Case Studies UNDP: GUASSA-MENZ COMMUNITY CONSERVATION AREA

7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: GUASSA-MENZ COMMUNITY CONSERVATION AREA

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/case-studies-undp-guassa-menz-community-conservation-area 1/11

Equator Initiative Case StudiesLocal sustainable development solutions for people, nature, and resilient communities

Ethiopia

GUASSA-MENZ COMMUNITY CONSERVATION AREA

Empowered live

Resilient nation



UNDP EQUATOR INITIATIVE CASE STUDY SERIES

Local and indigenous communities across the world are advancing innovative sustainable development solutions that wo

or people and or nature. Few publications or case studies tell the ull story o how such initiatives evolve, the breadth

their impacts, or how they change over time. Fewer still have undertaken to tell these stories with community practition

themselves guiding the narrative.

To mark its 10-year anniversary, the Equator Initiative aims to ll this gap. The ollowing case study is one in a growing ser

that details the work o Equator Prize winners – vetted and peer-reviewed best practices in community-based environmenconservation and sustainable livelihoods. These cases are intended to inspire the policy dialogue needed to take local succ

to scale, to improve the global knowledge base on local environment and development solutions, and to serve as models

replication. Case studies are best viewed and understood with reerence to ‘The Power o Local Action: Lessons rom 10 Years

the Equator Prize’, a compendium o lessons learned and policy guidance that draws rom the case material.

Click on the map to visit the Equator Initiative’s searchable case study database.

EditorsEditor-in-Chie: Joseph Corcoran

Managing Editor: Oliver HughesContributing Editors: Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Erin Lewis, Whitney Wilding

Contributing WritersEdayatu Abieodun Lamptey, Erin Atwell, Toni Blackman, Jonathan Clay, Joseph Corcoran, Larissa Currado, Sarah Gordon, Oliver Hughe

Wen-Juan Jiang, Sonal Kanabar, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Rachael Lader, Patrick Lee, Erin Lewis, Jona Liebl, Mengning Ma,

Mary McGraw, Gabriele Orlandi, Brandon Payne, Juliana Quaresma, Peter Schecter, Martin Sommerschuh, Whitney Wilding, Luna Wu

DesignOliver Hughes, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Amy Korngiebel, Kimberly Koserowski, Erin Lewis, John Mulqueen, Lorena de la Pa

Brandon Payne, Mariajosé Satizábal G.

AcknowledgementsThe Equator Initiative acknowledges with gratitude the Guassa Conservation Council, and the guidance and inputs o Dr. Zelealem Tee

Ethiopia Country Representative, Frankurt Zoological Society. Photo credits courtesy o Delphin Ruché, Martin Harvey, Vincent Mun

Biniyam Admassu, Dr. Zelealem Teera, and Dr. Karen Laurenson. Maps courtesy o CIA World Factbook and Wikipedia.

Suggested CitationUnited Nations Development Programme. 2012. Guassa-Menz Community Conservation Area, Ethiopia. Equator Initiative Case Study

ries. New York, NY.

http://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/events/2012events/Book_Launch/power%2520of%2520local%2520action%2520final%25202013%25208mb.pdf




http://equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_winners&view=casestudysearch&Itemid=858



PROJECT SUMMARYFor over 400 years, the grasslands in the Guassa area o Menz in Ethiopia’s central highlands were governed undera communal management system known as Qero. In thissystem, elected headmen determined when and or howlong local people could harvest thatch grass and graze theirlivestock. Following the 1974 revolution and the collapseo the Qero system due to agrarian reorm, the Guassa areasuered rom year-round exploitation o the grasslands andsubsequent degradation.

The Guassa-Menz initiative has worked since 2003 to revive

the Qero system as a means o sustainably managing thearea’s valuable estuca grasses. Control o the grasslandswas transerred to the Guassa Conservation Council, andhas been complemented by modern governance elements,while community scouts have been trained in localbylaw enorcement. These successes resulted in the legalrecognition o the Guassa Community Conserved Area in2008.

