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Great Green Wall
Great Green Wall
Machakel,
Ethiopia
A community-based approach to restore degraded lands
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under restoration

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trees growing

species regenerating

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families benefiting

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people trained

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In Machakel in Ethiopia’s Amhara region, the local community is at the heart of the forest restoration project.

Indigenous trees are planted on community land, gullies and river banks, and fruit and timber trees are planted on farms.

Villagers learn new skills and share these with other people in the surrounding villages. This enables the entire community to start protecting and restoring their own forests.

Watch more on Youtube
Watch more on Youtube

Why and how we’re working here

With 85% of Ethiopia’s population engaged in agriculture, the level of deforestation for crops for firewood or charcoal is extreme, causing extensive soil erosion and the formation of gullies. Local people now struggle to grow crops and raise livestock.
Our focus is to reverse this trend and ensure alternative sources of fuel, shelter and income.
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Latest project updates
Latest project updates

Location

Machakel woreda, East-Gojam zone, Amhara region

Restoration approaches

Framework Planting, ANR, Enrichment Planting: Agroforestry

Project partners

The Hunger Project; Amhara National Regional State Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Development

Species

Include Faidherbia albida, Juniperus procera, Moringa stelapolata, Olea Europea, Pinus patula, Podocarpus spp

Participants

Nearly 5000 households, 10% headed by women

The project’s impact on people

Fruit and timber trees planted on community land, gullies, river banks and farmland, apiculture, and brick and fodder production diversify income streams in ways that ease pressure on the surrounding forest. We prefer to engage women and youths throughout our project activities whenever possible, in order to ensure that the most vulnerable among the communities are benefiting directly.

The immediate consequence of the desertification here is erosion of topsoil and the significant reduction of agricultural yields for smallholder farmers. Even more alarming is the possible long-term impact on local cloud formation and rainfall, causing more frequent droughts and food insecurity.

WeForest has been working since 2016 to directly restore and protect nearly 40 000 ha of the forest through Assisted Natural Regeneration (ANR) and Enrichment Planting.

We select species that serve multiple purposes in the forest and for the communities, generating a combination of social, economic and environmental benefits. Examples are olive (<i>Olea europaeat</i>), juniper (<i>Juniperus procerat</i>, pictured) and briar root (<i>Erica arboreat</i>), which are combined with different grass species for fodder and to reduce erosion. © WeForest

Soil and water conservation structures are built to reduce run-off and improve soil infiltration. © WeForest

Examples of income-generating activities are beekeeping, poultry, sheep, high-value trees and vegetable seeds, efficient cookstoves, solar lights and the employment of forest guards. The project also establishes and strengthens rural schools’ environmental clubs. © WeForest

The Nubian dragon tree, Dracaena ombet, is categorized as Endangered on the IUCN Red List.

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Who’s funding the Machakel project?
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Updates from the Great Green Wall programme

See more updates
See more updates
This forest-growing method is defying drought and desertification in the Sahel
Research newsGreat Green WallNews

This forest-growing method is defying drought and desertification in the Sahel

Learn about a forest-growing method that is defying drought and desertification in the Sahel....
Great Green WallMiombo Belt Regeneration

How do WeForest’s projects support community resilience?

It’s no good restoring a forest if the surrounding communities still need to use it for firewood or to produce...
NewsGreat Green WallMiombo Belt Regeneration

Healthy forests, healthy people

Forests are essential to the well-being of present and future generations....
Great Green Wall

How can we make the Great Green Wall a reality?

How do we bring the desert to life again?...
Great Green WallMiombo Belt RegenerationWildlife Corridors

Thanks to you, amazing things happened this year!

Over 9600 hectares were restored during 2022 - that's almost 13.5 million trees....
Great Green Wall

No-one sits at home during planting season!

We've had some good rains in Desa'a this year, and planting is starting again....
Great Green Wall

First planting in Gewocha!

Here, project manager Adamu is shown kicking off the first planting in the new Gewocha Forest project with a demonstration....
Great Green Wall

How does forest restoration reduce soil erosion?

Some good news for #WorldSoilDay! This is the same stream before and after passing through one of our restoration sites...
Great Green Wall

Preparing a major new nursery

Here, the site is being prepared for the seedlings in the new WeForest/The Hunger Project tree nursery at Geray in...
Great Green Wall

How does forest restoration alleviate poverty?

Before COVID-19, 1.3 billion people were already living in ‘multidimensional and persistent poverty’. As a result of the pandemic, another...

Progress reports

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