A flourishing future for Gewocha Forest, Ethiopia

Ethiopia’s climate varies drastically between its regions, with equatorial rainforests in the south and southwest characterised by high rainfall and humidity, while desert-like conditions prevail in the east of the country. As one of the most drought-prone countries, rainfall in Ethiopia has become increasingly unpredictable, leading to greater food insecurity. 

All over the country, deforestation is prevalent. According to Global Forest Watch, Ethiopia lost 19,800 hectares of tree cover in 2021, and 4.2% of Ethiopia’s humid primary forest was lost between 2001 and 2021.

The Gewocha Forest, located in the northwest of the country, is one area where deforestation and land degradation is resulting in a poorer standard of living for residents. Here, and in the surrounding communities, a lack of effective land management means soil is of increasingly poor quality, and land is becoming unproductive. Consequently, there are high rates of poverty and poor nutrition in the local communities. In the Jabi-Tehnan region, where this project is based, half of the inhabitants live below the poverty line, and 43% are chronically malnourished.

While the forest itself is technically protected, the local government does not have the capacity to protect the forest. Farmers are being forced to encroach into the Gewocha forest to compensate for their low crop yields and a shortage of feed for their animals. Trees are cut for fuel wood, construction, and charcoal production to provide a source of income to fill the gap created by reduced income from farming.

Restoration Partner

Established in 2010, WeForest develops holistic and multi-stakeholder reforestation projects through a Forest and Landscape Restoration approach. Their vision is of a world where communities and nature sustainably thrive together to stop global warming ‘in our lifetime’. Their mission is focused on conserving and restoring the ecological integrity of forest landscapes with local communities to deliver lasting solutions for climate, nature, and people. Today, they have nearly 50,000 hectares under restoration across 3 continents; and aim by 2025 to reach a total of 100,000 hectares restored and 100 million trees planted.

This project is managed by the team at WeForest Ethiopia, and led by Dr. Aklilu Mekuria – one of WeForest’s longest serving team members, whose bioscience engineering and field experience sees him lead the landscape restoration and planting projects in Ethiopia.

This project aims to restore 10,000 hectares of degraded land in the Amhara region of Ethiopia by supporting the introduction of 11.9 million trees, in collaboration with The Hunger Project. These will be introduced by three methods: planting, assisted natural regeneration, and conservation.

Native large canopy species that will be planted here include Ficus vasta, Cordia africana, Albizia gummifera, Ficus sur forssk, and Syzygium guineense. On smallholder farms, 1.9 million seedlings of native and exotic species will be grown, including high-value fruit trees such as mango, avocado, banana and coffee.

The project will focus on three aims: forest restoration, securing communal ownership of the community forest, and agroforestry. These three strategies will help ensure the long-term, sustainable use of the land by enabling the protection of the forest, ending unsustainable agricultural practices, and promoting better health and wellbeing among the people who live in the region.

Fundamental to this project is its focus on enhancing the position of women in communities where, historically, opportunities for taking leadership roles have been scarce. Women Self Help Groups (WSHGs) will be formed to enhance women participation and leadership, and these will be supported to become Saving and Credit Cooperative Cooperatives (SACCo). Furthermore, maternal and child health in this region will be boosted by increasing access to Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH) including through sanitation & hygiene training, new water point construction and the maintenance of defunct water points.

Also, micro-irrigation systems will facilitate the sustainable production of vegetables, fruits and other crops that are important for supplementing and diversifying nutritional diets.

The local communities will also be assisted in securing title deeds to the forest, ensuring its future protection. Currently, the local government is unable to protect the forest, so local people will be given the training and equipment necessary to allow them to look after the forest for generations to come, thus reducing levels of deforestation within the forest. This, combined with improved land management techniques and better understanding of the importance of the in-tact forest among the communities, will ensure the forest is in safe hands going forward.

7,894 farmers and their families in the 14 communities will directly benefit from the Gewocha Forest project, and approximately 42,000 people will benefit indirectly.

Excitingly, planting has already begun! In June 2022, the Geray Tree Nursery was already up and running, producing half a million seedlings for this season’s planting.

Check out this video of the nursery:

See the project site on Restor here.

The Geray nursery is now fully operational! Over 1 million seedlings are being grown for 2023’s planting season later this year. The nursery is staffed by 40 nursery workers, the majority of whom are women.