Ethiopia forest & water management ashish ku sharma

Forest Management with Water conservation in Ethiopia

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Prepared by – Ashish Kumar Sharma (ashish.sh29@gmail.com)


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page No.

Executive Summary ……………………………………………………… 3

Introduction ………………………………………………………………. 3

Endangered Species / Red Book Entry………………………………….. 4

Geography & Location – Ethiopia……………………………………….. 5

Biodiversity & Vegetation- ……………………………………………….. 6

Forest & Its Management………………………………………………… 7

Current Status of Forests ………………………………………………… 7

Hypothesis, Plan and Implementation…………………………………… 9

Rain water harvesting from forest shed……………….………………… 10

SWOT Analysis …………………………………………………………… 10

Observation ……………………………………………………………….. 11

Conclusion………………………………………………………………… 13

Bibliography………………………………………………………………. 14

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

With broad latitudinal and altitudinal ranges, Ethiopia encompasses an extraordinary number
of ecological zones, which in turn host rare and endangered species and high rates of
endemism. In combination with its importance as a center of genetic and agricultural
diversity, the conservation of Ethiopia’s biodiversity is an issue of global importance. With
the second-largest population in Africa, limited capacity to manage natural resources, and
widespread land degradation, however, Ethiopia also faces many serious challenges to efforts
to conserve its biodiversity and forests.

For more than 20 years, natural resource institutions in Ethiopia have faced frequent
restructuring, with the only relatively stable institution (since 1995) being the Environmental
Protection Authority (EPA). These changes have presented challenges, as building stable
relationships and long-term planning are critical to conservation efforts. For example, in
recognition of the critical state and serious threats facing Ethiopian wildlife, the Ethiopian
Wildlife Conservation Organization, previously a semi-autonomous organization under the
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, was reduced to a section under the Natural
Resources department in 2005 and then regained its name and increased authority to oversee
the wildlife in Ethiopia in June 2008. Although this most recent change may be positive in
that it can help solidify national level wildlife planning, it is representative of the shifting of
authorities that have plagued the sector in the recent past.

INTRODUCTION

In developing countries like Ethiopia there is no doubt that one has to utilize natural, social
and cultural resources to alleviate poverty. Using Information Technology is one of the
common tools to enable movement of peoples towards the Policy and strategy of growth of
the country. On the controversial part the Ethiopian forest have become the crucial part of
country due to overgrazing, deforestation, and poor agricultural practices have contributed to
soil erosion so severe, particularly in the Tigray and Eritrea regions, that substantial areas of

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farmland have been lost to cultivation. As of 1994, 600,000 acres of arable land were washed
away each year. The combined effects of severe drought and a 17-year civil war have also
added to Ethiopia's environmental problems. Ethiopia's forests are also endangered. Each
year, the nation loses 340 square miles of forest land. Its forests and woodland decreased by
3.4% between 1983 and 1993. Major causes are due to personal needs, such as for fuel,
hunting, agriculture, and at times for religious reasons. The main causes of deforestation
in Ethiopia are shifting agriculture, livestock production and fuel in drier areas. The
government did not begin afforestation and soil conservation programs until the early 1970s.
The nation's water supply is also at risk. Access to safe drinking water is available to 12% of
the rural population and 81% of city dwellers. Ethiopia has 110 cubic kilometres of
renewable water resources with 86% used in agriculture. The nation's cities produce 1.3
million tons of solid waste per year.

ENDANGERED SPECIES / RED LIST ENTRY
About 5% of Ethiopia's total land area is protected. In 2001, 35 of Ethiopia's 255 mammal
species were threatened. Of 626 bird species, 20 were endangered. One type of reptile in a
total of 188 species and 125 plants in a total of 6,500 were also threatened with extinction.
Endangered species in Ethiopia include the simian fox, African wild ass, Tora hartebeest,
Swayne's hartebeest, Waliaibex (found only in Ethiopia), waldrapp, green sea turtle, and
hawksbill turtle. Ethiopia comprise of Tropical forest with 13,000,000 ha of total area
covering land. Ethiopia has some 1408 known species of amphibians, birds, mammals and
reptiles according to figures from the World Conservation Monitoring Centre. Of these, 7.0%
are endemic, meaning they exist in no other country, and 4.6% are threatened. Ethiopia is
home to at least 6603 species of vascular plants, of which 15.1% are endemic. 4.9% of
Ethiopia is protected under IUCN categories I-V. Endangered species from forest is as
follows.

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Native tree species 1,027
Number of tree species in IUCN red list
Critically Endangered 0
Endangered 1

Vulnerable 21
Vascular Plant Species, 2004 0
Total 6603
Species Threatened 22
No. of Endangered & Threaten species of Ethiopia

Species biodiversity in Ethiopia includes 280 mammals, 861 birds, 201 reptiles, and more
than 6,000 plants with high rates of endemism. According to the International Union for the
Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN’s) 2007 “red list” of these species, Ethiopia has 6 that are
critically endangered, 23 endangered, and 70 vulnerable. Nine national parks, 4 wildlife
sanctuaries, 7 wildlife reserves, and 18 controlled-hunting areas have been established in
Ethiopia to protect and conserve its valuable biodiversity assets. Of these, however, only two,
Simien National Park and Awash National Park, have been officially gazetted. Protected
areas in Ethiopia also have suffered from inadequate security, staffing, and equipment,
leading to many cases where their status is little more than nominal and providing no
protection for their fauna and flora.

ETHIOPIA – GEOGRAPHY AND LOCATION

Forests and woodlands in Africa occupy an estimated 650 million hectares (ha) or 21.8
percent of the land area of this continent. These account for 16.8 percent of the global forest
cover. Many of the forests are severely fragmented due to the encroachment of an expanding
human population, leading to demand for firewood and extensive conversion of land to
agricultural use. The distribution of forests and woodlands varies from one sub-region to the
other, with Northern Africa having the least forest cover while Central Africa.

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Ethiopia covers a total area of 1 221 895 km2 between latitudes 3°30’N and 18°N and
longitudes 33°E and 48°E in the north-eastern horn of Africa. The heart of the country is
formed by a vast mountain mass between 2 100 and 2 500 m altitude with some peaks rising

to 4 500 m. The massif is divided into two
deeply carved out plateaus (Central
Ethiopian and Galla-Somali) by the Rift
Valley, in which lie several lakes in the
south and the Awash River in the north, a
river vital for the irrigation of the
extensive plains leading to the Red Sea
and Somalia.

BIODIVERSITY AND VEGITATON

The forests and woodlands of Africa are home to large numbers of flora and fauna species,
many of which are African endemics; moreover, many of these populations have come under
threat in the last several decades, chiefly due to the human population explosion on the
continent. Besides the outright loss of large amounts of habitat, the fragmentation of
habitat of woodlands and forests has placed great stress upon populations of fauna that
require sizable home ranges, such as the endangered Painted Hunting Dog and Cheetah.

Vegetation in Ethiopia is comprised of four main biomes, which are found across the
country’s regions.

 The first biome is savanna, consisting of montane tropical vegetation with dense,
forests and rich undergrowth and drier savannas and tropical dry forests mixed with
grassland at lower elevations of the Western and Eastern Highlands.

