Trends of forest cover in Ethiopia - uni-goettingen.dewiki.awf.forst.uni-goettingen.de/wiki/images/e/e9/6_3_hatsey.pdf · • There is a decreasing trend of forest cover globally

Trend of forest cover change in Ethiopia

Abraha Hatsey

Georg –August Universitӓt Gӧttingen

Paper presented in South Africa

September, 2015

Outline

• Introduction

• Drivers of forest cover change

• Trend of forest cover change

• Conclusion

• References

Introduction

Global forest cover • 1/3 of land area • Sign of decrease in forest loss but still alarmingly

high • From 1990-2000 forest loss was around 8.3m ha • And from 2000-2010 forest loss was decreased to

5.2m ha (FAO, 2010)

• Since 2000 in average 5m ha/yr plantation • Still deforestation and forest degradation are

serious global problems (Goll et al, 2014).

Introduction Ethiopia • location…East Africa

• Population 90 million of which 85% is dependent on agriculture

• high altitude

• High diversity (climate, flora and fauna)

• High endemism

.

Eth..wikipedia

Drivers of change

1.population growth •2.6% annually

•Root cause of most of the problems

•Increasing demand for resources

•Unemployment

•high population density in Northern Ethiopia lead to migration and resettlement to the virgin land resulting in Afromontane forest loss in south west Ethiopia

•Large animal population(overgrazing) (Getahun et al, 2013)

2.Fuel wood and charcoal

• High dependence on biomass energy

• 90% cooking energy supply for the country

• 99.9% rural energy supply

• Hotels and universities use Wood as it is cheaper than

electricity (Assefa and Bork, 2013)

• Hence-resulting in forest

degradation

(Moges et al, 2010)

wikipedia

3. Agricultural practices

• Expansion at the expense of surrounding forest

• 59,000 ha is converted per year (WBISPP, 2004)

• traditional agriculture, small land holding and soil erosion leads to more expansion (Denboba and M. A., 2005)

• demand for cash crops like coffee , Foreign investment and land grabbing also putting huge pressure on forests(Guillozet and Bliss, 2011)

4. Poor governance, Policy and land tenure system

• Uncertain land tenure system leading to low investment by the people

• Lack of ownership stimulates illegal logging and the so called tragedy of commons(Assefa & Bork, 2013)

• Weak policy implementation on landuse(lu), low capacity of forest institutions, LU conflict and Policy discrepancy are aggravating forest loss.

• implementation of investment and settlement policies without assessing environmental Impact is also a major problem (Moges et al, 2010).

5. Resettlement

• To dense forests or wooded grass lands

• Mostly from North to SW part of the country

• 7 % of forest converted to cropland and settlement from 1999-2007.

• Took place with in and between states

e.g In Amhara state since 2003, 166,204 Household heads has been resettled. (Messay and Bekure, 2011; Walle et al, 2011)

Trend • 1990s the forest cover was estimated to 35-40%

• In 2010 it was down to 11.2% (FAO,2010)

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

16000

1990 2000 2005 2010

Are

a (1

00

0 h

a)

Year

Total forest cover

Natural forest cover

Plantation forest cover

Butler, Rhett A., 2015

Trend

from 1973-2000

6,08

3,96

2,36

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1973 to 1976 1986 to 1990 2000

Co

un

try

Co

vera

ge(%

)

Time(Year)

Natural High Forest Cover Change of Ethiopia (%)

country coverage(%)

Reusing, M., 2000

Reusing, M., 2000

Trend of forest cover change

conclusion

• There is a decreasing trend of forest cover globally and particularly in Ethiopia

• Definition of forest resulted in different estimates and should be considered to compare estimates at different points in time by different authors

• Some authors defined forest only when it is a closed canopy which under estimates the forest cover of the country

• Drivers of deforestation and forest degradation in Ethiopia includes mainly the following;

• Population growth • Agrarian society • Biomass energy • Low productivity and small land holding • poor policy and resettlment programmes

References

• Assefa & Bork, 2013. Deforestation and Forest Management in Southern Ethiopia: Investigations in the Chencha and Arbaminch Areas. Environmental management, V 53:284-299.

• Butler, Rhett A. ,2015. Mongabay.com. Retrieved on 19/08/2015, from http://www.mongabay.com/.

• Denboba, M. A., 2005. Forest Conversion, Soil Degradation, Farmers' Perception Nexus: Implications for Sustainable Land Use in the Southwest of Ethiopia (No. 26). Cuvillier Verlag.

• Dessie & Kleman, ,2007. Pattern and magnitude of deforestation in the South Central Rift Valley Region of Ethiopia. Mountain research and development, 27(2), 162-168.

• Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2010. Global Forest Resources Assessment . Rome.

• Getahun, K., Van Rompaey, A., Van Turnhout, P., & Poesen, J., 2013. Factors controlling patterns of deforestation in moist evergreen Afromontane forests of Southwest Ethiopia. Forest Ecology and Management, 304, 171-181.

• Goll II, Nick B.*, Li Jianhua and McKay Jr and John S. 2014. Causes of Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Liberia. Journal of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences. Vol. 2(3), pp20-30.

References

• Guillozet, K., & Bliss, J. C., 2011. Household Livelihoods and Increasing Foreign Investment Forests.

• Moges, Y., Eshetu, Z., & Nune, S., 2010. Ethiopian forest resources: Current status and future management options in view of access to carbon finances. Ethiopian Climate Research and Networking and the United Nations Development Programme, Addis Ababa. pp 30-31.

• Mulugeta, M., & Woldesemait, B., 2011. The impact of resettlement schemes on land-use/land-cover changes in Ethiopia: a case study from Nonno resettlement sites, central Ethiopia. Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa, 13, 269-293.

• Reusing, M., 2000. Change detection of natural high forests in Ethiopia using remote sensing and GIS techniques. International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 33(B7/3; PART 7), 1253-1258.

• Walle, T., Rangsipaht, S., & Chanprasert, W., 2011. Natural resource conservation practices of resettlers in the new resettlement areas of Amhara region, Ethiopia. Kasetsart Journal Social Science, 32, 297-307.

• WBISPP — Woody Biomass Inventory and Strategic Planning Project, 2004.Forest Resources of Ethiopia. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

• https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/Ethiopia_sat.png

Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony