WeForest Project
Title
Ethiopia Seret
Empowering communities and fighting deforestation
Project Summary
A re-greening effort by the government, community and NGOs is working to stop land degradation, protect natural resources and improve food production, mostly using ‘exclosures’: community-owned areas where livestock is not allowed. In this way, degraded land is rehabilitated and its functions restored: protection against landslides, the provision of clean water and habitats for wildlife.
WeForest participates in this movement by enriching encroached exclosures using native trees. Working in close collaboration with the local community, the project provides training in natural resource management, income-generating activities and material support.
Degraded land in need of restoration.
Overlooking the degraded landscape.
Engaging community members.
Taking the seedings to be planted.
Region
Geba zone, Debubawi Misrak zone and Misrakawi zone in Dogua Tembien district, Tigray region
Project Status
Open
Restoration Approach
With our partner Ethiotrees trees we can also sell carbon credits
Plan Vivo project development
Framework planting
Assisted natural regeneration
Planting Period
End of June to beginning of August
Project Partners
Ethio-Trees
BOS+
Tigray Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Development
Species
Acacia abyssinica, Acacia etbaica, Cordia africana, Croton macrostachyus, Dodonaea angustifolia, Dovyalis abyssinica, Faidherbia albida, Grevillea robusta, Juniperus procera, Leucaena leucocephala, Olea europaea, Pennisetum pedicellatum, Ziziphus spina-christi
Project Goals
Restore native forest
Restore degraded lands
Promote economic development
Promote non-timber forest production
Boost groundwater recharge
Promote food security
Latest Project News
| 17 March
Why is intervention needed?
Currently, less than 1% of Tigray’s Afromontane forest is still standing, due to intense cattle grazing, unsustainable agriculture, wood extraction and illegal charcoal production.
Ecological restoration
In Seret, restoration takes place in exclosures - protected ‘no-go’ zones where grazing is prohibited. The local community participates in the restoration activities either by planting seedlings grown in community-based nurseries or by sowing seeds. Given the hilly landscape, frequent droughts and poor soil conditions, the project focuses on after-planting care and implements soil and water conservation measures to reduce erosion and landslides.
Livelihood development
Forests have a better chance of being protected if local villages see that trees can provide many more benefits standing than felled. Community members manage the nurseries and plant and protect the saplings. The project targets women and young adults with training in alternative livelihood initiatives such as apiculture, agroforestry and grass harvesting (cut and carry system) to feed livestock.
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* Carbon calculation methodology
The total above-ground biomass is estimated to average 32.66 tons of CO2 per hectare over a period of 20 years.
FAO (2010) Global forest resources assessment 2010: Main report. FAO Forestry Paper No. 163. FAO, Rome, Italy. p. 340