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 The second biome is comprised of mountain vegetation, mostly montane and
temperate grasslands, covering the higher altitudes of the Western and Eastern
Highlands.
 The third biome is made up of tropical thickets and wooded steppe, and is found in
the Rift Valley and Eastern Lowlands.
 The fourth biome is desert steppe vegetation, covering areas of the Danakil Plain

Natural Resources – small reserves of gold, platinum, copper, potash, natural gas,
hydropower

FOREST AND ITS MANAGEMENT

Ethiopia covers 109,631,000 (ha) of land area with 13,000,000 (ha) (11.86%) of forest area.
Total measure of forest is of tropical type, this type occurs roughly within the latitudes 28
degrees north or south of the equator zone between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of
Capricorn. Ethiopia lost an average of 140,900 hectares of forest per year. This share makes it
to loss its forest by rate of 0.93%.Where in 2005 this rate has been decreased by 10.36 % per
annum. Due to the lack of knowledge for using the resources, Ethiopia has lost its 14% of
forest so far which are also known as home for some 6603 species out of which 7 % are
endemic (exist in no other country). Ethiopia had lost 3.6% of its forest and woodland habitat.
The forest and the woodland is 100% owned by the public of Ethiopia. Out of which 3.8% is
used in production purpose and the remaining 96.2% by other purpose which also takes share
of deforestation. Till 2004 there were 7 world heritage sites for the protection, conservation
and monitoring of species. As per IUCN protection VI category plan total 11.86 % land had
been kept for the protection of all living biodiversity as protected area.

Deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification; water shortages in some areas from
water-intensive farming and poor management are the main cause for losing forest with such
high rate. There were many international agreements that Ethiopia has made e.g. Biodiversity
conservation, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes,
Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea.
for the protection, conservation and to sustain the natural environment.

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CURRENT STATUS OF ETHIOPIAN FOREST

Trees, woodlands, and forests can be seen as an environment’s lungs. They play a crucial role
in tempering the effects of climate and help protect vital water catchments. Trees provide a
wide range of products, including food and fruit, fodder for livestock, and medicines for both
people and livestock. Forests supply goods of commercial, cultural, and sacred value, and
they comprise a vital safety net in times of need. Most part of Ethiopian economy is based on
products from forest e.g. coffee which almost takes 30 % of its share. The trees and forests of
Ethiopia are under tremendous pressure because of the drastic decline in mature forest cover
and the continual pressures of population increase, rudimentary farming techniques, land use
competition, land tenure, and forest degradation and conversion. The status of the forest
resources should be considered at risk. Although deforestation is known to occur in the
remaining forested areas of the country, rates of deforestation have been more difficult to
estimate.

Source Area in Hectares
In 2000 In 2005
Forest 36,51,935 33,37,988
High woodland area 1,00,49,079 96,32,616
Plantations 5,09,422 5,09,422
Low woodland and shrub land 4,62,97,530 4,62,97,530
Other land 5,31,69,093 5,38,99,503
Inland Water 8,28,277 8,28,277
Total 11,45,05,336 11,45,05,336
Ethiopia Land cover in Ha from 2000 - 2005

Although estimates for historical forest cover vary, it has been obvious for centuries that the
forests are being depleted. Virtually all household cooking fuel used in rural Ethiopia, where
about 85 percent of the population lives, comes from solid fuels; rural Ethiopian households
have depended for centuries on two main types: woody biomass and dung (Mekonnen and
Köhlin 2008).

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Area in Hecters In 2005
Forest

High woodland area

Plantations

Low woodland and
shrubland
Other land

Inland Water

Land area covered in 2005

Numerous reports available online discuss the history of forest product use in Ethiopia
Deforestation has led to the depletion of soil nutrients, contributing to low agricultural
productivity and limited domestic food supplies in sub-Saharan Africa (Mekonnen and
Köhlin 2008). An indirect result of deforestation is overgrazing. In part, the number of cattle
in the country results from the absence of fuel wood (what there was, say, 50 years ago has
largely been removed through human exploitation for fuel and construction), because some
Ethiopian highlanders use cattle dung as their main source of fuel (UNDPGEF 2005). Thus,
fertilizer use in Ethiopia is among the lowest in sub-Saharan Africa.