KEY FACTS

EQUATOR PRIZE WINNER: 2004

FOUNDED: 2003

LOCATION: Guassa Area, Amhara National Regional State

BENEFICIARIES: Guassa communities

BIODIVERSITY: Guassa Community Conservation Area

3

GUASSA-MENZ COMMUNITY CONSERVATION AREAEthiopia

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Background and Context 4

Key Activities and Innovations 6

Biodiversity Impacts 7

Socioeconomic Impacts 7

Policy Impacts 9

Sustainability 10

Replication 10

Partners 10



4

he Guassa Area o Menz, located in the central highlands o Ethiopia

n Amhara National Regional State, has seen the reintroduction o an

ndigenous land use system to saeguard its important biodiversity

nd secure the long-term livelihoods o its human population. This

rea, covering over 110 km2 at an altitude o 3200-3700m above

ea level, is an important component o the Aro-Alpine habitat

Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Highlands, the Eastern Arc Mountains

nd Southern Rit, and the Albertine Rit constitute the three main

massis o the Eastern Aromontane region, one o thirty-our global

iodiversity hotspots. The highlands are home to high levels o

pecies endemism and important populations o endangered and

are species such as the Ethiopian wol, gelada baboon and Ankober

erin Seedeater. The region is also an important water catchmentrea or the Nile and other important rivers draining into the

owlands o Ethiopia.

An important local resource, sustainably conserved

he area’s ecosystem integrity is also vitally important or the

velihoods o local communities, who harvest “Guassa” grass, a

ubspecies o the Festuca genus o perennial tuted grasses, and

raze their livestock in the Guassa area. The grass is important as a

hatching material, being used or 98% o the houses in the area, and

s also a cash crop or poorer members o the community. The area

erves as a reuge or the entire Menz livestock herd during seasonal

roughts. The Ethiopian Highlands region is home to over 80% o he country’s population, most o whom practice sedentary agrarian

estyles. High levels o vegetation loss, soil degradation, and

opulation growth have resulted in very low levels o agricultural

roductivity, however, and human development or the region’s

opulation remains poor.

or over our hundred years, the Menz area’s grassland had been

ustainably conserved by a well-dened indigenous common

roperty resource management system known as Qero. This

nstitution entailed each o the two user communities in the area

– Asbo and Gera – democratically electing an elder as a head

called the Abba Qera. The Abba Qera was then responsibl

protecting and regulating the use o the Guassa area. This

system would entail the closure o the Guassa area rom any

by the community or between three to ve years. The leng

closure largely depended upon the growth and recovery o

grass, community requirements or resources, success o the

crop harvest and on the requency o drought in the Guassa AWhen the two Abba Qeras elt that the grass was ready or har

they would announce the date o the opening to the commu

Closure periods were strictly enorced by the users themse

This system also had substantial benets or the biodiversity o

region, providing a healthy ecosystem that supported endemic

endangered species.

Following the 1974 revolution, however, all rural land

nationalized in a process o agrarian reorm, leading to the en

the Qero indigenous resource management institution. Private

Background and Context



55

ommunal land ownership was transormed into state or public land

enure. The area was essentially treated as an open access resource

s it became available to a wider number o communities, leading to

nsustainable overexploitation through the 1990s: livestock grazing

ontinued year-round, while grasses were cut until they became

oo short to be o use. Attempts to reintroduce community-based

management o the area’s natural resources in tandem with the new

ocal government authorities were less successul, and the land area

ad been substantially degraded by the late 1990s.

Reintroduction o the Qero system

y 2003, support rom the Ethiopian Wol Conservation Programme,

he UK-based Darwin Initiative, and the Frankurt Zoological

ociety, had enabled the Guassa Committee, a body made up o

epresentatives rom local peasant organizations, to establish the

Guassa Conservation Council, and reinstall the traditional resource

management system. This began with a three-year moratorium on

atural resource use within the Guassa area, rom 2003 to 2006.

n its modern orm, closure periods banning harvesting within

he conservation area are declared by the Guassa ConservationCouncil. Several workshops with local village associations were

eld during this initial process, during which the area was mapped,

nd bylaws were drawn up governing the use o its resources. The

cological health o the area is monitored by local villagers trained

s community scouts and community ecological monitors, while all

uman incursions are punished by local courts.

he daily management o the area and supervision o community

couts is conducted by the Guassa Conservation Council, which now

omprises ve representatives rom each o the nine local Kebele,

r village administration units, as well as representatives rom theWoreda (district-level) administration, judiciary, police, agricultural

ce, environmental protection agency, and militia and securityces. The nine Kebele that make up the Guassa Committee are

ome to approximately 9,000 households; the average size o their

and holdings is 0.7 hectares.

n addition to securing the long term natural resource-based

velihoods o the local population, this community management

ystem has created opportunities or ecotourism, currently being

eveloped with support rom international partners. A general

management plan was drawn up or the period 2007-2012, outl

the aims o the community-managed Guassa Area o Menz, and

initiative has successully sought ocial recognition as a Comm

Conserved Area (CCA). It has also hosted several internat

researchers who have studied its endemic and rare species, prov

the scientic basis or conservation o Guassa grass, gelada babo

and the endangered Ethiopian wol.

