilizers and for
sorghum it is about 25 quintals. These yield figures are considered good for these
acidic acrisoils, with low fertility. Experts still believe the yields can be increased.
Fishing in Dabus River is further practiced by the Berta ethnic group both as a
supplementary economic and as a food source. This river serves as a regional
boundary between Oromiya and Benishangul-Gumuz.
A Sustainable Land Management (SLM) project is on-going and soil and water
conservation activities are widely undertaken with the support of different NGOs and
the regional agricultural research center. Fertilizer application has been improving in
the last couple of years and now the communities have recognized that it is
impossible to produce without fertilizer. However, the use of fertilizers is still low
compared to other developed regions of the country.
101
Irrigation is now widely used by the households, mainly as a traditional small scale
irrigation system based on river diversions. Some 436 ha of land was irrigated in
2010, 1,820 ha in 2013 and over 2500 ha in 2014. Initially, i.e, before 2010, water was
provided in quotes, but following the watershed rehabilitation works since 2011, the
shortage has been resolved. Now the water table of the area has become closer to the
surface and shallow wells at around 10 meters depth can provide water.
In 2014 the livestock populations numbered 32,539 cattle, 4155 equines, 9757 goats
and 3384 sheep. The livestock numbers have markedly declined in the last 10 – 15
years. In 2006/07, the average number of cattle per household was 5 cattle and in
2014 the same figure was 2.6 per household. The decline is likely due to frequent
recurrence of cattle diseases - predominantly Trypanosome associated with the tse
tse fly that uses the bamboo leaves as habitat and some lung disease. All the livestock
in the woreda are free grazing in fields, forests and elsewhere on farmlands during
the dry season. No livestock deaths from drought have been reported as there is
sufficient water and grass in the woreda.
The main agricultural disasters are seasonal floods destroying crops, but also
termites, pests and rodents, as well as maize and sorghum stem booring beetle larvae.
There are also invasive weeds such as partinium, but no invasive tree species.
The forest cover of the woreda is declining rapidly due to the combined effects of
various factors occurring during the last 20 – 30 years. The forest area of the woreda
is estimated to currently be over 5600 ha of land, but shrinking due to rapid
expansion of the large scale farms by the investors, illegal settlers immigrating to the
woreda from Amhara region and a continuous clearing of forests for shifting
cultivation by the local community. These latter persons are continuously clearing
forests for shifting cultivation for by their local community and now do more so than
they actually need. Then the immigrants mainly from Amahara are able to get cleared
forest land through illegal leasing (or renting). The main crop cultivated by these
immigrants is sesame – the major cash crop in the area. These illegal leasing deals are
attractive to the indigenous people as they thus have a lucrative side income source.
Earlier, deforestation was mainly caused by the government’s assistance to legal
settlements of people from Amhara region following the severe 1984/85 famine in
Ethiopia. During that year some 20,000 households were settled in Bembasi. There
was also a land redistribution in the woreda in 2005/06 and 2011 following the
expansion of the Assosa Airport. Here, the evicted farmers are given forest areas for
agricultural activities.
Wild fires are lit for several reasons, such as honey collection, searching for cavises,
hunting, improvement of grazing lands, clearing new farm land and for charcoal
making.
There is also an increase in the demand for fuel wood and construction poles in urban
centres and, in the South Sudan where it is often exported as it fetches substantially
higher market prices on the other side of the border. New roads facilitate
transportation of forest products and the trade has thus been growing substantially.
The emerging production of sesame as a cash crop in the country is further a threat
for forests in the region. This together with the immigrants from Amhara,which work
on the leased/ rented land, is becoming a major concern in Assosa.
102
There are reforestation attempts by the office of agriculture and rural development.
There are seven nurseries in the woreda supplying seedlings. Some 5 million
seedlings are planted and distributed to the famers, major seedling types being
mango, avocado, moringa stenplata, cordia Africana and eucalyptus camandulinis.
Each farmer is given 10 -20 fruit tree and other seedlings annually free of charge. The
growth rate is about 90% for fruit trees and about 75% for other trees. Termites are
mentioned as the major problem for tree seedlings, with low growth rate at the
degraded sites.
There are four cooperatives related to forests and community forestry initiative in the
woreda. The cooperatives maintain the forest from deforestation and use the forest
for apiculture and collect the fallen branches of trees.
Timber operation is not common in Bembasi as there are no big trees suitable for
such operations. The construction poles are normally of eucalyptus and bamboo,
which are widely merchandised in the area. Using the tarmac road to South Sudan it is
easy to transported these construction materials. The price of one big eucalypt pole is
60 -80 birr in Assosa and some 100-120 birr in South Sudan. The price of timber in
Assosa is 4 birr per one centimetre of width. A timber of 40 cm width with 2m length
and 2cm thickness (i.e. 40cm*4 birr) is 160 birr.
The estimated establishment cost for a tree seedling nursery is around 500,000 –
600,000 birr (producing about 500,000 seedlings per year).
Table 25. Framework analysis of the underlying causes of DD vis-à-vis societal
situation in Bambasi woreda, Benishangul-Gumuz Region.
Specific drivers
Agent
Underlaying causes
Infrastructure
Socio-econ &
economic.
Institutional &
Policy
Trend
now
Proper farm
income generation
require
fertilizers &
irrigation
that many
use
Used for
honey collection, charcoal
burning,
fresh grass,
hunting, land
clearing
Use of heavy
machines to
clear land
that lies idle
after clearing
Some 50% of
households
use now
small-scale
irrigation
from rivers
Traditional
farming
consi-dered
nature.
Modern farming deplete
nature
Weak
woreda
management
over policies,
land use and
institutions
Same
level
Roads, rivers
and rock act
as fire breaks
People who
lit fires are
often poor
and ignorant
persons
Woreda fire
committee is
not
functioning
properly
Increasing
Use of heavy
machinery
and
irrigation
High rate of
immigration
and unclear
land leasing
from local
communities
Increasing
Traditional
and low performance
farming
usab-le when
popu-lation
is small in
No major inputs required
Poor man’s
farming that
is suffice
when
popula-tion
is small. Now
wasteful &
Woreda
authorities
do not have
con-trol of
immi-gration
or land
clearing
Local
farmers clear
extra land
and lease
these to new
immigrants
Biophysical&
environment
Livelihoods&
technical
Nature
Soils are infertile by
nature
Land fires
Local
communities
Annual fires
deplete many
nutrients in
soils
Intensive and
large mechanized
agriculture
External agriinvestors &
immigrants
Large tracts
of forest have
been leased
out for this
Shifting
agriculture
Local
communities
Performed
over large
land areas
Negative drivers
Altitude and soil
texture type
103
Increasing
Pests, diseases &
invasive weeds
Livestock grazing
Crop beetles,
cattle diseases & straiga
weeds
Poor local
small-holder
farmers
Reduce
yields & kill
livestock
Livestock
free graze
and eat
seedlings etc.
High
pressure on
declining
resources
Substantial
amounts of
wood used
Fuelwood &
bamboo collection
& charcoal
burning
Commercial tree
cutting
Local
communities
& settlers
Land tenure
system
Local poor
communities
Excess
shifting
cultivation
Woreda
agriculture
office &
NRDEP, Farm
Africa NGOs
Reforestation
with 5
million
seedlings for
SWC
purposes
Protect some
forests
Positive
mitigating
activities
Watershed
management
practices
Community
initiatives
Town
businessmen
induced
Local
communities
number
Increase
poverty and
reduce
livestock
Livestock
populations
decline/ HH
Important
part of livelyhood income
Various
micro
businesses
exists in BSG
Some cleared
land leased
out to immigrants
Cause
shifting of
farmland
No stallfeeding in
use
Roads ease
transport &
sales in town
and Sudan
Roads ease
transport &
sales in town
and Sudan
Roads ease
access to
remote areas
degrading
Declining
farm income.
Need for
other income
Cut and carry
fodder
should be
used
Forests provide monthly
income that
is needed
An important
part of the
low income
generation
Renting of
such lands by
poor farmers
raise income
No support
or policies
that ease
poor farmers
No directives
or policies
provided
Same
level
Weak
policies on
forest resources
Weak
policies on
forest resources
Woreda
authorities
are not in
control of
this
Increasing
Declining
Increasing
Increasing
Farmers get
only some
seedlings as
payment
Nurseries
exists in XX
kebeles
Farmers
benefit from
homegarden
trees & SWC
Supervision
of operations
by Woreda
AO and NGOs
Increasing
Conduct
apiculture
etc. in forests
Bee hives in
use
Honey
support
income
generation
Some
supervision
Small
scale
6.5.4 Conclusions for the region
Benishangul-Gumuz is another small region in Ethiopia, which has partly similar
challenges as Gambella Region. This region has also recently got interest from outside
investors, which is partly coming from commercial agriculture even if region has
lower production potential than Gambella. More importantly, there is a large hydroelectric power station and a large dam on the Blue Nile under construction and the
region has got substantial mineral and metal resources, and gold washing in rivers is
a normal livelihood in local communities.
Benishangul-Gumuz has road to Sudan and both wood poles and bamboos are
commercially sold over the border for better prices. This fact increases wood and
bamboo cutting in the region and increases the role of forests in local livelihood
income generation. People are very poor in the area and get a large share of their
income as in-kind income. The birthrate is high (over five per woman) and some
attention to family planning should be incorporated in future development plans.
Farming practices among the original local small-holder families are hoe-based and
only recently people have started to use small-scale irrigation systems to circumvent
water, which is the main bottleneck for agriculture development in the region. There
are also settlers, mainly from Amhara, who have introduced plow cultivation. It is
more unsustainable practice, as it requires uprooting of tree stumps and complete
clearance of the former forest vegetation and root systems. As a consequence there
are large tracts of lands impacted by erosion with substantial loss of fertile topsoil
104
layers and rivers are filled with sediments. There are also some commercial rain-fed
agricultural schemes, which have further added to unplanned forest clearing.The
existing lack of mechanisms to monitor these large‐scale agricultural investments
after land-allocation cause large-scale misuse of natural resources and severe
detrimental environmental and social impacts in the region.
6.6 Afar National Regional State (ANRS)
6.6.1 Overview
The Afar Regional state is located in the north-eastern part of Ethiopia. The region is
geographically situated between 39o34’ - 42o28’ East and 8o49’-14o30’North. The total
area is about 8,541,000 ha, accounting about 8% of the total area of the country. The
region shares regional boundaries with Tigray in the north-west, Amhara in the
south-west, Oromiya in the south and Somali in the south-east; and international
border with Eritrea in the north-east and Djibouti in the east. The estimated total
population of Afar is 1,411,092 with population density 15 persons/ km2, accounting
for 56% are males and the rest 44% females. The rural population are mainly
dependent on pastoral (90%) and agro-pastoral (10%) livelihood systems (ANRS,
2010). The altitude of the region ranges from 116 meter below sea level (Danakil
depression, lowest point in Ethiopia (500C)) to 1600 masl with temperature ranging
from 25⁰C to 48⁰C and a mean annual rainfall below 500 mm in the semi-arid western
escarpments and decreasing to 150 mm in the arid zones to the east (ANRS, 2010).
The vegetation types, which are the main stay of the pastoral livestock economy,
comprise Riverine woodland, bush land, shrub land and grassland. WBISPP (2005)
105
estimates, the regional forest cover is about 3.2 million ha, constituting 94% shrub
land (35% of the region total area), 5.1% for woodland (2.0 %) and high forest 1.2%
(0.5%). The forest resource of the region is estimated to sequester 28.7 million tonnes
CO2e (Moges and Tenkir., 2014). Desa’a forest partly shared with Tigray region is the
only high forest and categorized as a dry single-dominant Afromontane forest in the
region. Natural gum and resin bearing species cover around 65,000 ha in the region
(Tadesse et al., 2007). The mean annual gum and resin is estimated to of 40-500g per
tree (ANRS-BPAD, 2015 unpublished). The region also contains national parks such as
Awash National Park, Yangudi-Rasa Natural Reserve and the Dallol Depression are
expressions of Ethiopia's desert beauty (ANRS, 2010).
The main feed resources used for livestock feeding in the region are natural pastures
(herbaceous vegetation composed mainly of grasses and forbs and browses (shrubs,
tree leaves and pods). However, these vegetation resources in Afar rangelands are
heavily encroached by Prosopies juliflora (locally known as Woyane). This is a major
alien invasive species in the region since early (Wakie et al, 2012). Recent satellite
imageries based study by Wakie et al. (2014) on mapping the current and potential
distribution of P. juliflorashowed that the extent of P. juliflora invasion is
approximately 360,500 ha in the Afar region alone. The same study indicated that the
potential habitat for future infestations could expand to 502,400 ha. Some others
estimates take up the figure higher up to 700,000 ha in Afar alone (Yirdaw et al.,
2014). P. juliflorais also declared by local community, regional and national
governments as a top priority problem enquiring external support to prevent further
expansion of the invasion and the restoration of invaded areas (ANRS, 2010; Wakie et
al, 2012).
The extensive encroachment of Prosopis has resulted imbalance of the grass-bush
ratio and a decrease in biodiversity and the carrying capacity. However, recently the
species has been intensively used for charcoal production. FARM Africa project has
initiated and run a project entitled ‘the Afar Prosopis Management Project (APMP)’ in
2004, as part of its pastoral development program in collaboration with the local
communities and Afar Region National State (FARM Africa, 2009; Yirdawu et al.,
2014). This restoration intervention approach, which is management through
utilisation, has not only hindered the spread of Prosopis but also provided possibilities
to generate substantial income for local people. For instance, four cooperatives
managed to clear 406 ha of invaded land, and generated a net profit of USD 300,075
from the sale of 195,949 sacks of charcoal within a year; which is 482 bags of charcoal
per ha. Assuming 30 kg/bag, 500 trees/100kg of charcoal produced (Wakie et al,
2012), under traditional charcoal production system, the total number of trees to be
harvested to produce 195,949 sacks is estimated to be 29,392,350 trees. The major
charcoal market follows supplying to wholesalers in major cities along the Addis
Ababa-Djibouti highway. Charcoal producer cooperatives also benefit from income
generating from processing and marketing crushed pods and seeds as supplementary
animal feed (Yirdaw et al., 2014).
According to the survey conducted by Afar pastoral agriculture development bureau,
(2015, unpublished) showed that the man reason forest cover change is overgrazing,
followed by fuelwood demand including charcoal to supply for region and national
markets. Currently, charcoal and firewood harvesting and selling has led massive
deforestation of woodland such as Accacia nilotica and Accasia tortilis together with
Prosopis. The three species contribute to about 80 - 90% of the residential energy out
of the fragile environment. The fuelwood consumption of the region is twice of the
106
supply, amounting 2.1 million and 1 million tonnes of consumption and supply,
respectively (Geissler et al. 2013). Charcoal production is less regulated and caused
diminishing of woodland tree species. For example, indigenous trees such as Acacia
nilotica, Tamarix aphila, and Combretum aculeatum are harvested for charcoal
production legally from leased woodlands and illegally from communal lands (Wakie
et al, 2012). According to survey conducted by Afar pastoral agriculture development
bureau (2015, unpublished), a number of trees harvested for traditional charcoal
production is estimated to approximately 625,000 trees per annum form
dense/closed forest, which is equivalent to 2,083 ha per annum; together with trees
removed from open wood land, the deforestation reaches to about 8,929 ha per
annum, which is far below the national average deforestation (141,000 ha, FAO,
2010). However, one should be caution in the context of future trend of the forest
diminishing with increasing demand of charcoal production mainly from native
species in the region. Flooding and erosion overthrow of riparian trees are also seen
as causes of forest degradation around all river banks. Underlying driver of
deforestation and forest degradation in the region is mainly attributed to recurrent
and extended drought periods that initiate to look for alternative livelihood strategy.
Furthermore, manmade fires and increasingly observed human encroachment for
settlement purposes are also among the factors reported (Afar pastoral agriculture
development bureau, unpublished).
The region has REDD+ focal person and mainly under capacity building and
awareness creation but lagging behind to assign formal REDD+ coordinator.
6.6.2 Aysaita Woreda
Aysaita is a small woreda in centraleastern parts of Zone 1 of Afar Region. In 2012 the
total population constituted of 32446 males and 28143 females or totally 60589
persons – almost all from the Afar ethnic group (a few Eritrean refugees are the
exceptions). The average number of births per woman was calculated to be around 6.
The number of households was stated to be 9084, which is not disaggregated on male
and female headed households.
The main source of cooking energy is fuelwood, while kerosene and electricity is used
by many households for lighting. A substantial amount of charcoal is produced by a
large number of the households and this activity forms a substantial part of the
livelihood income generation. This charcoal is currently commercially sold and
transported to larger towns such as Addis Abeba. Charcoal from native acacias still
fetches a higher price than charcoal from prosopis, but currently there is a scarcity of
acacias in Aysaita, while there is a substantial amount of prosopis around, which
almost every household in the whole region uses. The prosopis is an invasive alien
species that have invaded the area. Due to its thorny appearance it is not always liked
and it is blamed for declining income generation of pastoralists. However, Afar region
would today be a sad case without prosopis, as people are rather dependent on
prosopis wood and non-wood products and services. There is one household in the
woreda that acts as a demonstration site for improved cooking stowes, which has
been installed by this household with support of the government
There is no industrial plant located in the woreda and most households are
dependent on a pastoralist or agro-pastoral livelihood. There is though a Tendaho
sugar project owned by the Government in the form of the national Sugar Corporation
107
and some other state owned agricultural projects. Earlier these state projects
cultivated cotton, but have switched to sugarcane.
Out of the total 13 kebeles that make up the woreda, 5 are completely pastoralist
inhabited and six kebeles are inhabited by agro-pastoralist. The remaining two
kebeles are urban ones. The major crop produced by the agro-pastoralist households
is maize, with the average productivity is 32 quintals, without application of
fertilizers. Other crops produced in the six agro-pastoralist kebeles are sesame,
tomato, onion, pepper, and mangoes. These crops are produced with the support of
the annually flooding Awash river, which provide layers of fertile alluvial and volcanic
soils that keeps the land productive. It was stated by the woreda authority that the
top soil layer can be up to twenty metre deep in some places. Most crops cultivated
produces rather well without fertilizers due to the annual flooding. The farming is
dependent on availability of water which originates in the Ethiopian highlands and
the water is also supporting primitive irrigation systems.
The agricultural operations are constrained by seasonal flooding of the Awash river,
which destroys a substantial part of the maize fields. There are also stem-booring
beetles and larvae attacking the maize staws. Further combined with invasive weeds
such as partinum these insects destroy a substantial part of the annual harvest.
2014 livestock species in the woreda included: 72930 cattle, 11981 camels, 9757
goats and 39988 sheep. According to the woreda authorities the livestock populations
have substantially declined in the last 10-15 years due to occurrence of drought and
cattle diseases such as liver fluke, rinderpest and some other respiratory disease.
Most of the still existing livestock are free grazing around the landscape during the
dry season – only some sheep are stall-fed. The prosopis is stated to have invaded
pasture lands and thus it has reduced grasses for fodder. Not even in years of drought
there are livestock reported dead as households move camp sites.
The native tree vegetation has been declining rather rapidly during the last years, but
this process was started already some 20-30 years ago. One of the first reasons for
deforestation in Aysaita was the establishment of the state owned Tendaho cotton
farm, which was established to a large area of former forest lands. This state farm
establishment provided a model for farm land expansion, which has been followed by
the state itself (for more cotton cultivation, now used for sugarcane) and later by the
local pastoral communities when they started to cultivate crops alongside livestock
rearing. There has also been a population increase leading to more land clearing and
to increased demand for fuelwood, charcoal and construction wood as settled
households wanted proper houses instead of movable tents. Additionally, road
construction has reduced forest both directly due to land clearing for roads and
indirectly due to easier transportation of charcoal and other wood products to far
distant markets.
There is also a watershed management programme ongoing in Aysaita including
reforestation activities. This programme is operated by the Office of Agriculture and
Rural Development, which has joined forces with two international NGOs (PARD and
the World Vision) working in the environmental field in Aysaita. There are five tree
seedling nurseries in the woreda to supply the Watershed Management Programme
with seedlings for planting. During the last three years (2012-2014) some 250,000
seedlings have been distributed for planting in urban areas, along rural road sides and
to individual farmers. The main tree species for planting in urban areas and along
108
roads Milia azaderachta, Sesbania sesban and Moringa sp. Pastoralist households are
normally given fruit trees, such as papaya and mango seedlings, free of charge. The
survival rates of all seedlings have been about 75%.
All lands are communal and all forests belong therefore to the woreda or the state.
There are no community forest cooperatives found in Aysaita, but some irrigation
cooperatives for farm lands do exist.
As there are very few larger trees there are no timber operations in the woreda.
Forest product prices are comparatively high in this woreda. For instance, a donkey
cart of fuelwood (about 500 kg weight for fuelwood) cost about 350-400 Birr and one
sack of acacia charcoal is sold for about 150 Birr. A sack of prosopis charcoal is
currently 100 Birr. The establishment and annual operational cost for a tree nursery
with capacity of 500,000 seedlings cost around 1 million Birr.
Table 26. Framework analysis of the underlying causes of DD vis-à-vis societal
situation in Aysaita, Afar Region.
Specific drivers
Agent
Biophysical&
environment
Livelihoods&
technical
Awash river
Trees die due
to drowning in
high floods
This dead
wood is often
used as
fuelwood
Sand invasion
Wind
(Nature)
Sandy soils is
blown into
dunes that
invade on
fields etc.
Drought and
land fires
Nature &
local people
Large-scale
farming
operations
State and
other large
investment
farming
schemes
Trees strained
due to drought
and fire
further kills
them
Large tracts of
forest have
been cleared
Unfertile
sand cover
fertile soil
and degdare
both forest &
field
Dead trees
can be used
by people for
wood energy
Expanding
small-scale
farming
Poor local
communities
Declining
pastoralism
Cattle diseases and
drought
Livestock
grazing
Poor local
small-holder
families
Local people
follow the
state farm
example and
clear forest
land for
farming
People try to
get income by
exploiting
forests
Livestock free
graze and eat
seedlings etc.
Fuelwood &
construction
Poor local
small-holder
High pressure
on declining
Negative
drivers
Annual large
floods
Underlaying causes
Infrastructure
Socio-econ &
economic.
The floods
cause people
to move to
higher
grounds
Shelterbelts
of prosopis
planted in
risk prone
areas
Use of heavy
machines to
clear land for
cotton &
later for
sugarcane
Livestock
rearing
income is
declining
Use of heavy
machinery
and
irrigation
People turn
to charcoal
burning and
farming
Livestock
populations
are declining
per
household
Fuelwood &
poles are
Forests and
grassland
become farm
lands
Only few
sheep stallfeed.
Small-scale
irrigation
practices
Institutional &
Policy
Trend now
Large tracks
of land is just
barren
during dry
season
Sand
invasions
cause
increasing
poverty
Some small
support
provided
Impact
increase
due to land
com-petion
No governmental or
woreda support for this
Decrease
due to
prosopis
Drought
cause
increasing
poverty
No directives
or policies
provided
Same level
The revenues
do not
benefit much
the local
communities
The locals
are originally
pastoralist,
but need now
another
income
source
Poor people
other income
sources than
livestock
People used
to have large
herds and
are unused to
stall-feeding
Needed for
household
These farms
have set bad
example in
terms of
deforestation.
Increasing
impact
No proper
extension to
set good
example
Increasing
impact
No governmental or
woreda support for this
No directives
or policies
provided
Decreasing
Weak policies
on forest re-
Declining
overall, but
increase
near settlements
Increasing
109
wood
collection
farmers
resources
Commercial
charcoal
burning
Almost all
local
households
Large amounts
of wood is
needed
Land tenure
system
Local poor
communities
Tree resources
are nobody’s
property
Woreda
agriculture
office &
NGOs
Reforestation
with 0.25
million
seedlings for
SWC purposes
Fast-growing
invasive tree
species that
grow faster
than cutting
happens
Positive
mitigating
activities
Watershed
management
practices
Invading of
introduced
prosopis trees
& bushes
Nature
freely
collected on
common
lands
Native
forests are
almost
destroyed by
now
When farm
land or
charcoal is
needed
people just
cut trees
Farmers get
some fruit
tree
seedlings as
payment
Impact
positively on
charcoal
production &
negatively on
pastoralism
energy and
construction
sources
Roads ease
transport &
sales in
towns and in
Sudan
Missing land
registration
in many
parts of
woreda
An important
part of the
income
generation
Weak policies
on forest resources
Increasing
Settlement of
people is still
a new issue
among Afar
pastoralists
Local people
do not have
proper land
rights
Increasing
problem
One nursery
exist
Farmers
benefit from
homegarden
trees & SWC
Supervision
of operations
by Woreda
AO and NGOs
Increasing
awareness
Originally
introduced
as shelterbelt
tree
Local people
get more
benefit than
costs from
this tree
With weak
woreda
forest management this
tree has been
a blessing
Increasing
benefit,
which is
not yet
fully
understood
6.6.3 Conclusions for the region
Afar Region as a whole is a hot and dry region where most of the population derive
their livelihoods from pastoral and charcoal production activities. Farming practices
are mainly performed in such woredas where river Awash or its tributaries flow
through the landscape and seasonally flood large tracts along its meandering course
from the highlands to the borders with Djibouti and Eritrea.
Afar is another region that has fairly recently started to attract external business
investment attention. The largest investor is still a state company, but also other
investors are starting up operations. The pattern of starting these commercial
farming investment schemes on forest lands rather than on non-forest lands is the
same, as in the other newly developed regions of Ethiopia. From a purely carbon
emission viewpoint this is a bad practice, with minimal environmental considerations,
which must be changed in the future.
The initial introduction of prosopis trees as shelterbelt tree species some decades ago
has proven an important mitigating action. The tree species have started to become
invasive over the Afar landscapes and thus very substantially contribute to both the
reforestation of Afar and wood resource . From the latter perspective prosopis was
introduced at the nick of time, as without it, there would have been almost no tree
vegetation left in Afar region. All native tree species would have been exploited totally
by now.
There, however, are many local researchers and experts (e.g. Haji and Mohamed,
2013) who would disagree with the authors of this report regarding the above
mentioned usefulness of prosopis. These persons see the tree from a pastoralist or
farming viewpoint only and fail to see its overall impact to the sustainability of the
110
Afar landscapes. The declining income generation in livestock rearing and farming
would have happenedanyway, if all forest vegetation had been devastated in Afar
region. Now Afar region has got a fast-growing tree species, which is actually able to
endure despite hard pressure from human wood energy needs in this harsh region.
No local tree species would be able to cope with this wood ulilization demand in an
equally good manner.
Livestock numbers in Afar region are declining per households and mainly for the
same reasons as elsewhere. As the human population and the number of households
with livestockare still growing in Afar, the overall livestock populations is not
declining much and in some locations it is probably even slightly increasing. The
birthrate of children per woman in Afar is also higher than Ethiopian averages and
should be tackled through family planning as soon as possible, to reduce the
unnecessary burden of an expanding human population.
6.7
Somali National Regional State (SNR)
6.7.1 Overview
The Somali Regional state is located in south-eastern part of Ethiopia. It is located
between 7°26′ N and44°17′ E. The total area of the region is 35million ha. Most areas
in the region are located below 900 masl with hot temperature and erratic rainfall.
Annual rainfall falls between 150 and 1,000 mm and average annual temperatures
range from 19° to 40°C. Based on 2007 CSA, the Somali Region has a total population
of 4,439,147, of which 55.6% are males and 44.4% are females. The rural population
accounts 86 % and 14% are urban dwellers. Population density is the lowest among
111
the regions, accounting about 15 persons per km2, and population growth rate is
estimated 2.6% per annum (RCCAPCU, 2011 cited in Bekele and Girmay, 2013). It is
estimated that more than 85% of the population in the region are pastorals, and
solely depend, and obtain their income from livestock.
The vegetation of Somali region is endowed with dryland vegetation. According to
WBISPP (2005), the total vegetation cover of the region is estimated to around 18.6
million ha, constituting 71% for woodland, 29% for shrub land and 0.02% for high
forest. The vegetation resource of the region is estimated to sequester 479.3 million
tonnes CO2e (Moges and Tenkir., 2014). The woodlands are dominated with Acacia,
Boswelliaand Chomiphora species that are sources of important forest products like
gum, incense and myrrh both for the domestic and foreign markets. These species
have been under intense pressure from huge charcoal production for the last 50
years, and also considered as the main driver of deforestation and forest degradation
in the region particularly in the last two decades. Biomass fuel consumption in the
region is estimated to around 5.94 million tonnes, of which charcoal accounts for
54%. While the biomass supply of the region is estimated to around 7.95 million
tonnes (Geissler et al. 2013). Somali and Tigray regions are the leading charcoal
consumers in Ethiopia, using 86% of all charcoal consumed by rural households
(WBISPP, 2005). The charcoal consumption in the urban area of the region is the
highest among all regions of Ethiopia, which is 117 kg per capita per year.
Currently, charcoal production has aggravated in the region due to banning of export
of livestock to middle-east since 1998, recurrent drought, and growing demand of
urbane population within the region and boarding Somaliland (Scully 2006; Bekele
and Girmay, 2013). Charcoal production used to be poor men business but now
charcoal became a lucrative business even for richer people and for those coming
across the border from Somaliland through financing and mobilizing local
communities to massive production. The charcoal business also attracted other
section of the society including khat sellers, soldiers, professional business men,
transport companies, women and youth. Owing to the increment in charcoal demand
and the loosely organized control on the sector from both sides of the border, are
believed to increase the involvement of many people in the production and illegal
export of charcoal into Somaliland. Harshin district boarding with Somaliland is the
major harbour for charcoal production and marketing. According to Hagmann (2006,
cited in Bekele and Girmay, 2013), in total around 63,000 sacks of charcoal harvested
from Harshin district alone and transported across the border to Hargeissa on a
monthly basis harvesting 27,300 trees in 2005. The charcoal trade also changed the
pastoral way of life like younger people to generate income form the charcoal trade,
and this has impacted their livelihoods to be addicted to different stimulants (e.g.
Khat and cigarettes).
Besides, decline in the important browsing tree and scrub species in the region is
greatly affecting the pastoralist way of life. Heavy extraction of charcoal production
has also resulted in inflicting conflict between traditional resource users
(pastoralists) and the emerging stakeholders (charcoal producers, district authorities,
farmers, etc.) (Scully 2006); and pushed individual households to create private
enclosures, who uses 85% of living trees for charcoal production (MoPD &E, 2004;
Bekele and Girmay, 2013). Other causes of deforestation and forest degradation in
the region include immigration from neighbouring Somali and establishment of
camps (Lemenih and Woldemariam, 2010).
112
The REDD+ activities in Somali regional state are limited to awareness creation with
support of federal REDD+ secretariat offices. Focal person is assigned as a contact
person.
6.7.2 Kebri Beya Woreda
The text is based on a meeting with the woreda authorities. The woreda authority
persons were ill prepared for the meeting, there was a lack of organized data in the
woreda and most of the figures provided were mere assumptions.
The number of persons of Kebri Beya was not properly registered and there existed
no household data of the woreda. The woreda is entirely inhabited by the Somali
ethnic group except some immigrant Tigrean people in the urban centers. According
to the latest CSA population projection value statistics for 2014 the population
number in Kebri Beya woreda should have been 197821 persons of which 104810
were males and 93011 were females.
Charcoal and fuel wood are the main sources of energy in the woreda, which is to an
extent supplemented with solar energy (currently some 550 households use), car
battery and electricity for lighting in many households. Charcoal is rampantly
produced in the woreda as a supplementary or main livelihood of many households the situation is similar to the Aysaita woreda of Afar region. Both fuel wood collection
and charcoal production are freely undertaken by the households without any
control. For fuelwood and charcoal making the most widely used tree species are
acacia species, which has led to a substantial diminishing of these acacias in the
woreda area. Charcoal is produced practically by all households in Kebri Beya as in
the rest of Somali. The woreda authority experts considered that charcoal making is
the main driver of deforestation in the region and in particular Kebri Beya. Charcoal
production is undertaken for household consumption in smaller quantities while the
main share of the produce is sold on the market or traded elsewhere. Charcoaling for
commercial purpose is undertaken by both the poorest households, which do not
have other alternative livelihood available and by wealthier households for further
accumulation of income. There is no industry located in the woreda.
The economic base of the woreda is in pastoralism and agro-pastoralism. The major
agricultural crops produced are maize, sorghum, and wheat. The average yield of
maize per hectare is 25 – 30 quintals, and for sorghum 20 – 25 quintals – this yield is
achieved without application of fertilizers. There are also small amounts of vegetables
and fruits produced in home gardens, which are often irrigated with water from wells
(dug for cattle).
The soil types of the woreda are considered fertile and consist of sand nitosoil, and
clay soils. There are very limited efforts by the PSNP (Productive Safety Net program)
for soil and water conservation, as the land is rather flat and the community members
are not willing to use fertilizers as the soil is fertile and the yield is high. Further,
fields have no irrigation, as there is no river from where to take water – all larger
agricultural fields get sufficient rain for harvesting under normal circumstances.
The woreda agricultural office lacked livestock statistics for the woreda. Whereas the
number of livestock observed at the site appears rather high (many camels, sheep,
goats and cattle could be observed), the stated figures of the woreda authority experts
113
were very low. It was thus quite apparent that the woreda experts were hesitant to
disclose the real figures for average households. According to the latest national
livestock statistics from CSA in 2010-2011 there were in Jijiga zone of Somali region
248435 cattle, 503881 goats, and 666130 sheep. It is also know that there would have
been in Jijiga 55476 milking cows, 1750 camels sold and 582 camels deaths in that
time period. The camel population in Jijiga could thus have been some 80000 animals
in all. From CSA population projection statistics the human population of Kebri Beya
was in 2014 estimated to be 17% of the Jijiga total human population. One can then
assume that there would be approximately 17% of the total livestock population for
Jijiga zone.
Cattle are free grazing in the fields, bushes or woodland and farmlands during the dry
season and stall feeding is not practiced at all in the woreda. The experts reported
that the number of livestock has slightly declined in the last two decades due to the
frequent droughts that hit the region, combined with diminishing grazing lands and
opportunities to browse on trees.
Seasonal flooding resulting from heavy flushing rain destroys many agricultural
crops. Maize stem booring beetle’s larvae and invasive partinium weeds are the main
pest infesting crops in this area. Further, the severe droughts take place almost every
three years, which claims the lives of thousands of livestock due to shortage of water
and forage.
There is no exact figure that would indicate the forest area of the woreda. However, it
is known that there is 8 ha of forest lands in one kebele and 5 ha in another kebele,
both of which are not protected from human and animal intervention. It is further
known that there has been a rapid decline in forest cover over the last three decades.
Amajor cause for large scale deforestation wasthe Ethiopian civil war that lasted up to
1991. Further, the refugees from Somali caused a lot of deforestation as they settled
in the woreda for over twenty years and used fire to clear bush. Later, the population
increased and resulted increase in the demand for construction- and fuel wood and
further aggravated the deforestation.
Recent deforestation has been caused by the following drivers:
 Charcoal making has been a major threat to the forests in the area. This activity
has been undertaken by all households for both own consumption and for market
sales to get an income. The poor households produce charcoal for nearby markets
(Kebri Beya town) and the wealthier households trade and transport it as far as
Hargessa (Somaliland in Somali);
 Farmland expansion by the agro-pastoral groups, following the recent settlement
activities.When pastoralists settle woodlands are cut as timber for house
contruction material and farm land is cleared;
 The increase of population in the area, the resultingfarmlands expansion/
encroachment into woodlands and the increasing demand for fuel- and
construction wood;
Since few years the reforestation activities are supervised by the woreda office of
agriculture and rural development and the Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP).
The woreda has got four nurseries, which supply seedlings for outplanting, but
currently only two are functional. Only some 5,000 seedlings were in 2014
distributed for planting by the woreda agricultural office. The survival rates of the
114
seedlings have been estimated not to be higher than 66%. The major seedling
supplied for ouplanting are mango, papaya and jatropha.
There are no forest related cooperatives in this woreda. All the lands in the woreda
belong to the local clans and thus, communal and forest lands also belong to the
community as a whole.
Timber operations are not common in the woreda as there are no big trees for such
operation in this woreda. The prices of forest products is relatively high in the area.
For instance, fuel wood carried by a camel (about 300 kg weight) cost been 200 – 250
birr; and one sack of charcoal of acacia wood is sold for 200 birr at Kebri Beya and for
not less than 300 birr at Jigjiga.
Table 27. Framework analysis of the underlying causes of DD vis-à-vis societal
situation in Kebri Beya, Somali Region.
Specific drivers
Agent
Underlaying causes
Infrastructure
Socio-econ &
economic.
Biophysical&
environment
Livelihoods&
technical
Wind
(Nature)
Sandy soils is
blown into
dunes that
invade on
fields etc.
No
mitigating
actions taken
Drought
Nature
Trees strained
due to
drought
No
mitigating
actions taken
Expanding
small-scale
farming
Poor local
communities
Livestock
grazing
Poor local
small-holder
families
The soils are
favourable for
rainfed
agricul-ture
and farm
lands are
expanding
Livestock free
graze and eat
seedlings etc.
Unfertile
sand cover
fertile soil
and degrade
both forest &
field
Dead trees
can be used
by people for
wood energy
Livestock
rearing
income is
somewhat
declining
No stall-feeding practiced
Fuelwood &
construction
wood
collection
Poor local
small-holder
farmers
High pressure
on declining
resources
Commercial
charcoal
burning
Almost all
local
households
Refugees
living in the
area
Somali
refugees
Native
bushland
forests are
exploited
Native
bushland
forests were
heavily
exploited
close to camp
Livestock
populations
are large, but
slightly
declining per
household
Fuelwood &
poles are
freely
collected on
common
lands
Almost every
household is
in need of
this income
Incomes
from forest
was main
income
source
Land tenure
system
Local poor
communities
Tree
resources are
When farm
land or
Missing land
registration
Negative
drivers
Sand invasion
Institutional &
Policy
Trend now
Sand
invasions
cause
increasing
poverty
No governmental or
woreda support for this
Increasing
problem
Drought
cause
increasing
poverty
The locals
are originally
pastoralist,
but need now
another
income
source
Deforestation
cause more
drought and
No directives
or policies
provided
Same level
No proper
extension to
set good
example
Slowly
increasing
No directives
or policies
provided
Roads ease
acces to tree
stands
Needed for
household
energy and
construction
Weak
policies on
forest resources
Increasing
population of
livestock
cause more
deforestation
& degrading
Increasing
Roads ease
transport &
sales in
towns
Refugee
camp in the
woreda
An important
part of the
income
generation
Somali
refugees
lived for long
time, but
have mostly
left back to
SomaliSomali
Settlement of
people is still
Weak
policies on
forest resources
No directives
or policies
provided nor
followed
Heavily
Increasing
Local people
do not have
Increasing
problem
Basic
agriculture
without any
fertilizers or
ploughs
Caused large
deforestation
at the time of
existance
115
Positive
mitigating
activities
Watershed
management
practices
Woreda
agriculture
office &
NGOs
nobody’s
property
charcoal is
needed
people just
cut trees
in many
parts of
woreda
a new issue
among Afar
pastoralists
proper land
rights
Reforestation
with 5000
seedlings for
SWC purposes
Farmers get
some fruit
tree
seedlings as
payment
Four
nurseries of
which two in
operation
Farmers
benefit from
homegarden
trees
Some minor
supervision
of operations
by Woreda
AO and
NGOs
Small impact
so far
6.7.3 Conclusions for the region
We have assessed only one woreda in this quite large region. The ethnicity the
majority of the population belongs to the Somali ethnic group and thus population is
ethnically connected to one or several parts of the three main regions of neighbouring
SomaliSomali.
During fieldwork in Kebri Beya it became clear that there are several attitudinal
issues which impact profoundly on the development in this particular region. This is
first of all a clan operated part of country, which makes is probably difficult for
national authority to operate in the region. Secondly, the Somalis are pastoralists or
nowadays also agro-pastoralists and set themselves a little aside from other groups of
people with more diverse livelihood structures. Our field team was unable to get
either human or livestock population statistics from the local authorities, who just
provided invented answers for average household livestock numbers, that were
clearly not correct.
From deforestation and degradation viewpoint it is cumbersome that the people of
this region have quite low environmental awareness and they are ill prepared to
adopt new practices in this field. If there are any forest, livestock or other natural
resources rules and policies adopted in this region these are not enforced nor
followed. It is therefore likely that the forests of this region will diminish considerably
before the population will have had enough of degradation and following droughts.
People should start right now to adapt livelihoods and their respective impacts for the
future.
116
6.8 National level sosio-economic conclusion on DD
6.8.1 Main drivers affecting forest cover and conditions of degradation
In the following pages we assess the main drivers of deforestation and degradation
which were pinpointed in the previous chapter. These pinpointed drivers of DD will
eventually constitute the BAU (Business-as-Usual) scenario in forthcoming carbon
and co-benefit calculations. First we will analyze these drivers from a more
comprehensive viewpoint and try to see how one should deal with these drivers in
order to mitigate them. We will therefore assess the following kinds of drivers of DD:







Population growth and immigration into an area
Fuelwood and other energy needs
Timber and wooden construction materials
Agricultural expansion
Livestock rearing
Road construction
Biophysical landscape characteristics
6.8.2 Population growth and immigration into an area
Overall impacts of these factors
The human population growth has during the recent decades been very fast in
Ethiopia and the overall population is currently around 94 million people in the
country. There have been, according to international WHO officials and some NGOs,
quite successful family planning campaigns during the last few years and the family
size in larger urban areas has become around 2.2 children per family and it is on
average around 4.2 in rural country side. Despite this fact we have come across in
almost all the woredas where we have been collecting data that the average number
of children born per woman is still higher than the official national average for rural
areas varying between 4.4. to 6. With so many children it can be foreseen that the
parent couple’s generation may have sufficient farm land for their needs, but that the
next generation will not have sufficient farm land. In fairly sparsely populated areas it
is still possible to expand and enlarge with new farm land, but in areas of high
population pressure it is exceedingly difficult to find new farm land.
Wondo Genet woreda in SNNP region could be used as an example to describe the
population increase situation. Some 10-15 years ago this woreda had about 22500 ha
of land in total of which most was still forest lands and pasture. The official
agricultural land formed perhaps one fourth of the woreda. Since about that time
illegal immigrants started to spill in over the woreda borders from all directions and
these illegal immigrants – mainly young adult males – started to establish small chat
cultivation sites inside the forest area and others started to cultivate pasture lands.
Together with these illegal immigrants there were also new households formed
amount the local woreda population. Eventually, the new comers from Oromiya which
neighbours Wondo Genet became so many that the majority language of several
kebeles became Afan Oromo and these people started to claim that those kebeles
117
should belong to Oromiya. After some hot conflicts those kebeles with former forest
cover and pasture lands were transferred from SNNP region to Oromiya region.
Totally half of the woreda was transferred almost overnight from one region to
another and the Wondo Genet woreda had only 11500 ha left. Before the land transfer
the average population density was some 850 person per square kilometer in 2010
and since then it has become 19400 persons per square kilometer in 2014.
The above described situation is an example of how it goes when population pressure
becomes very high. A reduction in family size is a must in many areas in order to cope
with land availability. In the future scenarios of this REDD+ assignment one should
therefore look into what are the options for achieving such family size reductions.
Already a 10-20% reduction in children born for each woman would ease quite much
on land pressure. In most of the assessed woredas there is thus a need to see how this
could be achieved.
Another line of thought is that one would simultaneously start to establish various
businesses and entreprises that would employ substantial amounts of rural people
and thus reduce the number of households that are dependent on farming income and
thereby turn a part of the rural households to become industrial workers instead of
farmers. This would reduce land pressure to an extent.
6.8.3 Firewood and other wood energy needs
Firewood
Firewood is by far the most important forest product in use by Ethiopians.
Traditionally it used to come from forests and woodlands or from trees found
anywhere, but as the human population has been growing and as forests become
degraded fuelwood become scarce and expensive in many places. At the same time
the remaining forests have often received some protection it has become difficult to
continue the practice of collecting fuelwood from forests or freely from common
lands. The current situation in Ethiopia to plant and grow fast-growing introduced
and some native trees was originally not planned by a governmental body – rather it
is a grass root phenomenon that the rural population has come up with by themselves
to a) secure their own private fuelwood and have easy access to wood resources and
b) to use trees as source of cash income c) and also use trees to secure their land
holdings.
In more developed regions of Ethiopia the rural households have nowadays adopted
the habit of planting trees on their own small farm or wood lots. In regions that are
poorer, more remote and recently opened up for development people still use
fuelwood from free access forests and woodlands to fill their needs. In the former case
the firewood used is nowadays at least partly and in many cases almost completely is
of introduced eucalypt species, while in the latter case the fuelwood consists mainly of
wood of native tree species. Still, charcoal comes from native species, with the
exception of those produced from the invasive species of Prosopis juliflora.
In very densely populated areas overpopulation forces the landless and poor land
owning part of the population to still collect fuelwood from native forests. Among the
woredas selected and assessed for this particular study there are a number of
woredas, which have in fact got the large majority of its local community members
118
that owns land to rather well understand the need to protect the native forests and
thus as much as possible to refrain from cutting native forests. The problems come
with households that do not have their own land and have to cope in any possible
manner, which includes of cutting native trees. In densely populated areas there is
also in most cases a border leakage from other already overexploited areas towards
those woredas, which have been able to raise their own awareness and protect some
of their forests. Those individuals in neighboring woreda are thus exploiting the
situation and thereby reducing the achieved results of environmental awareness. This
is the case in Wondo Genet in SNNP region, Atsbi Wonberta and Kola Tembien in
Tigray region, and in Tamra Ber and Metema in Amhara region among the studied
woredas in Ethiopia.
Charcoal
Charcoal making is an illegal activity in most parts of Ethiopia and it differs from
firewood collection in that it is produced from native trees in most parts of the
country, if not all. We have only encountered a different situation in Aysaita woreda in
Afar region where most charcoal is today prepared from the introduced and invasive
prosopis trees. Even in the Aysaita case people used to make charcoal from native
trees, but the native trees were almost exploited completely and now they use
prosopis instead.
Charcoal is a wasteful way of using wood and this is particularly true where the
technology used to produced charcoal is the traditional earth kiln. It may be better if
charcoal would only be allowed as an urban type of wood fuel as it is easier to
transport long distance and it is less smoky than fuelwood in urban centres. In
Ethiopia, to a large extent the charcoal is used mainly in urban centres – it is mainly
the charcoal makers themselves who use some of it domestically – otherwise it is sold
to bring the producer household an income.
The use of prosopis for charcoal is a very good option as this tree species is both fastgrowing and invasive, which means that there is a need to harvest it particularly from
locations where it should not be growing, meaning fields, irrigation canals, seasonal
river beds and some pasture lands. Prosopis charcoal should therefore be a legal
product, while charcoal produced from diminishing native species should be, if not
illegalized, then highly monitored and supervised. The prospis charcoal is today an
important income generating source for poor households in Afar, Somali and to a
smaller extent also in Tigray region.
Reforestation
In most part of rural Ethiopia there has for 20-25 years been on-going some soil and
water conservation activities. These activities included earlier mainly stone bunds,
terracing and laying of culverts and other similar actions to stop erosion and land
degradation. In the early days trees came back as a consequence of protecting an area
from both human and livestock activities on closure lands. The SWC activities also
carried the message of environmental conservation, which many rural households
have adopted.
Some five years ago the Federal Ministry of Agriculture of started up the national
Watershed Management Programme, which targeted all woredas and most kebeles in
Ethiopia. The aims of this programme is also soil and water conservation, but this
119
time mainly by planting trees in erosion and barren areas. From each kebele some 40
farmers are involved in the out-planting and the farmers are paid in fruit ?? and other
tree seedlings for their own farm lands. This programme has been very successful in
turning the rural population’s attitudes to trees from a quite negative one into a
highly positive one. There have also been tens of millions of seedlings planted all over
Ethiopia with quite high survival rates. Those people who have participated in this
programme are now highly conscious of having trees around in the landscapes. The
problem with the programme is that there have been minority ethnic groups,
migrating pastoralists as well as urban people left outside it.
It is quite clear in Tigray, Amhara and in SNNP regions that those above mentioned
groups of people, who have been left outside the programme are now the main
human culprits for deforestation and degradation in Ethiopia. The forestry authorities
should try to invent how they could approach those neglected groups of people to get
them also incorporated into environmental awareness raising campaigns.
Forest and pasture land closures
From the assessed woredas of this study it is quite clear that forest and pasture land
closures may be the best manner in which one can rehabilitate back a native forest
into its former diverse mixture of trees and plant species. This closure must though be
strictly followed and it should be established while the closed area still has got
stumps of a previous tree stand or a seed bank in the soil and it is not too degraded in
terms of soil erosion. There are many examples all around Ethiopia where such
closures have been successful options in rehabilitating some hill or slope. The forest
may quite fast grow up again in case humans do not collect fuelwood there and
livestock do not trample and browse there.
If the soil is already very compacted and has been barren for a long time the area
needs human assistance in regeneration. In this case one may need to plant first
nitrogen fixing low bushes to stabilize the slopes, to bring in nutrients and to loosen
the soil to get it more porous for other trees to grow. After a while seedlings of some
timber or non-wood forest tree species can be planted there.
6.8.4 Timber and wooden construction materials
Timber and construction wood
In most regions today do timber and construction wood mean eucalypt or cypress
wood that has been planted and grown on farmers’ or state land in plantations. For
timber there are exceptions in some places where there still exists some native forest
resources left to harvest illegally that happen in SNNP, Gambella, Benishangul-Gumuz
and sporadically in other regions. For construction wood, which is smaller in
diameter than timber there is still both legal and illegal cut trees in natural forests
and wood lands.
The trend is towards a situation where all legal timber is coming from plantations,
while construction and fuelwood will also become more and more from plantations or
the invasive prosopis in Afar, Tigray and Somali regions.
120
This woreda that really stands out is Chena in SNNP region where various kinds of
licenses are being sold by the woreda authorities both within and outside the woreda
and all kinds of people are scrupulously misusing their respective mandates (please
see Chapter 6.3.3 on Chena woreda for more detailed information). To a smaller
extent there may similar kinds of illegal operations on-going in Wondo Genet woreda
also in SNNP region, but it is not a flagrantly openly conducted and its scale is also
completely different. These kinds of behavior constitute a high risk for any kind of
REDD+ scheme and should be tackled with a decisive measure to stop these
operations immediately.
Trees on farm and agroforestry
According to a WBSPP (2004) and FAO (2010b) the Ethiopian forest lands cover
around 11% of the country’s land area, while the forest cover simultaneously would
cover some 50% of the Ethiopian land area. The difference is of course trees on farm
lands and in homegardens. These lands are today in many regions vertitable
agroforestry systems with a multilayer of harvestable crops from below the surface to
fruits in the trees. Particularly the home gardens contain often as many trees and
biomass as the degraded forest lands, which still are classified as forests. In many
populous woredas will such farm land agroforestry systems contain the majority of
the trees in the future.
6.8.5 Agricultural expansion
Overall issues
Agriculture sector is highly important and therefore also highly prioritized in
Ethiopia. Traditionally, there used to be three land taxation classes in Ethiopia, which
were a) cultivated, b) semi-cultivated and c) uncultivated. Forests were included in
the last category, which had least value. One can still see that Ethiopian agricultural
sector in particular still thinks in these kinds of land use classes when considering
development of regions in the country. The same is probably true also for many other
governmental bodies in various fields of operation in the country. The various values
of forests are substantially under valuated and probably not understood by many high
officials at all levels of administration in Ethiopia.
There are five main kinds of sub-drivers under the heading of agriculture. In the
following pages these are analyzed one by one.





State and commercial private large-scale agricultural investments
Shifting cultivation aspects
Forest area cultivation
Homegarden agroforestry
Small-holder farming practices
State and commercial private large-scale agricultural investments
These large-scale state and commercial private operations are really problematic
from a deforestation and degradation viewpoint. We have encountered large-scale
agricultural schemes in all regions of Ethiopia while conducting this assignment.
121
These large-scale operations act first of all as a window to development and
modernization of woredas all over Ethiopia where there is from previous almost no
other large-scale state or commercial private operations on-going except some tarmac
road construction and large hydro-electric power stations and related dams. This
means that the attitudes of the management and laborers attached to these
operations towards the environment also are seen as a window to how one should
treat the environment in the local landscapes. Most of these large-scale operations
have until this day not paid much attention to devastation of nature and have thus set
very bad examples all over Ethiopia for poor and often also very poorly educated
people.
Secondly, normal practice in large-scale agricultural schemes is to establish these
schemes on forest lands, where local people are not directly living and having their
fields and thus perhaps avoid a direct eviction of the people. Although clear cutting of
the forests, may derive poor communities of a major part of their livelihoods which
are usually forest based in terms of wood products, non-wood products and fodder.
Further these areas function as an expansion area for growing local communities.
Thirdly, many of these agricultural schemes are established on lands that have been
leased out due to probably corrupt practices or failure to follow-up, which means that
their location and size may not be fitting into the local landscape properly if all
environmental and social aspects are considered. As the leaseholder may not be
completely sure of his ownership to the land it has meant a rapid clearing of these
forested lands from all trees and other vegetation and then the lands are barren and
idle for many years before any commercial agricultural production starts up.
Fourthly, in the schemes heavy machinery are used first to clear land and then to
cultivate the fields. Many times such schemes are in hilly or sloppy terrain where a
complete disregard of erosion may be normal practice. In some of the selected
woredas we observed substantial gully erosion forming on such badly farmed slopes.
All this badly performed agriculture act as bad example for local small-holder farmers
who may replicate some of the practices. A disregard for forests is just one such
activity.
Shifting cultivation aspects
The second main type of agriculture based driver of deforestation and degradation is
shifting cultivation, which is an old traditional type of agriculture practiced mainly in
remote lowland regions of the country where development has only recently started
to move forward. Such regions are Gambella, Benishangul-Gumuz, Afar, and remote
parts of SNNPRS.
The local ethnic groups have until recently been living in these remote areas without
proper highways connecting them to the core areas of Ethiopia and these people are
normally rather poor. Their agriculture is based on hoe cultivation without any
fertilizers, oxen ploughs or irrigation systems. Their fields are in basic conditions with
tree stumps and tree seedlings coming up between the agricultural crops. After a few
years of cultivation these fields are abandoned for some years while the farmer shifts
to opening up other neighboring grassland, shrubland, woodland or dense forest area
for cultivation. Many times forest fires are connected with the practice of shifting
cultivation. We have seen on satellite image from January 2015 that in Goge woreda –
122
one of the selected woredas for this assignment – the fire flames are very clear in the
image. This means that these flames are probably some ten metres tall from the
ground and one does not need even to guess that almost no trees can survive alive is
such furnace. This particular land fire had already burnt a few thousand hectares and
other nearby sites of almost the same size where. A lot of nutrients, among them
carbon go up in the smoke as CO2 and CO.
In some of the shifting cultivation areas part of the local people have become aware of
the detrimental effects of these land fires, but it does not require many persons who
lit fires and large areas are burnt annually. Tree seedlings and eventually forests
would be able to return in case these wild fires would be stopped. With the arrival of
the large-scale agricultural schemes next to the shifting cultivation areas there is now
increasingly land registration on-going, which means that shifting cultivation would
eventually stop as individuals have their own small piece of land and use fertilizers
instead of fires to clear their lands.
Forest area cultivation
Shifting cultivation may be one type of forest cultivation, but there is also another
type which is meant by this topic. It is the practice of cultivating small bush or tree
cash crops under the canopy of larger trees in a degraded forest. Such cash crops are
forest or semi-forest coffee and chat, which are cultivated in dry montane or moist
rainforest types of forests. We have encountered these cash crops in forests in Wondo
Genet and Tsena woredas in SNNP region.
Many people consider such cash crop cultivation as environmentally friendly as these
persons see the cash crops as protecting these degraded forests from worse
deforestation and degradation. It may be true in some cases, but it may also be the
second step in complete depletion of a forest. The first step being a situation where
the forest were logged over by harvesting many big trees for timber and then leave
the forest in a thinned state where the cash crops can come in under the remaining
standing tall(er) trees.
Chat and coffee cultivation in forest occur normally on small patches of 0.1-0.2 ha of
forest lands and often the household is also cultivating some vegetables, banana,
enset, or fruit trees in this area, which is often illegally started in the forest. A forest
can be full of such small chat or coffee cultivation households, which can get sufficient
from their crop harvest. These chat or coffee cultivation sites are usually started by
poor households without own land that may come from far away outside the woreda.
These household head may also come from some big family where it is not possible to
divide his father’s farmland anymore for all his children. There may eventually be a
large number of such small cash crop cultivation sites inside the degraded forest and
eventually the forest is no more a forest but start to look more like agroforestry land.
Small-holder farming practices
The normal small-holder farm land is then next type of agricultural practice to
analyze. It is not only one type as there are differences between woredas, zones and
regions as to how small-holders utilize their farm land. In the primitive case it is a
123
completely cleared field with no trees on the land where monoculture or mixed
cropping of some agricultural crops is taken place. These kinds of fields exist today in
regions where land registration is a new issue and organized farming has only
recently started. It can also be in an old farming area where degradation has already a
long time ago reached such an extent that the fields are not properly providing yields
anymore. In these cases it would be worthwhile to plant nitrogen fixing trees in alley
cropping lines in the fields to rehabilitate the nutrient levels of the soils. One could
also try so called “Evergreen agriculture” where Faidherbia albida trees are planted in
parkland stands in the fields to fix nitrogen, inhibit weed invasion, provide organic
materials into the soils and with the tree roots prepare the soil to become more
porous. A land which has been degraded to such as extent that it is barren for long
time has usually got heavily compacted soils where agricultural crops have difficulties
to grow.
In regions where deforestation and degradation has been a long-time problem the
small-holder farmers have had time to become aware of environmental issues and in
these regions small-holder fields look different in that there are nowadays quite many
trees standing in or along the side of the field area. Such trees can be native, but the
overwhelmingly most popular kind of tree to plant is a fast-growing eucalypt species
that can cover the household’s annual construction and fuel wood needs – partly or all
of it. These kinds of agroforestry systems have become very popular in many parts of
Ethiopia. There are even small eucalypt or other tree species plantations on farmers
on farmland. Some farmers get even their own timber, which they sell or use
themselves for sawntimber.
In the future it would be good if as many farmers as possible would be able to be selfsufficient besides in their cultivated agricultural and horticultural crops also in their
wood consumption. In some areas of Ethiopia this kind of vision is already at least
partly achieved. However, so far this achievement stems not from the authorities, but
from the individual farmers themselves. It is now a cluster of grass-root level visions
which have become a comprehensive vision. There is now a need to also have the
upper hierarchy organized comprehensive authority vision in place as well.
Homegarden agroforestry
Then we come to the homegardens, which almost can be seen as a landscape
development back towards a forested land. These small individual household
agricultural plots usually on average of 0.1-0.2 ha in size are usually agroforestry
plots with multistory cultivation starting from root crops below the soil surface,
various low agricultural crops just above the soil surface and then small bush level
crops (perhaps beans), banana or ensert, fruit trees and taller trees for shade, timber
or construction wood. The homegarden agroforestry plots are often the most valuable
farm lands that households have. A large variety of food, fodder, wood and perhaps
even non-wood forest products are produced simultaneously. The biomass and thus
also the carbon amounts in this kind of homegarden is rather high and can be fully
comparable to degraded forests with chat or coffee cultivation. Biodiversity can be
also quite high, but usually the plant species are introduced species while insect,
birds, reptiles and small mammal species are native.
124
6.8.6 Livestock rearing
Overall issues
Livestock of all size are potentially major drivers of deforestation and degradation as
livestock trample seedlings and plants, which destroy the proper growth potential of
these plants in an immature stage. Livestock further graze on grasses and herbs
before these have matured, so that no seeds are able to mature and thus carry
regeneration forward over the years. Furthermore, livestock eat seedlings from their
small crowns and thus harm these seedlings to such an extent that they will most
likely not develop into proper straight trees anymore – trees thus get crooked stems
or turn into round balls of green leaves with no proper top from where to grow tall
anymore.
We have had some questions in the household interview form for primary data
collection, which we have asked for interviewed community households in all the
selected woredas. It has become very clear that in all the assessed woredas the
numbers of livestock of various kinds are declining. However, as the number of
households are rising the absolute numbers of livestock may not have declined very
much and perhaps in some areas not at all. There are various reasons for this decline
in livestock numbers per household, which we will tackle separately for the following
three different cases.
Pastoralism
In all lowland areas of Ethiopia there are ethnic groups of people that live of
pastoralism. These ethnic groups have been livestock herders for thousands of years
or centuries anyway. Now the human population is growing in all parts of Ethiopia
simultaneously with a situation where farm lands are expanding in all regions of the
country and thus make it more difficult to move around with large herds of livestock,
which trample crops and forage heavily on vegetation in often the wrong places.
With growing human populations even among the pastoralists themselves there is
also a growing problem of various livestock diseases such as Triposomiasis,
rinderpest and some lung diseases, which kill large numbers of livestock in many of
the lowland regions of Ethiopia. These diseases are locally often seen as the foremost
factor in declining livestock income generation and they are big ones, although there
are many major factors behind this decline. Above we have already mentioned human
population growth and agricultural expansion as two of these. A third major widespread decline factor is climate change, which is causing the weather to become more
erratic with both severe droughts and severe floods in the lowlands that have killed
or weaken many livestock until these become ill and die of those above mentioned
diseases instead.
A fourth major livestock income affecting issue would be the invasion of the prosopis.
This tree species was initially planted to stop sand encroachment into fields and
villages in Afar, Tigray and Somali regions in particular. However, the prosopis is very
competitive on degraded soils in particular and it began as it is currently doing in
many places in the tropics to invade large tracts of land – barren land, pasture lands,
farm lands, ditches and irrigation canal and hill slopes etc. The pods of the tree are
highly palatable for livestock, but the leaves contain some alkaline colloids, which are
to an extent toxic and non-tasty for animals. Therefore livestock eat mainly young
125
shoots and leaves as well as cut and dead branches from where those colloids have
broken down (it takes some three days for colloids in leaves to break down after a
branch is cut). When prosopis takes over some land it forms thickets where grasses
and herbs cannot properly grow and thus reduce the availability of other forage for
livestock.
A type of special case of pastoralism is constituted by the Fellata ethnic group – a
pastoralist people, which originally came on foot from Western Africa with their large
livestock herds and eventually have settled in Sudan and in South Sudan. Due to the
recent civil war like conflicts in South Sudan and severe conflicts also in for instance
Blue Nile State of Sudan these Fellata have also come over on the Ethiopian side with
their livestock herds so as to be out of the way for those Sudanese conflicts. Their
large livestock herds are thus moving around in Gambella and Benishangul Gumuz
regions in particular. Each Fellata family group may have some five hundred cattle
and small ruminant in their herds and herds like that eat substantial amounts of
grasses, tree leaves and seedlings while they trample down vegetation in their way
from one pasture to the next. A newly established tree plantation could be destroyed
quite easily by such a livestock herd moving through it.
Free grazing
All over Ethiopia the farming households also own livestock of various kinds. Earlier
all such livestock was free grazing wherever they could find some grass, herb or tree
to forage from. As earlier mentioned in the historical overview on deforestation and
degradation did livestock in some regions of Ethiopia – particularly Tigray and
Amhara – eat large tracts barren of vegetation. In the 1990 attention was paid to this
as people became aware of this problem properly and free grazing has been gradually
reduced. In most of the country free-grazing has been cut down considerably some
ten years ago. Particularly in hill or mountain areas livestock have been forbidden to
graze on slopes. This has led to a substantial reduction in the number of livestock
households have on average. This has been evident in all selected woredas where we
have collected primary household data for this assignment.
Currently cattle and small ruminants are mainly free grazing on plains and valleys
where the erosion risk is much smaller than on hill and mountain slopes. Many
woredas have officially closed their slopes and even forest areas from livestock
grazing. Free grazing is now happening mainly where the settled farmers have
available sufficient pasture lands for such grazing.
A special problem with free grazing is found in Gambella and neighboring areas of
Ethiopia where a South Sudanese ethnic group called Murule sneak in over the
unguarded leaky border between the two countries and conduct cattle raiding in
Ethiopia. In Gambella region were most free-grazing livestock stolen by these heavily
armed Murules. Throughout many decades the ethnic groups in Gambella could
protect their livestock as they were also heavily armed, but since the Ethiopian
authorities and the army have disarmed people in Gambella in the name of
development as commercial agricultural schemes are started up these people are
since some ten years back unable to protect their livestock anymore. Livestock
populations in particular the woredas closest to the South Sudanese border have
almost ceased to keep livestock anymore as a response to the Murule cattle raiding.
The Gambella region has become emptied of livestock owned by the local ethnic
groups and therefore the Murules have on their hand extended their raids all the way
126
into Amhara region some 200-250 km from the South Sudanese border. The Murules
have thus with their cattle raids substantially reduced livestock impacts on vegetation
cover in Gambella region in particular.
Stall-feeding
The practice of stall-feeding is now widely practiced in areas where human
populations and thus livestock populations are dense. In Wondo Genet in SNNP region
some 70% of all households used stall-feeding and were thus carrying home fodder
for their livestock from the forest areas or their fields. The remaining 30% of the
households were such households that live down on the plains where free-grazing is
less harmful. As the household members have to carry home the fodder themselves it
has meant that households have had to reduce their livestock numbers. It is
particularly cattle numbers, which have reduced per household. For small ruminants
the reduction has not been as clear. As households have reduced their cattle numbers
they have also often invested in hybrid cattle, which have increased the milk and meat
production potential per animal, which largely balance out the cattle reduction.
Stall-feeding is the future of livestock rearing in most parts of Ethiopia. This means
that there is a change in livestock rearing as a livelihood from a surplus to sell