HYPOTHESIS, PLAN & IMPLEMENTATION

Ethiopia's poverty-stricken economy is based on agriculture, accounting for half of GDP,
60% of exports, and 80% of total employment. The agricultural sector suffers from frequent
drought and poor cultivation practices. Under Ethiopia's land tenure system, the government
owns all land and provides long-term leases to the tenants; the system continues to hamper
growth in the industrial sector as entrepreneurs are unable to use land as collateral for loans.

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Drought struck again late in 2002, leading to a 2% decline in GDP in 2003. Normal weather
patterns late in 2003 helped agricultural and GDP growth recover in 2004-05.

RAINWATER HARVESTING BY FOREST SHED (CANOPY)

Considering the other part of the forest which makes almost 88% which is under no direct use
could be used for the conservation of water in the same way it’s been implemented for the
rain water harvesting from roofs of houses. Though forest is a huge source of natural resource
where as considering the access of human for its direct use limits its amount. In tropical
forests the dense canopy layer acts as the roof for forest basement which hardly permits light
to fall on the floor or the basement layer of forest. That canopy layer can also be used as shed
for the collection of water at some common point with further help of collecting technique to
dump final collection at a storage point. In Ethiopia, water has been considered as the biggest
issue for the direct use by public and also for the irrigation. Implementing the water
harvesting by shed method from the mountain & highland forest which will further helps to
accumulate water in single place by the natural slops. Rain water has been considered as the
pure form of water for the direct use.

Still other natural store process are collecting rainwater from forest like pond, pits, rives and
other artificial mode of storing places, But this shed method can save the water amount which
will get absorbed by soil via capillary method which further may cause flood or marsh area.
Collecting this water and transferring it to other place will not only help to come up with
problems like drinking and irrigation but also helps to conserve land and forest by avoiding
flood and marsh area conversion.

SWOT Analysis - SWOT analysis of Ethiopian Forest planning is to present an analytical
survey of the management of planning procedures and the existing planning documents and
to evaluate if these procedures and documents are sustainable in the field of conservation and
forestry for implementation in Ethiopia. It is also helpful to compare them with the African
national policy and the directions of development. Main focus is to ensure the
competitiveness in Africa and to increase the product with high added value. By the help of

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strategic planning tool it is possible to determine the project's Strengths, Opportunity,
Weakness, and Threat.

Strength Opportunity

 Open Source of rain water.  Opportunity for labour work.
 A great potential for the water  Starting step for developing further
conservation. ideas for forest-water management.
 Overcomes the irrigation problems.  Supports the conservation of
 Will support the biodiversity. threaten species.
 Health improvement by pure water
 Low cost of implementation.  Sustainable forest management can
be attained.
 Possibility to involve the local labor
force.
Weakness Threat

 Implementation requires time.  Data reliability.
 Governmental approval.  Political influence and acceptance
 Lack of sustainable national policy of project.
 Plan predictability of financial  Economic & financial issue
resources.  It is also a possibility for local
municipalities to promote their
economic development and to
attract new labor force
 Lack of motivation to improve the
local energy systems.

SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity & Threat) Analysis of project

Estimating the above major area it’s easy to conclude that the water management system
from forest opts good strength where as with the help of some governmental authorities its
east to decrease the threat for the success of water management by tropical forest of Ethiopia.

OBSERVATION

As per few previous monitoring based projects like “Global Observations of Forest and Land
Cover Dynamics” which was developed to improve the quality and availability of remote-
sensing observations of forests and land cover at regional and global scales, and to produce

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useful, timely, and validated information from these data for application in land cover/land
use management and research by a wide variety of users. Apart from that the physical
monitoring method will be also helpful for proper management and decision making. As its
always easy to make decision based on live scenario instead of making calculation on graphs
when it is about conservation. The project also supports advanced training institutes regional
workshops, and special conference sessions for young scientists at GOFC-GOLD Regional
Network meetings. START’s collaboration with NASA allows NASA and affiliated scientists
to have access to START’s skills for capacity building for research and adaptation to climate
change.

The proposed strategy has been developed around the following requirements:

o The program must incorporate both global and national level objectives and be
capable of providing results at national, regional and global scales.
o The information generated by the program must be useful for national level
resource planning and management, as well as vulnerability studies and
mitigation and adaptation planning.
o The monitoring system should utilize data from a variety of sources and allow
for in-country analyses where appropriate.
o The information generated by the system should have a known and stated
accuracy.
o Accuracy assessment must be an integral part of the program. Field validation
must be an essential component of the accuracy assessment.
o The monitoring system should be coupled to, and support an independent
vetting of the proposed methodology and be subject to independent peer
review.
o Data and information generated by the program must be made readily
available in a timely fashion to a broad user community. A data system should
be developed to serve the information management needs of the program and
its data users.

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CONCLUSIONS

With the second-largest population in sub-Saharan Africa and with a highly variable climate
and landscape, Ethiopia faces many serious challenges to efforts for the conservation of its
biodiversity and forests. With rare and endangered species of mammals, high rates of
endemism of bird populations, and the largest Afro alpine habitat on the continent, the
success of these efforts is critical. USAID, with a strong presence and diverse portfolio in the
country, is well placed to help with these efforts through direct activities, such as ecotourism,
as well as through indirect efforts to strengthen the rule of law or expand alternative
livelihood opportunities in rural areas. At the same time this project for the management of
forest and water conservation by forest will also help in providing nourishing nature to their
local species and vegetation.

There are, however, critical areas that must be addressed like drifting the natural part and
misbalancing the water supply in natures cycle by the government of Ethiopia, and other
development partners if conservation efforts are to be successful. Of the many threats and
actions described in this report, the following three points may best distil the most critical of
the challenges and point the way to broad actions to allow for specific interventions to meet
conservation objectives.

1. Fulfilling the basic need of pure water for the life for the public and irrigation.
2. Helps in conserving the particular part of forest, resource and vegitation by proper
monitoring and same water supply also helps avoiding natural fire disaster.
3. Deforestation can be further reduced and implements the afforestation for recovering
the damage caused by earning methods. This will further extend and meets the market
supply of wood and also recovers the economic loss along with natural.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Conservation International. “Biodiversity Hotspots—Eastern Afromontane.”
http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/Hotspots/afromontane/Pages/default.aspx

Environmental Protection Authority. Conservation Strategy of Ethiopia, Volumes II-IV
(1997).

Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Forestry Conservation, Development and
Utilization Proclamation No. 94/1994 (1994).

Environmental Protection Authority. “Environmental Policy of Ethiopia.”
Ministry of Agriculture and USAID Ethiopia-Strengthening Land Tenure and
Administration Program (2006).

Government of Ethiopia and Other Stakeholders. “Participatory Forest Management,
Biodiversity and Livelihoods in Africa.” Proceedings of the International Conference,
Addis Ababa (2007).

International Union for Conservation of Nature, IUCN Red List of Endangered Species:
Canis simensis. http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/3748/summ (2007).

International Union for Conservation of Nature, Species Survival Commission. “The IUCN
Red List of Threatened Species” (2007). http://www.iucnredlist.org/ (retrieved June 2008).

Addis Ababa October-9 2012 – World Bank report on - Ethiopia Climate Project Receives
Africa’s First Forestry Carbon Credits under the CDM.
http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/2012/10/090/ethiopia-climate-project-receives-africa-s-
first-forestry-carbon-credits

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Ethiopian Rainforest info for deforestation
http://rainforests.mongabay.com/deforestation/archive/Ethiopia.htm

World Resources Institute. “Earth Trends: Biodiversity and Protected Areas—Ethiopia,
http://earthtrends.wri.org/pdf_library/country_profiles/bio_cou_231.pdf (2003).

GOFC-GOLD global land cover symposium - http://www.fao.org/gtos/gofc-gold/series.html

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ETHIOPIA

“There can be no greater issue than that of conservation in this world”.

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Ethiopia forest & water management ashish ku sharma

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