“Guassa is found at the edge of the area that was deeply affected by the 1984 drought and famine. The existence of the Guassa area has helped the survival of livestock in the area by

increasing the resilience of the community to droughts. In the last few decades the rainfall ha

been erratic and unpredictable in the mountain regions of Ethiopia, increasing the vulnerabili

of many rural communities. The Guassa area has supplied a reserve source of income and

animal fodder during these difficult times.”

Dr. Zelealem Tefera, Ethiopia Country Representative, Frankfurt Zoological Society



6

Key Activities and Innovations

Much o Guassa’s success in establishing community-based

onservation has been based on its use o the Qero system, and the

daptability and resilience o this system to modern challenges. Its

trength as a tool or conservation and sustainable use is rooted in

over our centuries o tradition, and is closely tied to the histories o

he nine Guassa Kebele themselves. These villages trace the lineage

o some o their members back as ar as our hundred years; the Qero

ystem is thereore an integral part o local cultural heritage. In its

modern incarnation in Guassa, it has been based on the innovatory

se o local ecological monitoring strategies, partnership with the

istrict-level government authorities, and legal recognition as one

o Ethiopia’s rst community conservation areas.

Monitoring and enorcement

Drawing on the successul Namibian example o local-level

monitoring as a decision-support tool, the Guassa Conservation

Council oversees twenty community scouts who have been trained

n bylaw enorcement and confict resolution, as well as eight

ommunity ecological monitors. These community members are

lected rom the our Kebele nearest to the conserved area. Financial

upport and training or these scouts and monitors has come rom

he Darwin Initiative, a UK Government biodiversity nancing

nitiative, and the Frankurt Zoological Society. They monitor

arious indicators o the ecological health o the conservation area

ncluding vegetation cover and animal species population numbers,

s well as illegal usage during the closed season. These communitymonitors have also been able to raise awareness o the importance

o conserving the area’s Ethiopian wol population.

ocal courts are mandated to ne community members up to 1,500

r (more than USD 100) or repeated illegal cutting o estuca grass,

or grazing livestock during the closed season. This punishment is

lso accompanied by one month’s imprisonment. The area has been

losed or estuca harvesting since 2007, although allowances have

been made or short periods during droughts, when armers are able

o herd cattle in the grassland area.

Ocial legal recognition as a community-based organizatio

2008, and acceptance by the Amhara National Regional Stat

Ethiopia’s rst Community Conserved Area (CCA) in 2010

crucial achievements or the initiative. It has made it a mode

other community-based natural resource management projec

Ethiopia, and has brought the initiative substantial national atten

Importantly, it has also enabled the Guassa community mem

to resist various pressures on their land in the orm o prop

investments. Prior to designation as a community conserved

the initiative was able to successully halt two attempts to esta

commercial sheep-arming in the Guassa area. These applica

to the regional investment oce proposed creating a 150-he

enclosure as a commercial sheep ranch; this was opposed on

basis that it would establish a legal precedent or private enclosures. Now, as a legally-designated protected area, the Gu

communities have a certied right to their land.



7

Impacts

BIODIVERSITY IMPACTS

By regulating exploitation, the Qero system has protected the unique

nd diverse auna and fora o around 9,800 hectares o grassland.

Ecosystem monitoring, by providing inormation on the state o the

exceptional resource values o the Guassa area, has been identied

s a key part o the adaptive management o the area. Technical

experts have identied six key ecosystem components that support

he unique biodiversity o the Guassa Area; i all these components

re conserved, then the long-term health o the ecosystem should

emain intact. Festuca grass constitutes the largest o these six

elements, and around 30% o the total area.

Guassa is home to many o the species commonly associated with

Aro-Alpine ecosystems. These include 22 mammal species, 27%

o which are endemic to Ethiopia. The area’s fagship mammal

pecies is the most endangered canid in the world, the Ethiopian

wol (Canis simensis), also known as the Simien ox. With ewer than

00 individuals remaining in the world, the Ethiopian wol is rated

s ‘Critically Endangered’ by the IUCN Red List. The Guassa area

protects one o the major groups, with a stable population o around

5 wolves. The conservation o grassland has provided a habitat or

high numbers o rodents on which the Ethiopian wol preys.

