Community Woodland Restoration, Ethiopia

Ethiopia has faced alarming rates of deforestation in recent decades, resulting in the loss of much of its original forest cover. The deforestation continues at an alarming pace, driven by human activities such as agriculture and fuel collection. 

This project focuses on community-led woodland restoration in extensively degraded areas where cattle grazing is restricted. By enhancing above-ground vegetation and biodiversity, it sequesters carbon from the atmosphere, storing it in both vegetation and soil  to mitigate the effects of climate change.

The project collaborates with communities and smallholder farmers to enhance ecosystem services and boost cash income for landless farmers. The project helps local people in implementing enrichment planting, adopting improved management practices, and installing distillation units to produce frankincense oil and beehives for honey production.

In addition to delivering emission removals to help take urgent action to combat climate change (SDG 13), the project delivers a number of other sustainable development benefits:

• No Poverty: Community members are engaged in a variety of income-generating purposes. The project provides capacity-building to nurture seedlings at community-nurseries and then plant and protect the saplings. Alongside this, the project targets women and young adults for training in additional livelihood initiatives to satisfy their nutritional, financial and energy needs These initiatives include apiculture, agroforestry and fodder production. Locals are trained to harvest grasses sustainably through a cut and carry system, which will then be divided amongst community members to feed livestock in place of open grazing.
• Zero Hunger: The project collaborates with communities and smallholder farmers to diversify livelihood products, enhancing food security. The project provides food aid for the most vulnerable community members during times of famine.
• Clean Water and Sanitation: Intensive soil and water conservation structures are constructed to capture water and support downslope spring activity. Many of the project's socioecological reinvestments have been used for the construction of large water reservoirs providing water access in the dry season.
• Decent Work and Economic Growth: EthioTrees works with associations of landless farmers to tap into frankincense production. Production of ‘white honey’, a local delicacy, through the introduction of bee hives. White honey is sold on local markets and provides an additional income stream for the community.
• Life on Land: Project works to restore and protect enclosures that are managed by landless farmers. Through better management of enclosures, rainwater infiltration helps to stabilize groundwater tables. This provides an opportunity for irrigation agriculture.