towards a situation where a relatively large share is consumed domestically. Despite
the fact that national livestock statistics indicate that overall livestock populations are
growing there will thus in the future be less livestock to sell on the market. The
growing livestock populations are due to the growing human population and the
following increase in rural household numbers in the country. Cattle trading at the
local and regional levels have thus changed to domestic market during the last ten
years and this also means that the federal livestock authorities will have to change
their minds about the importance of for instance livestock exports in the Ethiopian
economy.
6.8.7 Road construction
Overall impacts and where
All over Ethiopia are major roads – particularly recently constructed tarmac roads an environmental problem as the contracted road construction companies have not
lived up to their obligations to restore hills and mountains after sand and gravel have
been taken from these hills and mountains. These roads often cut into a corner of a
mountain to straighten the road and a huge cut may mean a vertical cutting edge of
10-30 metres, which has been left unmaintained as a wound in the countryside. These
cuts pose both a huge erosion risk as well as a dangerous site for humans and animals
in case of walking on the slope above the cutting edge as it is likely to be difficult to
see the sharp cut from immediately above the edge. Both people and animals would
die if fallen over the edge straight down. The construction companies are supposed to
maintain such cut hills to reduce the erosion risk by reforming the hill into a more
normal shape. They are actually paid for the work, but due to some reason such work
by the contractor is never completed.
The cutting of rock for gravel is not the only environmental risk with road
construction. Sand and other surface soil is also exploited from sites near the actual
road stretching to be used as road fill before placing asphalt on top of the level
127
surface. When traveling along the highways one often sees that there have been gully
erosion formed from such side sites that lie in some kind of slopes. One major reason
for gully erosion formation is that the soils contain underneath the surface a layer of
volcanic ash, which becomes exposed to weather. When torrential rains occur the
exposed ash is getting soaking wet and easily opens up run off ditches and gully
erosion starts to form.
Mitigation activities
Gully erosion needs to be stopped as soon as possible as these will otherwise form
into deep creeks in the soil surface and may wash of even the tarmac road, houses and
fields below it. The areas must be planted with fast-growing tree seedlings to get the
roots of the trees to keep the soil in place and eventually trees to grow even in the
gully erosion canal itself.
One can also reduce the impact of construction gravel exploitation by selecting some
small hills which one then use up completely for gravel production to be used in road
construction. These hills are thus leveled to the ground and disappear, which is better
than leaving many hills with one or two sides with deep ugly white cuts in the
landscape that are erosion prone.
6.8.8 Biophysical landscape characteristics
Overall impacts
There are several biophysical factors which can be highly degrading in the
environment in case such factors are derived of the vegetation cover that normally
keeps these factors latent. Below we will assess the impact of the following
biophysical factors, which are in places of Ethiopia very degrading. We will also look
at some mitigating activities where trees can be used to rehabilitate nature.
 Altitude and slopes;
 Volcanic soils;
 Floods;
 Drought;
 Invasion of prosopis.
Altitude and slopes
Tree species have an altitude border line above where they are not growing. This
border line is in most cases related to temperature and some other climatic conditons.
As there is currently a global climate change where temperatures are slightly raising
it means that trees are able to slowly expand their growth area higher up the
mountains. In Himalaya this movement of tree border line up the mountains is
perhaps 100 m per ten years or so at the current state. It may be about the same in
Ethiopian highlands.
Below the tree border line deforestation and degradation is mainly caused by man or
by some kind of natural disaster like earthquake, severe drought, natural landslides,
128
volcanic eruption or fires caused by thunderstorm. The human impact is often almost
as severe where mountain forests are clear cut, livestock graze, roads are constructed
in erosion prone mountain areas and landslides occur as a consequence of one or
several of the mentioned human activities.
As already mentioned in the historical overview there have been deforestation and
degradation on mountains and hills in Ethiopia caused by man for several hundred
years. In some cases humans have also been able to reforest barren hills. In most
cases hills and mountains have reforested themselves as long as man has understood
to close and protect these hillsides from human and livestock grazing activities.
However, there are numerous hills and mountains in the country which are so
degraded and have been barren for so long that there are no tree seed bank in the
mountain soil anymore. It would be better to assist nature by planting tree seedlings
on these mountains and hills to rehabilitate them.
In many cases those barren hills are extremely degraded and the fertile top soil layer
has already eroded away. In those cases it is probably futile to try to plant seedlings of
tall native timber trees there directly. Rehabilitation will need a first recovery stage
where one need to plant nitrogen fixing trees and bush seedlings there instead. Such
species are in lower altitudes probably acacia species which does not need to form
proper stems as their main purpose is to enrich the soil and with their root systems to
stop erosion. Eventually after some 20 years or so one could then start plant taller
tree species which forms proper stems that can be used for timber. One should avoid
using eucalypts in such hill top plantations and instead use local tree species that are
adapted to grow up on mountain tops. At higher altitudes in Ethiopia will not acacias
grow and here one could preferable use for instance seabuckthorne or some other
high altitude nitrogen-fixing tree species instead.
Volcanic soils
The Rift Valley in Eastern Africa that cut through the middle of Ethiopia as well is an
old volcanic area which in places is still active. For instance, in Wondo Genet there are
several hot springs in the mountains, which show the activeness of volcanic
mountains, although there have not been any recent volcanic eruptions in Ethiopia. In
ancient times there must have been many eruptions in the area which now is Ethiopia
and a lot of volcanic ash is still there on mountain slopes and in valleys beneath these
under a layer of new soils of organic or alluvial nature. If the top soil layer is disturbed
or excavated down to the ash layer so that it is exposed to weather conditions it will
start to react with rain water. Ash when soaked wet becomes very slippery like wet
soap and it also swells and become like porridge. Such soaked wet porridge like ash
easily loose it grip of the rock underneath and slide down a mountain side like a
mudslide. I can also open up gully erosion on slopes and even on plains. One should
therefore be quite cautious with excavating soil in areas where one can expect a layer
of volcanic ash beneath the top soil layer.
Floods
Floods can be both disasters and highly beneficial for the lowlands of Ethiopia on the
same time. They are disasters if the overflow of rivers destroy crop fields, rise into
huts and houses and destroy property in villages. Many times do some humans and
129
livestock alike drown in the floods which can rise quickly as a consequence of high
rainfall in the highlands, which then comes flushing down the river and overflow large
lowland areas in Gambella and Benishangul-Gumuz regions, in particular. Floods can
also be beneficial as they bring a lot of water to drylands, which as the rivers overflow
is spread out over large areas that are soaked with water and thus allow farming in
areas that actually do not have by itself sufficient rainfall to support crop cultivation.
This is the case, for instance, in Tigray, Afar and Somali regions.
Floods can be mitigated with tree plantations and regeneration in both highlands and
in lowlands in strategic places. In the highlands trees should be planted or allowed to
recover on hill and mountain slopes so that torrential rains are sucked up by the
vegetation on the slopes and thus the rain water would not be flushing down the
slopes – instead the flow would be slower and released over a longer time period
from the mountain areas. Downhill in the lowlands the rivers would not overflow as
much when the highland water is not anymore flushed in one go down the rivers.
Additionally, one can establish tree plantations in strategic locations, which can stop
the overflow of rivers from hitting hard directly in villages or on crop fields. A barrier
of trees would reduce flow speed of water and also enable human, livestock and loose
property to catch into trees in case fast flowing water would take these with it. Such
plantations may have to be established in two or three stages where one need to first
plant in one location to reduce the water overflow in another place to enable
seedlings to grow up to such a size that they can withstand the overflow in a risk
prone area. Once the tree plantations with the right kind of trees that can endure high
water standing in the plantation are established the area can be improved also in
other manner such as with excavated earth barriers and stone settings to fix some
risky slope etc.
Droughts
Trees can also reduce somewhat the drought disasters that hit Ethiopia on frequent
basis. Tree stands can improve the micro climate in most places and the larger the
tree stand or forest is the better it will improve the climatic situation. This is done in
several ways such as a) allowing rain water to such into the ground better where it
falls than barren soil, b) the tree stand improves the micro climate as moisture among
the trees can be maintained, while a barren soil will lose all moisture with the wind,
and c) larger tree stands may even be able to cause rainfall in an area to increase as
compared to the barren land.
The author of this report know several sites in Eastern Africa (from both Sudan and
Kenya) where tree plantations have improved the micro climate in the above
described manner and the effect has been clear for all local people as well. Once the
local population in a previously barren area has understood this they will never again
let their area become barren from trees again.
There are several drought stricken areas in Ethiopia in both lowlands and in the
highlands. In the lowlands there are large areas, which could be improved with tree
plantations or regeneration by allowing clear felled forests to recover with closures
from humans and livestock. In the highlands there are hills and mountains which have
been barren for hundreds of years perhaps and may thus have lost their potential to
recover by themselves. In those cases human actions are needed in the form of tree
planting and watershed management actions such as preparation of small water
130
catchments for the seedlings. This may not be sufficient in many cases and in those
places one need to start the rehabilitation from the side – to rehabilitate lower slopes
first and then gradually as moisture from micro climate improves on the lower slopes
extend the plantations towards the top of the hill or mountain. Eventually the whole
barren hill or mountain can be tree covered again. However, one should not expect
results too fast – it may take 20 – 30 years before reaching the end result even with
nitrogen-fixing small acacias is completed and then another 20 years before tall tree
species could be reach some size on those hills.
Invasion of prosopis trees
The invasive prosopis tree species has both been introduced and probably spread by
itself over the border either from Sudan, Eritrea or Somalia into Ethiopia. There are
now in some border areas of Ethiopia fairly large stands or thickets of prosopis in
both convenient and in inconvenient locations as seen from a human land use
perspective. In many of the locations where this tree exists it has come in the nick of
time as people have exploited native tree species in Ethiopia very heavily. Without
prosopis those areas would by now be barren of all trees – there are most likely
several such sites also in Ethiopia where prosopis has not yet established itself.
Prosopis is currently used in the invaded areas for firewood, charcoal, fodder, soil
improvement and shelter against sand encroachment and wind. However, it is thorny
and not always wanted when it invades agricultural fields and pasture lands. It grows
very fast, which means that it can almost grow as fast as people are utilizing it and
thus it does not become depleted despite heavy exploitation. It is in fact difficult to
eradicate and the best manner to control its spreading is to utilize it rather heavily.
As seen from a purely REDD+ carbon sequestration viewpoint it is ideal for bringing
back trees in degraded and barren sites. In case of sufficient water and nutrients in
the soil it can grow a quite tall and straight stem and is then very valuable timber
species. In drylands it normally becomes a bush of two to five metres in height
depending on water conditions. If the trees only get rain water it will remain a low
bush, while with ground water it can become up to 12-15 in height.
131
7 National level conclusions on Drivers and Underlying
causes of DD
7.1 Literature
Ethiopia is rich in flora and fauna diversity, however, values on the actual forest cover
are still inconsistent and no recent survey based data exists except the report by
WBISPP (2005). Those available documents don’t accounted trees on agricultural
landscapes, except some fragment studies at different parts of the country, though
they cover wideareas and play significant role in supporting local livelihoods. The
economic contribution of the forestry sector to agriculture and the national GDP is
also underestimated. The available scanty information in this regards, has focussed on
valuing the products (timber and non-timber), but other ecosystem services have
been overlooked. For instance, the contribution of the forest resources in providing
various ecosystem services such as watershed protection, biodiversity conservation
and climate regulation are not well accounted as part of economic contribution. This
lack of information further decreases the significance of the sector to the country’s
economy and millennium developmental goal in official documents. Thus, detail
valuation of the economic contribution of the forest resources should be conducted to
fill the gap of information, and show up its contribution to the country’s green growth
strategy and developmental goal.
The forestry resource is viewed differently depending on history of the political
economy of the country. Forest resources were considered as open access and
marginalized resources during imperial era. This, however, changed in socialistDereg regime but the focus shifted to nationalization and more attention was given to
forest protection and conservation than empowering and benefiting the locale people.
After the socialist era, forest resources administration was devolved to the regions
and recently, new Ministry of Environment and Forest is established to account, and
enhance the contribution of the forestry sector to the national economy. However,
still much effort and incentives are needed to attract private investors to involve in
forest development. The government also should promote state owned plantation,
enhancing of stocking of existing stand, and foster ex-closures at wider scales.
Though no clear accounts on forest cover and rate of deforestation in the country,
fragments of studies have shown that forest cover of the country has been
substantially reduced until the end of the 20th century, but as FAO report showed a
slowing trend is observed at the beginning of the 21th century. This is partially
attributed to better accounting of reforestation, afforestation and secondary
regeneration of the forest and woodland resources. However, ground based survey is
needed to plan future strategies and programs for sustainable forest manage and
conservation to fetch benefits from ecosystem services.
Moreover, some reports have shown the annual rate of deforestation in Ethiopia has
been reduced for the last two decades and hence, placed the country at late forest
transition phase, and pave the way to post forest transition phase where the forest
cover change will become positive and increase through reforestation. However, as
132
CRGE report indicates, the positive development of forest cover can be materialized
only if we change traditional development path that underestimate the roles of the
forestry sector to support green growth and the national economy.
Several studies have also identified three major direct causes of deforestation and
forest degradation in Ethiopia such as expansion of agriculture land (commercial and
subsistence), followed by unsustainable fuelwood consumption, and illegal and legal
logging. Agricultural expansion for commercial and subsistence purposes have been
reported as major drivers of deforestation in all studied region except Somali and
Afar. The culture of shifting cultivation in Benashangule-Gumuze and Tigray (e.g. in
Desa’s forest, Raya-Azebo and Kafta-mesile forests) also affected forest cover of both
regions. Charcoal productions have significantly contributed to woodland degradation
in Somali and Afar. Expansion of tea plantation, coffee management and rubber
plantations have resulted in huge loss of moist evergreen Afromontane forest in
SNNRP. The CRGE predication also shows that the woodland resources are more
affected than high forests in business-as usual agricultural production and fuelwood
consumption for period between 2011 and 2030. Irregular manmade fires for shifting
cultivation and traditional team hunting of wild animals have also consumed large
forest areas in the Benashangule-Gumuze region.
The main underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation are attributed to
ever increasing population growth, immigration, settlement, promotion of
agricultural investment, poverty, lack of sense of ownership and lack of clear legal
policy framework. Expansion of commercial agriculture in SNNRPs, Gambella and
Benashangule-Gumuze region have deforested significant proportion of high forest