Other important species in the area include the gelada baboon. The

gelada is the only surviving member o a once widespread genusTheropithecus. These baboons are the only grazing primates in the

world. Although they have been assessed as a species o ‘Least

Concern’ by IUCN, global species numbers have allen rom an

estimated 440,000 in the 1970s to around 2,000 in 2008. The Guassa

population o gelada has doubled, and is now the second highest

population in Ethiopia behind the Simien Mountain National Park.

Bird species have also beneted rom the Qero system, with 114

pecies recorded in the area. Among these, 14 species are endemic

o Ethiopia, including the restricted-range Ankober seedeater and

Spot-breasted Plover. The Guassa area also serves as a winte

ground or many palearctic migrant birds. A striking eature o

birdlie in the Guassa area is the abundance o birds o prey

east, along with the wolves, on the area’s high rodent populati

SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTS

The Guassa Area is a critical natural resource or the peop

Menz, providing ecosystem services such as odder or ani

uel, building materials, arming, and household implem

or subsistence purposes. The area also provides an elemen

livelihood stability through diversiying o income sources be

subsistence agriculture and smallholder arming. The wide va

o local goods that are produced rom Guassa grass ensure a de

o independence rom markets and the government, allo



el-reliance through the availability o many goods and services

ocally. These goods can also be bartered and sold in markets,

upplying cash income or poorer households.

Provisioning ecosystem services o the Guassa area

The main uses o the Guassa Area are the collection o Guassa grass

and rewood and grazing o livestock. Two varieties o the Guassa

Festuca sp) grass are classied locally: Kuachera is used to thatch 98%

o houses in the area, while Naso is used or plaster in houses, ater

being mixed with mud. Grass is also used to make ropes, household

equipment, baskets, painting brushes, mattresses and shepherds’

aincoats. Festuca grass is especially important in making mats or

use in houses, as its miniscule thorns catch feas, preventing them

rom spreading diseases.

Guassa also provides a prime grazing area or the Menz livestock

population, a key economic activity, being the largest area o communal grazing locally. It has provided an important reuge

during recent drought periods, when armers have been permitted to

graze their livestock within the conserved area. Fuelwood is another

key resource with Cheren (Europs sp), Asta (Erica arboria), Gibera,

Lobilia sp) Ameja (Hypericum rivolutum), and Abelbila (Kniphofa) all

being collected. Collection usually takes place in the dry season; a

arge volume is required due to its low caloric value. Cattle dung is

requently burned as an alternative source o uel.

Underpinning local wellbeing

Medicinal plants are widely collected rom the Guassa area to

human and livestock diseases. Wild berries such as Rubes abyssi

and Rubes Stedneri are also collected, while thyme is used in cooand as a medicinal plant. Stinging nettles (Urtica slimensis) are

to prepare a stew during the asting season.

In addition, the Guassa area is a key water catchment area

locally and regionally. A total o 26 rivers begin in the area,

drain into either the Blue Nile or Awash Rivers. The mountain b

provides year-round water supplies or drought-prone settlem

bordering the region. Downstream users in the low-lying are

Yiat, Merhabeti and the Aar Region are dependent on this w

an ecosystem unction that is well-recognized by the Gu

community groups.

Diversiying incomes: ecotourism and micro-enterprise

The Guassa communities’ main strategy or increasing house

incomes is to develop tourism in the area, utilizing the wild

spotting potential o the area as an ecotourism attraction or vis

An eco-lodge has been constructed, and work is ongoing to dev

related activities such as guided walks, horse-riding, and handic

A tourism board has been created comprising one represent

rom each Kebele. Community members have been sele

and given training to serve as tour guides and produce artis

8



andicrats or sale to visiting tourists. Prots rom the project will be

sed or community development projects.

One such project idea has been to begin a micro-nance scheme

or local women. This is a model that has proved successul in

he Amhara Region o Ethiopia: the Amhara Credit and Savings

nstitution is internationally recognized as a leading micronance

nstitution. Prots rom ecotourism would go into a village lending

cheme that allowed women to make products rom grasses andstablish orest nurseries, reducing the time spent collecting uel.

