The Climate Resilient Green Economy (CRGE), Ethiopia’s national strategy to achieve a middle-income status by 2025 has “Forestry: Protecting and re-establishing forests for their economic and ecosystem services, including as carbon stocks” among one of the four pillars of Ethiopia’s green economy. In order to support national and regional decision-makers and actors responsible for planning and managing forests and related resources in Ethiopia, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) under the UN-REDD Programme published a set of guidelines that focus on promoting sustainable management of Ethiopian forests. The publications were produced in collaboration with the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MEFCC).

Guiding principles for sustainable bamboo forest management in Benishangul-Gumuz Regional state (BGRS)

Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State (BGRS) is the region with the highest presence of bamboo in Ethiopia, especially lowland bamboo, Oxytenanthera abyssinica, a species adapted to dry land and degraded landscapes. In the last 10 years, bamboo in BGRS has often been degraded due to unsustainable agricultural practices (e.g. use of fire), land conversion for agricultural investments, and mass bamboo flowering followed by subsequent death. Bamboo has the potential to become an important economic resource, by bringing additional income to poor farmers, and can also facilitate land restoration in the lowlands. In order to promote bamboo in BRGS, a shift in its perception is necessary as it tends to be perceived as a weed rather than an economic resource. Additionally, a plan for bamboo forest management is also required, first at the regional level, to be further translated and adapted to the local level (district or Woreda).

”Guiding principles for sustainable bamboo forest management in Benishangul-Gumuz Regional state (BGRS)” is based on the combination of a desk study, workshop and field visits between March and June 2018, conducted by CIFOR on behalf of FAO under the UN-REDD Programme. The publications is intended to aid decision making of regional authorities towards developing a sustainable bamboo forest management plan for BGRS. The document is the first step towards Sustainable Bamboo Forest Management (SBFM) planning, providing guidance, suggestions and identifying key challenges and opportunities to the sustainable management of bamboo forest in the region. The next step is for district authorities to develop management plans in each district, in collaboration with all concerned stakeholders.

English version: Guiding principles for sustainable bamboo forest management in Benishangul-Gumuz Regional state (BGRS)

Amharic version: ዘላቂ የቀርከሀ ደን አስተዳደር ዕቅድ መርሆዎች ቤኒሻንጉል ጉሙዝ ክልላዊ መንግሥት

Guidelines on sustainable forest management in drylands of Ethiopia

Approximately 80% of forests in Ethiopia are currently considered as dry forests. They are an integral part of Ethiopia’s forest ecosystems, which range from moist alpine forests of the Bale highlands in central Ethiopia to the hot and dry woodlands in the Borana rangelands in southern Ethiopia. Most of the endemic wildlife in Ethiopia is found in dry forests and is part of a delicate balance of unique ecosystems.

Despite strong political will to sustainably manage Ethiopia’s forests, the last two decades saw Ethiopia’s dry forests rapidly replaced by other land uses, such as small and large-scale agriculture, and settlements. Lack of arable lands in the more moisture-rich highlands, high population growth rates, and high demand for export oriented agricultural products have led to largescale conversion of dry forests into croplands and settlements. Dry forest biomes are experiencing the highest rate of forest loss in Ethiopia

Exacerbating this trend is a prevailing perception that dry forests contribute little to Ethiopia’s economy in general because they are less ‘green’ and sparsely vegetated. But the reality is that dry forests provide habitat to a great number of animals, trees, shrubs, grasses and herbaceous plants that are critical to rural communities. Biodiversity in dry forests has made Ethiopia one of the world’s most biodiverse hotspots. Dry forests bring a wide range of products and environmental services that provide inputs to other parts of the economy and ensure the sustainable livelihoods of local communities. Ecosystem services include protection of water supplies, reduction of soil erosion, and provision of products such as fuelwood, charcoal, fodder, medicinal plants, bush meats, construction materials, and famine foods.

“Guidelines on sustainable forest management in drylands of Ethiopia” seeks to fill an information gap to enable decision-makers to better understand the true value of dry forests at the national level and ultimately take appropriate action. The authors stitch together information from scientific and grey literature, new analyses focusing on dry forests based on existing secondary data, and comments and suggestions from key informants at the federal level.

English version: Guidelines on sustainable forest management in drylands of Ethiopia

English version: Factsheet "Guidelines on sustainable forest management in drylands of Ethiopia"

Amrahic version: ዘላቂ የደን አስተዳደር በኢትዮጵያ ቆላማ ስፍራዎች: ስተበኒያቲ አትማጃ፣ አበጀ እሸቴ እና ማኑኤል ቧሲየር

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