and woodlands whereas settlement and immigration have caused deforestation of
large forest land in Tigray, Amhara, Gambella, and Benishangul-Gumuz regions.
Recurrent droughts in some parts of Afar, Somali and western Tigray have triggered
change in lifestyle of local people to depend on the forest resources for charcoal
production. Weak forest policy and regulation enforcement has been reported to
aggravate the deforestation and forest degradation in the entire studied region except
Tigray. Thus, much effort is needed to intensify agriculture, assess the opportunity
cost of the land, family planning, improved energy efficient technologies, adaptation
of short rotation species and substitution of timber product by non-wood materials.
Coordination among stakeholders (government, local people and NGOs),
empowerment of local people, setting clear legal policy framework, building local
capacity and among others are needed to address issues of deforestation and forest
degradation.
Deforestation and forest degradation in the country have resulted in heavy soil
erosion and land degradation and consequently, decline in annual yield for crop and
grass in particular highlands of Ethiopia, and increased CO2 emission, which are also
anticipated to increase in the future. If the existing trend continues, the impacts are
predicted to be worse after 2030, particularly in the cereal based highlands of
Ethiopia. Furthermore, deforestation and forest degradation have aggravated loss of
biodiversity, habitat loss, have reduced households’ income generation, and exposed
the land to invasive species and pollution. Thus, there is a need to develop
appropriate land use policy and strategies to overcome land degradation and its
associated impacts.
Recently, the country has already launched Readiness Preparation Proposal (R-PP)
and Climate-Resilient Green Economy (CRGE) to protect the country from the adverse
133
effects of climate change and to build a green economy contributing to reach middle
income status before 2025. The forestry sector is among the four pillars recognized in
CRGE to ensure green growth. REDD+ activities were officially initiated to address the
R-PP, and currently REDD Readiness phase II of R-PP. Most of the REDD+ activities
are now focused on building national and regional capacity, awareness creation,
stakeholder consultation and communication, REDD+ strategy preparation and
conducting/biding several platform studies proposed in the R-PP. These efforts
should be further strengthened through enriching human resources, infrastructure
and upgrading capacity at both national and regional levels.
7.2 Spatial analysis
For the spatial analysis of deforestation and forest degradation and direct causes of
DD (Chapter 5), we have analysed and compared existing LULC maps as well as
conducted an in-depth analysis of NDVI time series. Mean NDVI values were
calculated from 250m eMODIS NDVI composites over the dry months (November,
December and January) to produce temporally smoothed images of the years between
2000-2001 and 2014-2015.
Our analysis showed a slight overall decrease of NDVI values over the 2000-2015
period, though there were peaks and valleys between the start and final year. While
the NDVI values of dry woodlands fluctuate with dry and wet years, the values of the
two densely forested areas in northern SNNPR/east Gambella and in east
SNNPR/Oromiya showed a decline.
We analysed the EMA LULC maps of 2003 and 2008 (the 2013 EMA map was not yet
available the time of finishing this report) and noted the considerable increase of
forest cover between these years. This increase can be explained by the variation in
forest cover due to fluctuating rainfall conditions, and should not be interpreted as
evidence of widespread afforestation or reforestation efforts.
A grid of sample plots was created to verify land use changes in identified
deforestation and degradation areas. The plots were inspected by a team of
interpreters, after which the results were merged and analysed. The resulting table of
land use changes and drivers showed the areas of deforestation that have been
identified in Tigray (Laelay Adiyabo/ Tahtay Koraro and Raya Azebo), Amhara
(Metema/Sanja, Kobo, and Kalu), Benishangul (Asosa/Bambasi, Belo Jegonfoy, and
Dibate/Yaso) and SNNPR (Ubadebretsehay, Kemba, Arba Minch Zuria, Chena,
Menjiwo and Yeki). The main drivers of deforestation were found to be agricultural
expansion and the growth of settlements. The plots also covered considerable
amounts of wetlands, where the vegetation cover fluctuates with the changing water
level.
Forest degradation was found in the area that runs from north-east Tigray and west
Afar into east Amhara, covering the woredas of Saesi Tsaedaemba, Atsbi Wenberta,
Hintalo Wajirat, Yalo, Kobo, Kalu, Dawa Chefa, Artuma, Fursi, Artuma Fursina and
Ankober. The drivers of this degradation appeared to be mainly droughts, but some
selective logging may have contributed to the degradation in these areas.
134
Overall, the spatial analysis of deforestation and degradation concludes that the loss
of forest cover is greater than the gain, resulting in a net loss of forest cover over the
period of 2000-2015, the main identified drivers being agricultural expansion and the
growth of settlements.
Socio- economic survey
The socio-economic and biophysical field surveys conducted during February – April
2015 have been summarized below in Table 28. Information collected at woreda level
has been explained in detail in Chapter 6. In order to bring the information into one
national table and to be able to make better comparison between regions, we have
had to alter the information slightly.
Table 28. High severity drivers of deforestation and degradation (DD) and main
mitigating actions conducted so far to reduce DD pressure in seven regions of
Ethiopia in 2015.
Specific drivers
Tigray
Amhara
SNNP
Regions of Ethiopia
Gambella
Negative
drivers
Kola
Tembien
Atsbi
Wonberta
Matema
Tarma
Ber
Wondo Genet
Chena
Arbaminch
Zuria
Altitude, steep
slopes & soil
texture
Tormential
rainfall &
annual floods
Sand invasion
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
Landfires
<
Abobo
Goge
BenishangulGumuz
Afar
Somali
Assosa
Bambasi
Aysaita
Kebri
Beya
=
=
=
=
>
<
>
>
>
>
<
>
=
>
Drought
Badly performed agricultural
practices
Shifting cultivation & smallscale farming
Pests & weeds
in crop fields
Settlement
schemes on
forest lands
Commercial or
state investment in largescale agriculture
Livestock
grazing
Fuelwood
collection
Large scale
eucalypt
plantations clear
cut
Illegal timber
felling
Charcoal
making
Badly performed incense
collection
Poor road
<
<
>
<
=
>
=
=
=
=
>
<
>
=
>
<
>
>
>
>
=
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
<
=
<
=
<
<
<
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
=
>
>
>
=
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
=
=
>
>
135
construction
Lack of income
alternatives
Overpopulation
& poverty
Refugees living
in the woreda
Unclear land
tenure & too
small land plots
Impact of closed areas on other forest lands
Positive
mitigating
activities
Private eucalypt
wood as
fuelwood
Soil and water
conservation
Annual flooding
Livestock are
stall-fed
Watershed
management
practices
Invasion of
prosopis trees
Intensifying of
farming
Agroforestry
homegardens
Land tenure
security
Closed areas
from grazing
and tree cutting
Non-wood &
alternative
energy sources
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
=
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
=
=
>
>
>
=
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
=
=
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
Key to symbols:
< means a declining trend of impact;
= means that impact remain at same level;
> means increasing trend of impact
7.3 The negative drivers of deforestation and degradation
Below we have shortly presented the main negative drivers of deforestation and
degradation by respective main driver groups:
Nature: None of the nature and topographic drivers of deforestation and degradation
are found in each and every one of the regions and these drivers can be mitigated and
rehabilitated by allowing a vegetation cover grown back in the sensitive locations
from where erosion and degradation starts. In many cases one can thus avoid these
kinds of drivers of deforestation and degradation. Altitudes and steep slopes are
found in mountainous areas such as in Amhara, Tigray and in SNNP regions, while the
136
>
lowland drivers of deforestation and degradation are found in Gambella, BenishangulGumuz, Tigray, Afar, Somali and SNNP regions. On lowlands the land-fires are perhaps
the worst drivers. They are set by man on most occasions and thus are avoidable. In
Amhara, SNNP and in parts of Benishangul-Gumuz land-fires are on decline, while in
Gambella and other parts of Benishangul-Gumuz, and Afar the land-fires are on the
increase.
Agriculture: There are several kinds of agriculture practices, which can be listed as
drivers of deforestation and degradation. The by far worst kinds of agricultural
practices are the large-scale investment agricultural schemes – both private ones and
state owned ones. These have been established in Gambella, Benishangul-Gumuz, Afar
and some other regions during the last ten years and their environmental
consequences have been hugely negative in all cases, while their commercial
efficiency can in most cases be considered questionable due to the problems these
create. The negative consequences relate foremost to the fact that these schemes are
established in dense forest areas instead for on grasslands or other land with less
forests.
Most small-holder farming resettlement schemes are likewise established on forest
lands and are therefore also rather environment unfriendly. However, their negative
impact can be substantially reduced by practicing agroforestry kind of agriculture in
these scheme areas. The same is true for traditional shifting cultivation where tree
stumps are left in the fields and no proper ploughing is conducted. As the shifting
cultivation soils contain a good forest tree seed bank, there are seedlings growing up
among the agricultural crops and when these crop fields are disbanded after a few
years, there are already young trees growing in these fallow fields and nature returns.
The main problem with shifting cultivation is the excess use of land-fires. Dry
vegetation burn intensively during the dry season and flames can kill all tree
seedlings and trees in the fire’s way.
Badly performed agricultural practices are badly performed practices, which can be
revised into well performed agricultural practices. It just takes some environmental
awareness and effort to carry out such improvements.
Forestry: Forestry-related drivers of deforestation and degradation are usually illegal
and often criminal in nature and conducted often by persons who are ignorant of the
environmental consequences they personally cause and for which the rest of the
Ethiopian population will have to suffer. The worst kind of these drivers are the illegal
timber cuttings in the last remaining high forests, for which perhaps one can blame a
number of corrupt officials and wood traders. Out of the 13 selected woredas we have
assessed for this study, the most flagrant examples came from Chena and Wondo
Genet in SNNP region. In Amhara a state-owned company has been clear cutting large
areas of eucalypt plantations and we were told during the field work, that there could
have been native tree species also cut down simultaneously. During the field work it
also became known to us that high forests in Gambella have also been facing
substantial timber operations, although our field work did not take us to the location
itself.
The need for fuelwood is high in all seven regions we have assessed, but in Tigray and
in some parts of Amhara the cultivation of plantation wood on farmers’ own land has
been able to supply most of the fuelwood needed. In all other regions assessed there
is a huge pressure on the local native forests for fuelwood.
137
Charcoal is another problematic issue as it is required about six times the amount of
wood to produce, for instance for 100kg of charcoal i.e. 600kg of fuelwood is required.
In more developed regions of Ethiopia the charcoal is illegally produced from natural
forests and woodland trees and most of the charcoal end up to be used in regional
towns. Some small amounts are used in the rural areas – mainly by the charcoal
producer households themselves. As can be seen from Table 28 above charcoal is on
increase in all the assessed woredas except in Tigray region, where charcoal is mainly
produced by outsiders, who transport the produced charcoal with them back to Afar
or Eritrea, while charcoal from Afar is traded back into Tigray.
In Somali and Afar region charcoal is produced by almost all rural households as one
of the core livelihood income sources. People have used earlier heavily local acacia
species for the production, but for instance, in Aysaita woreda and in some other
woredas of Afar it has been for a number of years now the invasive Prosopis juliflora –
an invasive tree species, which constitute the main wood from the production. In
Kebri Beya in Somali region there are so far no prosopis trees and people are still
heavily exploiting acacias. However, in other areas of Somali region the prosopis has
become the main wood used in charcoaling and for firewood. Prosopis is fast growing
and needs to be removed anyway from the wrong places where it can start growing
and thus this utilization of prosopis for charcoal should be legalized if it is not that
already.
Livestock: Free grazing of livestock is under change in many parts of Ethiopia
towards stall-feeding or feeding tied to a pole, which can be moved. It is now mainly
on plains and lowlands regions where livestock still free graze. An exception from this
rule seems to be Amhara, but a little closer look on the situation there reveals that it is
mainly some minority ethnic groups (Who are these?) of people who still have herds
of livestock that free graze – the main rural population stall-feed their livestock. In
many regions the average amounts of livestock per household are declining due to
stall-feeding, diseases, lack of own fodder, and livestock raids from South Sudan,
which should be considered in national planning for the livestock sector.
Demographic issues: There are also demographic issues which forces many
households to illegally or partly illegally cut natural forests and woodlands in regions
where these forests are officially protected by rules and regulations, although not
efficiently enforced so. In the assessed woredas in Tigray, Amhara and partly in SNNP
region it is not so much the main rural population itself, but ethnic minority groups,
urban unemployed and outsiders who cut trees. In the less developed and less
populated lowland regions such as Gambella, Benishangul-Gumuz, Afar and Somali
the whole population is to an extent involved in fuelwood collection and tree cutting.
Factors such as overpopulation, poverty and lack of other income sources are core
issues behind unawareness of deforestation and degradation.
A special case constitutes refugees from neighbouring countries, who have fled under
chaotic circumstances from war situations in their home countries. During the field
work we have encountered refugees in Goge woreda (mainly South Sudanese) in
Gambella and in Kebri Beya woreda (SomaliSomalins) in Somali. These people have
lived in camps if organized as in Gambella, but the refugees still need fuelwood for
cooking their meals and cause large clearings around the camp. In Kebri Beya the
refugees had not been in organized official camp, but trying to survive by themselves
138
and as landless people they contributed rather heavily to wood cutting in the woreda
in order to secure a living for themselves.
Land tenure: It can be seen in many countries where there are common forest lands
that there is no real responsibility among the local population for the common forest
resources – these resources are always being exploited as nobody is able to stop
another person from exploiting trees in case forest laws and regulations are not
enforced. Therefore it is normally better to privatize the forests to local population
households, in which case these people will be empowered to stop illegal forest
cuttings. Local environment awareness raised persons living in an area usually takes
better care of their landscape than persons, who come from the outside with
economic interests only. The other option which the government is working to scale
up is the practice of participatory forest management, where the local communities
are organized in forest users groups and cooperatives assume the responsibility of
managing and using the forest resource in accordance with the agreement they
entered with the government.
7.4 Mitigating actions
In 2015 there are many mitigating actions, which aim to reduce deforestation and
degradation. In many of the assessed woredas in the seven regions included in this
study we have found the following main mitigating activities in use:
Most mitigating actions focus on bringing in trees back in the landscape or by
conducting soil and water conservations measures, which may also comprise
planting of trees. We can distinguish private tree planting of fast-growing trees or
native trees in plantations and own land plots. One major mitigating action is various
kinds of forest and bushland closures that eventually may be able to rehabilitate back
the native forests, which after a long time period may be able to restore the original
natural forest composition in an area. There are many good examples observed
during the field work in this regard.
There are also two national successful programmes implemented at the moment,
which are the Soil and Water Conservation Programme and the Watershed
Management Programme that both are supervised by the Ministry of Agriculture in
Addis Ababa and implemented in all woredas in Ethiopia. These programmes have
shown in many of the visited woredas great success in a) raising awareness among
the local rural population and b) in rehabilitating the degraded landscapes in these
woredas. These programmes should in the future also pay some attention to some
ethnic minority groups and urban people, who have been outside the scope of these
two programmes so far. There is now a huge difference between those groups of
people involved in these programmes as compared to those who have been left
outside it in terms of environmental considerations. In Kebri Beya woreda in Somali
region we could not see any impact of either of these two important programmes.
Here more effort is needed to get these programmes to start up properly, while there
still are natural forests and bushlands around. The Sustainable Land Management
