Mesle A.
Forestry, along
with the agricultural sector, has been neglected in the past decades. For
decades, it was neglected to the point of reaching on the verge becoming
extinct. A country that had about 30 percent of its landmass covered with
forest in the late nineteenth century had less than 3 percent of its land
covered with forest in 1991.
According to
different scholarly sources, about 35 - 40 percent of the country's land area
was covered with high forests at the turn of the 19 century. However, rapid
population growth (3 percent per year), extensive forest clearing for
cultivation and over-grazing, movement of political centers, and exploitation
of forests for fuel wood and construction materials without replanting has
reduced the forest area of the country to 16 percent in the 1950's and 3.1
percent in 1982.
A FAO report of
1981, estimated the then rate of deforestation to be 200,000 hectares per year.
As a result, large areas of the country were exposed to heavy soil erosion. It
was also estimated that fertile top soil is lost at a rate of 1 billion cubic
meters per year resulting in a massive environmental degradation and serious
threat to sustainable agriculture and forestry.
The major cause
of deforestation is rapid population growth, which leads to an increase in the
demand for crop and grazing land, wood for fuel and construction. Lack of
viable land use policy and corresponding law also aggravated the rate of
deforestation.
The impact of
this on the national socio-economic situation was immense. Forestry, including
efforts of afforestation, make large contribution to the economy of the rural
Ethiopia. A large number of laborers are required for forest nursery
operations, afforestation and for the construction and maintenance of roads.
This is a major source of income for the rural people.
In 1992,
immediately after the downfall of the military regime, the Transitional
Government recognized that "Natural resources are the foundation of the
economy. Smallholder peasant agriculture, in some areas including forestry, is
the dominant sector accounting for about 45 per cent of the GDP, 85 per cent of
exports and 80 per cent of total employment. And that, renewable natural
resources, i.e. land, water, forests and trees as well as other forms of
Biodiversity had been deteriorated to a low level of productivity in the last
century."
As a response
to the decline in natural forest area the Government launched projects to
rehabilitate formerly forested area for timber production and erosion control
were started at large-scale. The social values of forests and support their
conservation and management for sustainable use and environmental
sustainability were recognized in the Constitution and in the national economic
policy and strategy as a key prerequisite for lasting success.
Even though,
there wasn't a comprehensive federal policy that covers either land use or
forest management. Proclamation No. 94/1994 that was issued to provide for the
conservation, development and utilization of forests is currently serving as
the forest policy statement of the country.
The outcome was
impressive.
The
interventions made as per the directions have bore fruits that the forest cover
has started to grow. The total forest cover of Ethiopia has tripled in size
since 2000 as a result of large-scale reforestation campaigns.
According to
recent data, about 15 percent of the country's surface area is now forested (16
million hectares). Another 44.6 million hectares are under wooded land. The
forest vegetation consists mainly of Acacia and Boswellia, but also includes
some high forest, riverine woodlands, mixed deciduous woodlands and bamboo
woodlands.
"Forest
conservation is getting more attention in Ethiopia, from the highest level of government
to the community level. Control over forests has been shifting to the local
level for several years. Communities in Ethiopia are being asked to manage
forest resources, not only for livelihood needs, but also to keep in place
healthy forests that can act as carbon sinks. Community-controlled forests, on
the other hand, tend to have clear rules and sanctions and community
participation, and are well-monitored. As a result, community forests tend to
be healthier and store more carbon than government managed forests."
Addressing the
neglect and damage on Ethiopia's forestry includes a massive effort to
rehabilitate the precious flora and fauna in the national parks, reserves and
other areas of the nation. For example, the Semen Mountains National Park had
reached to the level where UNESCO classified it a world heritage in danger.
Semen Park is one of the 22 national parks, two wildlife sanctuaries, five
wildlife reserves, 10 community reserve areas, 21 controlled hunting areas, and
4 biosphere reserves, protected areas that cover about 14 percent of Ethiopia's
total landmass.
Now, Semen
Park, after 20 years of effort, is to be removed from UNESCO’s list of
endangered heritages by 2015. Indeed, the political commitment, clear direction
and determination in forest development had been observed across the board and
had earned praises from several corners.
One notable
case, the remark made by Professor Nicholas Stern (Lord Stern of Brentford),
chair of the Grantham Research Institute, former adviser to the UK Government
on the Economics of Climate Change and Development and former Chief Economist
and Senior Vice President at the World Bank.
Professor
Nicholas Stern said, in the context of paying tribute to the late Prime
Minister Meles Zenawi: "On climate and environment and their relationship
with development, Meles was visionary, determined and practical.
He saw, as with
so many other things, that Africa and the developing countries should take
their future development, and their environment, in their own hands. He
proposed Ethiopia's Climate-Resilient Green Economic Strategy (CRGE): he had a
vision of Ethiopia being both a middle-income country and carbon-neutral by the
second half of the next decade, and had concrete plans for getting there.
He saw how to
contain Ethiopia's double-digit growth rate and decarbonize at the same time.
He saw how degraded land could be restored to great productivity and how
forests could be preserved and enhanced by the work of, and in the interests
of, local communities. His ideas on environment and development are still
embedded in Ethiopia's plans for the future."
Indeed,
Ethiopian remains firmly committed to the idea of advancing both environment
and development side by side.
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