POLICY IMPACTS

Guassa’s example has provided a model or community-based natural

esource management in Ethiopia. It has successully overcome

and-tenure barriers to communal ownership o land, and in 2008

was recognized as a community-based organization and as the rst

ommunity conserved area in Ethiopia. This ocial designation is

ow one o ve types o protected area in Ethiopia, along with parks,

anctuaries, reserves, and controlled hunting areas. In large part this

hange in land policy is due to the work o the Guassa communities.

his aim was stated in a General Management Plan in 2007, outlining

ve-year strategy or ensuring the sustained success o the Guassa

nitiative:

“The Guassa Area is under threat rom a number o directions, inclu

development and investment initiatives, agricultural expansion

uncontrolled grazing… To date, environmental impact assessment

and lobbying by the local community have stopped any developme

the area. In addition, arming has expanded at the edge o the Gu

Area, rom all directions, due to human population growth, dro

requency, rural development activities and changes in rural land

policies at a national level. The community thereore believes

should be a stronger legal ramework or the conservation o the Gu Area that will provide additional protection and security to the

and their traditional natural resource management system rom

external and internal pressure.” (Guassa Area General Managem

Plan, 2007)

This legal ramework was established in 2008 and has been

primary policy achievement o the initiative to date. Coopera

with local government oces has been critical to the succe

community management o the Guassa area, with their bound

being legally demarcated and recognized in the regional parliam

9



10

Sustainability and Replication

SUSTAINABILITYn terms o its nancial sustainability, the Guassa initiative is not

eliant on external unding to continue its main areas o work. The

onservation o the grassland area relies on community volunteers

nd the local court system, and thereore doesn’t require nancial

nput, although initial training was given to the community monitors

sing Darwin Initiative unding.

he General Management Plan or 2007-2012 outlines three main

reas o work that are undamental to the sustained success o the

Guassa Menz project. These are sustainable community natural

esource management, based on the Qero system o closed periodsor harvesting Festuca grass; the ecological monitoring program,

sing community volunteers as local monitors; and tourism,

ccompanied by an outreach programme with 21 primary and

econdary schools adjacent to the Guassa area to raise awareness o

he area’s biodiversity and the need to conserve it. The importance

this third component is to establish a solid social oundation or

he continuation o the closure periods. Droughts, unpredictable

ainall patterns, continued population growth, and a lack o

iversied income sources will continue to impose pressures on

he Guassa grassland area; grassroots understanding o the needs

or sustainable use o natural resources will saeguard agains

reversal o the communities’ success.

The other main strategy to improve the socioeconomic wellb

o Guassa communities is establishing ecotourism in the area

construction o an eco-lodge was nanced with a grant rom

Frankurt Zoological Society. It is hoped that this will become

unding, providing a source o income or local people, and tha

prots can be reinvested in community development projects.

REPLICATION

The Guassa Community Conservation Area has inspired repliceorts in two cases, in partnership with the Ethiopian Wi

Conservation Authority and the Frankurt Zoological Society

using unding rom the European Union. Representatives

brought to Guassa rom the Abune Yoseph Community Conserv

Area and Denkoro National Forest Priority Area to observe

conservation model being implemented. Peer-to-peer learning

acilitated through these learning exchange site visits. The dir

o the Wildlie Conservation Authority in Ethiopia has also reque

a handbook to be written by the Guassa Committee or us

replicating their model.

PARTNERS

• Frankurt Zoological Society (including EU nancing)

• Ethiopian Wol Conservation Program - University o Ox

Wildlie Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU)

• Ethiopian Wildlie Conservation Authority

• U.K. Darwin Initiative

• Regional and local government authorities

• Addis Ababa University

• Academics rom Scandinavia, the UK, Addis Ababa and o

countries have spent time at Guassa conducting research

local biodiversity and community conservation eorts.



Click the thumbnails below to read more case studies like this:

Equator Initiative

Environment and Energy GroupUnited Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

304 East 45th Street, 6th Floor

New York, NY 10017

Tel: +1 646 781-4023

www.equatorinitiative.org

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UN’s global development network, advocating or change

onnecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better lie.

The Equator Initiative brings together the United Nations, governments, civil society, businesses and grassroots organizati

o recognize and advance local sustainable development solutions or people, nature and resilient communities.

©2012 by Equator Initiative

All rights reserved

FURTHER REFERENCE

Guassa-Menz Community Conservation Area Photo Story (Vimeo) http://vimeo.com/15749552

Guassa-Menz Community Conservation Area website: http://www.guassaarea.org/

Teera Ashena, Z. 2001. Common Property Resource Management o an Aro-alpine habitat: supporting a population o the critically en

gered Ethiopian Wol Canis simensis. Ph.D. dissertation, University o Kent at Canterbury, UK.

The community-managed Guassa Area, Menz: General Management Plan, 2007-2012. Available at: http://darwin.dera.gov.uk/d

ments/EIDPS004/4799/EIDPS004%20Management%20plan.pd

http://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/com_winners/casestudy/case_1348152340.pdf



Case Studies UNDP: GUASSA-MENZ COMMUNITY CONSERVATION AREA

Documents