Program (SLMP) that is run by Ministry of Agriculture is found a successful scheme in
registering and certifying land holdings of small scale farmers, thus somehow
ensuring tenure security.
139
In most regions we have assessed it is today common practice to incorporate trees on
farm land be it homegardens or crop fields. On and along crop fields people have
normally planted fast-growing or native timber and construction tree species, while
in home gardens rural people often prefer fruit and some ornamental trees. The aim
should be in most instances to get all the fuelwood, construction wood and timber
from own land plots and thereby protect the remaining natural forests for the future.
The seven assessed regions appear at different development stages in this regard
where Tigray is most progressive and Afar and Somali is the least developed.
In lowland regions with insufficient rainfall the annual floods can be both a curse and
a blessing. A curse for inundating the crop lands and villages and a blessing when the
floods bring in water to soak fields and forests so that crops mature and can be
harvested and trees can grow faster in the forests and woodlands. Such floods enable
trees and overall vegetation to grow taller and become denser than without floods.
Stall-feeding of livestock has enable degraded forests to rehabilitate once livestock is
no more there to trample and browse on seedlings and cause eroding paths on
hillside and mountainside slopes. In several regions people seem to have become
aware of this environmental impact of livestock. As a household cannot cut and carry
too big loads of forage for their livestock back to their homes, it has also meant a
reduction in livestock populations per household – in particular a reduction in cattle
population. There are now also hybrid cattle coming in and these produce more meat
and milk than local varieties of cattle, which means that hybrids can counterbalance
the reduction in cattle numbers per households.
The organized land tenure situation in some of the assessed woredas has impacted
favorably on deforestation and degradation. With the land registration individual
households know what is their land and they can defend them from other households
and outsiders coming to an area to cut trees.
Lastly we have the non-wood and alternative energy sources, which have become
more and more popular in most of the assessed woredas we visited. It was only in
Aysaita woreda in Afar and in Kebri Beya in Somali region we did not enounter such
alternative energy sources. In three of the woredas visited in Tigray and Amhara the
majority of the households had alternative energy sources in use to reduce their
fuelwood depandency.
140
8 References
Abera, W. 2008. Amhara National Regional State’s efforts towards forest cover
increment. In: Nune, S., Mekonnen, A., Bluffstone, R. Proceedings of a policy
workshop. Environmental economics policy forum for Ethiopia (EEPEE) and
Ethiopia Development Research Institute (EDRI). Addis Ababa.
Aerts, R., Lerouge, F., November, E., Lens, L., Hermy, M., Muys, B., 2008. Land
rehabilitation and the conservation of birds in a degraded Afromontane
landscape in northern Ethiopia. Biodiversity Conservation 17, 3–69.
ANRS, 2010. Programme of Plan on Adaptation to Climate Change. Afar National
Regional Stateal State (ANRS).Semera
ANRS-BOA, 2012. GIS Based Forest Resource Assessment, Quantification and Mapping
in Amhara Region. Amhara National Regional Stateal State-Bureau of
Agriculture. Bahir-Dar.
ANRS-BPAD, 2015. Afar pastoral agriculture development bureau (unpublished
report).
Ayana, A.N., Arts, B., Wiersum, K.F. 2013. Historical development of forest policy in
Ethiopia: Trends of institutionalization and deinstitutionalization. Land Use
Policy 32, 186– 196
Babulo, B., 2007. Economic valuation and management of common-pool resources:
The case of exclosures in the highlands of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. PhD
Dissertation. Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven.
Babulo, B., Muys, B., Nega, F., Tollens, E., Nyssen, J. Deckers, J., Mathijs, E. 2009.The
economic contribution of forest resource use to rural livelihoods in Tigray,
Northern Ethiopia. Forest Policy and Economics 11, 109–117
Bekele, M. 2003. Forestry property rights, the role of state , and institutional exigency:
The Ethiopia experience. PhD thesis. Swedish University of Agricultural
Sciences. SLU, Uppsala.
Bekele, M., Girmay, Z., 2013. Reading through the Charcoal Industry: Production,
Marketing, Consumption and Impact of Charcoal in Ethiopia. Forum for Social
Studies (FSS), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
BGNRS, 2003. A strategic plan for the sustainable development, conservation, and
management of the woody biomass resources. Benishangul Gumuz National
Regional Stateal State. Executive summary, final report. Addis Ababa.
BGNRS, 2004. Project concept document: Supply-Side interventions in the biomass
energy sector of Beneshangul-Gumuz National Regional State. Updated, Addis
Ababa.
BGNRs-FPP, 1988. Benshangul Gumuz National Regional State Forestry program
proposal, Volume VI. Sustainable agriculture and environmental rehabluiation
program (SAERP), the Wereda agriculture and agricultural development
integradted services (WARDIS),. Metekel Zone. UNDP/ECA.
BGRS - Investment Office, 2015- Resource Potential, Project Identification, Profile
Preparation & Industrial Unpublished.
Bishaw, B. 2001. Deforestaion and degradation in Ethiopian highland: Stratgey for
physical recovery. Journal of Northeast Africa Studies 8, 7-26.
Brown, S., Grais, A., Ambagis, S., Pearson, T., 2012. Baseline GHG emissions from the
agricultural sector and mitigation potential in countries of East and West Africa.
CCAFS Working paper no. 13. CGIAR research program on climate change,
agriculture and food security (CCAFS). Copenhagen, Denmark. Available online
at: www.ccafs.cgiar.org
141
CRGE, 2011. Ethiopia’s Climate-Resilient Green Economy Green economy strategy.
Addis Ababa.
Davidson, J., 1989. The Eucalyptus dilemma. Arguments for and against Eucalyptus
planting in Ethiopia. The Forestry Research Centre Seminar Note Series No. 1.
Addis Ababa.
Dessie, G., 2007. Forest Decline in South Central Ethiopia: Extent, history and process.
PhD dissertation. Department of Physical Geography and Quaternary Geology
Stockholm University
Dessie, G., Kleman, J., 2007. Pattern and Magnitude of Deforestation in the South
Central Rift Valley Region of Ethiopia. Mountain Research and Development 27:
162–168.
Desta, L., Kassie, M., Benin, S.,J., Pender. 2000. Land degradation and strategies for
sustainable development in the Ethiopian highlands: Amhara Region:
Socioeconomics and Policy Research Working Paper 32. International livestock
Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya
Donatien Njomo, 2008. Mappingdeforestation in the Congo Basinforest using multitemporal SPOT-VGT imagery from 2000 to 2004. In: EARSeL eProceedings 7,
1/2008 1
Eckert, S., F. Husler, H. Liniger, E. Hodel, 2013. Trend analysis of MODIS NDVI time
series for detecting land degradation and regeneration in Mongolia. In: Journal
of Arid Environments 113 (2015) 16-28
EFAP, 1994. Ethiopian Forestry Action Program. Addis Ababa.
Ensermu, K., Abenet, G. (Eds.), 2011. Proceedings of a Workshop – Multiple Roles of
Forests in Ethiopia vs. Associated Challenges: Maximizing Benefits while
Curbing Limitations. Forum for Environment, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Eshete, A. 2002 Regeneration status, soil seed banks and socio-economic importance
of B. papyrifera in two woredas of North Gonder Zone, Northern Ethiopia.
Master’s thesis, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Skinnskatteberg,
Sweden
FAO, 2001. Global Forest Resources Assessment, Main Report, FAO Forestry Paper
140. FAO, Rome.
FAO, 2003. Ethiopia: drought-hit farmers receive emergency aid: Pre-famine
conditions in pockets of the country
http://www.fao.org/english/newsroom/news/2003/18548-en.html (retrieved
15 April 2015)
FAO, 2005. State of the World Forests. Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO),
Rome, Italy.
FAO, 2007. Manual on deforestation, degradation, and fragmentation using remote
sensing and GIShttp://www.fao.org/forestry/18222045c26b711a976bb9d0d17386ee8f0e37.pdf
FAO, 2009. Special Report FAO/WFP crop and food security assessment mission to
Ethiopia, Phase 2: Integrating the Crop and Food Supply and the Emergency
Food Security Assessments, 27 July 2009
http://www.fao.org/docrep/012/ak336e/ak336e00.htm#3
http://2001-2009.state.gov/p/af/rls/fs/15210.htm
FAO, 2010a. Global forest resources assessment 2010: Terms and Definitions.
Working paper 144/E. Rome
FAO, 2011. State of the World’s Forests. Rome, Italy
FAO, 2010b. Global forest resources assessment 2010: Terms and definitions.
Working paper 144/E, Rome.
FARM Africa, 2009. A livelihood baseline survey in Amibara and Gewane weredas of
Afar region. Final report vol.1 main report. AddisAbaba
142
Friis I.B., Demissew, S., van Breugel, P., 2011. Atlas of the potential vegetation of
Ethiopia. Addis Ababa University Press & Shama Books. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Gebreegziabher, Z., Stage, J., Mekonnen, A., Alemu, A., 2011. Climate Change and the
Ethiopian Economy: A Computable General Equilibrium Analysis. Environment
for Development Program for Central America.
Gebrehiwot, K. 2003 Ecology and management of Boswellia papyrifera (Del.) Hochst
dry forests in Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. PhD thesis, Georg-August University of
Göttingen, Gottingen, Germany.
Geissler, S., Hagauer, D., Horst, A., Krause, M., Sutcliffe, P., 2013. Biomass Energy
Strategy Ethiopia, European Union Energy Initiative Partnership Dialogue
Facility (EUEI PDF). Eschborn, Germany
GFAP, 1999. Gambella forestry action program. Main document (Vol.1). Gambella.
Girma, H.M., Hassan, R.M. 2014. Drivers of land-use change in the Southern Nations,
Nationalities and People’s Region of Ethiopia. African Journal of Agriculture and
Resource Economics 9(2), 148-164
Gregg, B. (2004) Evaluation of OFDA emergency seed relief drought response
Ethiopia, 2003-04. Prepared for USAID/OFDA.
http://www.oecd.org/countries/ethiopia/35890717.pdf
Hosonuma, N., Herold, M., De Sy V., De Fries, R.S, Brockhaus, M., Verchot, L., Angelsen,
A., Romijn, E., 2012. An assessment of deforestation and forest degradation
drivers in developing countries. Environ. Res. Lett. 7: 044009 (12pp).
Lambin, Eric F. ,1999. Monitoring forest degradation in tropical regions by remote
sensing: some methodological issues
Lemenih, M. and Kassa, H., 2008 Management guidelines for Boswellia papyrifera and
its frankincense in Ethiopia. Center for International Forestry Research–
Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Lemenih, M. and Woldemariam, T., 2010. Review of Forest, woodland and bushland
resources in Ethiopia up to 2008. In: Edwards, Sue (ed.), Ethiopian Environment
Review No . 1. Forum for Environment, Addis Ababa.
Lemenih, M., Fufa, B., 2011. Drivers of natural resources degradation and strategies
for improved management in Benashangule-Gumuz regional state. Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia.
Maes, J., 2010. Deforestation of Desa’a forest revisited -a socio-anthropological
perspective. M.Sc thesis. Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.
Meneses-Tovar, 2011. NDVI as indicator of degradation. In Unasylva 238, Vol. 62,
2011/2 http://www.fao.org/docrep/015/i2560e/i2560e07.pdf
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA). 2005. Ecosystems and human well-being:
Synthesis. Island Press, Washington, DC.
Moges, Y., Eshetu, Z., Nune, S, 2010. Ethiopian forest resources: current status and
future management options in view of access to carbon finances. Addis Ababa
Moges, Y., Tenkir, E., 2014. Overview of REDD+ Process in Ethiopia. Overview of
REDD+ Process in Ethiopia. REDD+ Secretariat. Ministry of Environment and
Forest, Addis Ababa.
Moonen, P.,2010. Structure and species composition of Desa’a,a degraded
Afromontane forest in northern Ethiopia. M.Sc thesis. Katholieke Universiteit,
Leuven
MoPD & D, 2004. Impact of charcoal production of environment and socioeconomic of
pastoral community of Somaliland. Ministry of Pastoral Development and
Environment (MoPD &D), and Somaliland Candlelight for Health Education and
Environment, Hargeisa, Somaliland
143
Negash, M, Kanninen, M., 2015. Modeling biomass and soil carbon sequestration of
indigenous agroforestry systems using CO2FIX approach. Agriculture,
Ecosystems and Environment 203, 147–155
Negash, M., 2013. The indigenous agroforestry systems of the south-eastern Rift
Valley escarpment, Ethiopia: Their biodiversity, carbon stocks, and litterfall.
Doctoral thesis, University of Helsinki.
Negash, M., Starr, M., 2015. Biomass and soil carbon stocks of indigenous agroforestry
systems on the south-eastern Rift Valley escarpment, Ethiopia. Plant and Soil.
DOI 10.1007/s11104-015-2469-6.
Reusing, M., 1998. Monitoring of Forest Resources in Ethiopia. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
R-PP, 2011. Readiness Preparation Proposal (R-PP). Re-submitted (formal) Forest
Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF).
Scully,J. (Ed.), 2006. From Plunder to Prosperity:Resolving Resource-Based Conflict
in Somaliland. Academy for Peace and Development. Hargeisa, Somaliland
SNNPRS-RFAP, 1999. Regional Forestry Action Program. Final report. Southern
Nations, Nationalities, and People’s regional state. Burea of Agriculture. Main
report. Volume I. Awassa.
Tadesse, G., Zavaleta, E., Shennan, C., FitzSimmons, M., 2014. Policy and demographic
factors shape deforestation patterns and socio-ecological processes in
southwest Ethiopian coffee agroecosystems. Applied Geography 54, 149-159
Tadesse, W., Desalegn, G., Alia, R., 2007. Natural gum and resin bearing species of
Ethiopia and their potential applications. Invest Agrar: Sist Recur For16(3), 211221
Tadesse, W., Teketay, D., Lemenih, M. and Fitwi, G., 2002. Review and synthesis on the
state of knowledge of Boswellia species and commercialization of frankincense
in the dry lands of eastern Africa. In: Chikamai, B.N. (ed.) Country report for
Ethiopia, 11–35. Kenya Forestry Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya.
Teketay, D., 2000. Facts and Experiences on Eucalypts in Ethiopia and Elsewhere:
Ground for Making Wise and Informed Decisions. Walia 21: 25–46.
Teketay, D., Lemenih , M., Bekele, T., Yemshaw, Y., Feleke, S., Tadesse, W., Moges, Y.,
Hunde, T., Nigussie, D., 2010. Forest Resources and Challenges of Sustainable
Forest Management and Conservation in Ethiopia. In: F. Bongers, & T.
Tennigkeit, (eds). Degraded forests in Eastern Africa: management and
restoration . Earthscan Publications.
Tigray Regional state, 2011. Forest establishment act no. 64/2011. Forest
Registration of Harmi state forest. Mekelle (Tigergna and Amharic Version)
Tigray Regional state, 2011. Forest establishment act no. 65/2011. Registration of
Hugumbereda Gerate state forest. Mekelle Mekelle (Tigergna and Amharic
Version)
Tigray Regional state, 2012. Forest establishment act. 74/2012. Registration of Wojig
Mahego-Warene Ago, Asimba, and Gundagundo-Woldeba state forests. Mekelle
(Tigergna and Amharic Version)
TNRS-BARD, 2014a. Multi temporal Land Cover Study of Tigray Region. Tigray
National Regional Stateal State Bureau of Agriculture And Rural Development.
Mekelle, Tigray.
TNRS-BARD, 2014b. Socio-economic importance and development of Boswellia
papyrifera in western and north-western zones of Tigray regional state of
Ethiopia. Tigray National Regional Stateal state bureau of agriculture and rural
development. Mekelle, Tigray.
144
Wakie, T., Evangelista, P., Laituri, M., 2012. Utilization Assessment of Prosopis juliflora
in Afar Region, Ethiopia.US Forest Service, USDA Office of International
Programs & USAID Pastoral Livelihoods Initiative II Project (PLI II).
Wakie, T.T., Evangelista, P.H., Jarnevich, C.S., Laituri, M., 2014. Mapping Current and
Potential Distribution of Non-Native Prosopis juliflora in the Afar Region of
Ethiopia. PLoS ONE 9(11): e112854. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0112854
WBISPP, 2004. Forest Resources of Ethiopia. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
WBISPP, 2005. A national strategy plan for the biomass sector. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Yesuf, M., Mekonnen, A., Kassie, M., Pender, J., 2005. Cost of Land Degradation in
Ethiopia: A Critical Review of Past Studies. Environmental Economics Policy
Forum in Ethiopia International Food Policy Research Institute, Addis Ababa.
Yirdaw E., Tigabu M., Lemenih M., Negash M., Teketay D. 2014. Rehabilitation of
Degraded Forest and Woodland Ecosystems in Ethiopia for Sustenance of
Livelihoods and Ecosystem Services (Book chapter). In: Pia Katila, Glenn
Galloway, Will de Jong, Pablo Pacheco, Gerardo Mery (eds.) Forest under
pressure – local responses to global issues. IUFRO World Series Volume 32.
Vienna. pp. 299-313.
Yismaw, A., Gedif, B., Addisu, S., Zewudu, F. 2014. Forest cover change detection using
remote sensing and GIS in Banja district, Amhara region, Ethiopia. International
Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis 2(6), 354-360
Zeleke G, Hurni H., 2001. Implications of land use and land cover dynamics for
mountain resource degradation in the Northwestern Ethiopian highlands.
Mountain Research and Development, 21, pp. 184-191.
Zerihun, W., 2000. Forests in the vegetation types of Ethiopia and their status in the
geographical context, pp. 1–48. In: Sue Edwards, Abebe Demissie, Taye Bekele &
Gunther Haase (eds.). Forest genetic resources conservation: principles,
strategies and actions. Proceedings of the National Forest Genetic Resources
Conservation Strategy Development Workshop, June 21-22, 1999. Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia.
Zoran, M.A. ; R. S. Savastru ; D. M. Savastru ; S. I. Miclos ; M. N. Tautan, et al. (2010)
"Satellite and in situ monitoring data used for modeling of forest vegetation
reflectance", Proc. SPIE 7824, Remote Sensing for Agriculture, Ecosystems, and
Hydrology XII, 782429 (October 21, 2010);
145
Annexes
Annex 1. Deforestation impact screening list for Ethiopia
Impact level (nominal scale categories over negative or positive association)
Key:
? = Mixed or ambiguous association
1 = Slight association
2 = Some clearly seen association
3 = Prominent association
4 = Serious association
5 = Disastrous (-)/Completely rehabilitating (+) impact
Key actor involved
5
4
Negative Impacts
3
2
1
Site Name:
8.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1
Key informers:
8.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.2
Date:
8.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.3
Observer:
Type of Impact
Impact description by category
?
?
1
Positive Impacts
2
3
4
Comment
5
1. Biophysical

Altitude

Steep slope

Volcanic ash exposed on slopes

Soil texture type

Sand invasion in the area

Land fires

Natural disasters (rain, drought & earthquake)

Proximity to water courses

Waterlogged area

Heavy rainfall flushing
2. Agriculture and forest operations












Intensive/mechanized agricultural activities
Badly performed agricultural practices
Agricultural pricing
Proximity to cultivated areas
Pests and diseases on cultivated fields
Invasive grasses and herbs
Grassland rehabilitation
Cattle free grazing
Small ruminant free grazing
Stall-feeding of livestock
Agroforestry practices
Invasive tree and bush species
146

Tree planting/reforestation/afforestation

Local fuelwood/charcoal collection & production

Trees damaged due to fuelwood collection

Wrong trees cut in a tree stand

Timber operations

Timber pricing

Non-wood energy forms in use
3. Built infrastructure

Proximity to cleared land

Proximity to road

Poor road construction

Proximity to urban area (< 25 km)

Town businessmen induced tree cuttings

Slope rehabilitation operations (terracing etc.)
4. Socio-economic issues

Overpopulation

Ethnic group’s traditions

Poverty

People move to urban areas

Age of husband & wife

Dysfunctional or sickness in family

Ignorance/own awareness

Too small land parcels per household

Refugees living in the area

Rural income support actions

Lack of income opportunities

Ecotourism or other newly introduced livelihoods

Business & entrepreneurships
5. Institutional issues







Communal lands / no clear owner
Land tenure security
Functioning forest administration
Functioning forest extension network
Project/authority awareness raising campaign
Protected areas themselves
The impact of protected areas on other forest lands




Closed areas from grazing & tree cutting themselves
The impact of closed areas on other lands
Community forestry initiatives
Project supporting tree rehabilitation efforts
9
147
Annex 2.Individual Household Interview Questions
Question 1: Background information about the village and person interviewed
Survey number
Village number:
Region/state:
Locality/county:
Interviewed by:
Date:
Name of person interviewed:
Sex of person interviewed:
1. Male
2. Female
Age of interviewed person:
Question 2:
Farming
Livestock
Question 3:
Type of livestock
What is your main income source (rank the relevant ones)
Labour
Transport
Merchant /
Forest/driver
business
based
Pension /Other
/remittance
How many of the following type of livestock were owned by the household during
last year and how many did you own some ten years ago?
Number owned last year
No. owned ca. ten years ago
Adult ones
Young ones
Adult ones
Young ones
Horse
Goats
Sheep
Cattle
Camel
Donkey
Other (specify
type):
Question 4:
Do you stall-feed your
livestock or are they freegrazing
Where are they free-grazing
Information about the household’s crop cultivation practices
Question 5:
Do you own/rent farmland around your village and cultivate it. If yes, then please
answer the following:
How many hectares
Distance from village (km)
Home garden size
HH members that farm
148
Information about the household’s wood and non-wood forest products
Question 6:
What kind of home energy sources (electricity excepted) do you use
Type of energy
Collect or buy it
Weekly amount
Price in Birr if purchased
Question 7:
Woodproduct type
Question 8:
What kind of wood and non-wood forest products do you collect, produce and/or
sell/buy
Do you
Production
Production
Production
Price or
collect,
quantity
unit (sacks,
time period
value in
produce, sell
kg, tons,
(year, monthly
Birr
or buy it
pieces etc.)
weekly, daily)
Where do you collect/buy your wood and non-wood forest products
Group Questions Below
Question 9:
What is your opinion on reasons of deforestation in this area
Question 10:
Are you a member of a community forest initiative – what is your share of products
and what do you contribute in CF.
General Question 11:
Could some older member of the community try to remember how defores-tation
happened some 20-30 years ago in this region. Difference from now?
General Question 12:
What kind of wild mammals can be found in this area
149
Annex 3. Assessment of forest degradation over time in sample plots
Annex 4. Land use change matrices of EMA LULC maps
Annex 5. Tigray spatial analysis
Annex 6. Amhara spatial analysis
Annex 7. Benishangul-Gumuz spatial analysis
Annex 8. Gambella spatial analysis
Annex 9. SNNPR spatial analysis
Annex 10. Afar spatial analysis
Annex 11. Somali spatial analysis
150