The EthioTrees Ecosystem Restoration Association, in short EthioTrees, established in 2016, is a project for environmental rehabilitation and

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

restoration in

Dogu’a Tembien Dogu'a Tembien (, "Upper Tembien", sometimes transliterated as Degua Tembien) is a woreda in Tigray Region, Ethiopia. It is named in part after the former province of Tembien. Nowadays, the mountainous district is part of the Southeastern Tigray ...

(Ethiopia).

Context

Since many years, there has been severe

land degradation Land degradation is a process in which the value of the biophysical environment is affected by a combination of human-induced processes acting upon the land. It is viewed as any change or disturbance to the land perceived to be deleterious ...

and

desertification Desertification is a type of land degradation in drylands in which biological productivity is lost due to natural processes or induced by human activities whereby fertile areas become increasingly arid. It is the spread of arid areas caused b ...

in Tigray and the area became also impoverished; however, a lot of efforts are done to rehabilitate these semi-arid mountain landscapes.EthioTrees on Davines website
/ref> Since 1994, researchers, students, and field assistants have studied the environment of

. To contribute to the ongoing effort for rehabilitation, they initiated development projects that addressed in the first place land conservation, ecosystem services, and livelihood. EthioTrees is one of these projects.

Objectives

EthioTrees has as objectives: * to enhance community-driven woodland restoration in

exclosure An exclosure, in an area being used extensively for grazing, is a limited area from which unwanted browsing animals, such as domestic cattle or wildlife such as deer, are excluded by fencing or other means. Environmental protection Most common ...

s * to sequester carbon in exclosures, both as above-ground biomass and soil organic matter * to develop and valorise

ecosystem services Ecosystem services are the many and varied benefits to humans provided by the natural environment and healthy ecosystems. Such ecosystems include, for example, agroecosystems, forest ecosystem, grassland ecosystems, and aquatic ecosystems ...

, including: : *

ground water Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidat ...

availability : *

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...

production : *

incense Incense is aromatic biotic material that releases fragrant smoke when burnt. The term is used for either the material or the aroma. Incense is used for aesthetic reasons, religious worship, aromatherapy, meditation, and ceremony. It may also ...

(oil) production

Associations of landless farmers

EthioTrees not only improves soil organic carbon, biomass,

groundwater recharge Groundwater recharge or deep drainage or deep percolation is a hydrologic process, where water moves downward from surface water to groundwater. Recharge is the primary method through which water enters an aquifer. This process usually occurs ...

, or biodiversity but also cash income for landless farmers. Most farmers estimate that lack of access to water is the main problem for their livelihood. In addition, landless youngsters derive much less income from sales of livestock or agricultural produce, in comparison to farmers with land.EthioTrees on Plan Vivo website
/ref> The communities are invited to design and implement the project themselves; for this purpose, EthioTrees uses a participatory mapping approach during all phases of the project. Ethiotrees project meeting

EthioTrees’ exclosures

The EthioTrees project manages these

s: *

Addi Lihtsi Addi ( ti, ዓዲ, ʿĀddī; tig, ዓድ, ʿĀd; gez, ዓድ, ʿĀd) is a Tigrinya term meaning "village" derived from the Ge'ez word "Ad" meaning "son." The word can be found in many village and city names in Tigray Region, Ethiopia and Tig ...

, near the village of

(412 ha) * Addi Meles, near the village of Migichi (65 ha) * Addilal, near the village of Addilal (144.81 ha) * Afedena, near the village of Afedena (70 ha) * Ch'elaqo, near the village of Ch'elaqo (50 ha) * Gemgema, near the village of Tsigaba (92 ha) * Kidmi Gestet, near the village of Gestet (46 ha) *

Lafa Laffa, also known as lafa or Iraqi pita, is a large, thin flatbread in Israeli cuisine with an Iraqi origin. Laffa is a simple bread that is traditionally dairy-free and vegan and cooked in a '' tannur'' (tandoor) or '' taboon'' oven. It is mos ...

, near the village of Lafa in Mizane Birhan municipality (45.25 ha) * May Be'ati, near the village of May Be'ati (46 ha) * Mi'am Atali, near the village of Mi'am Atali (83 ha) *

May Genet May is the fifth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is the third of seven months to have a length of 31 days. May is a month of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. Therefore, May ...

, near the village of

(60 ha) * May Hib'o, near the village of

(50 ha) * Sesemat, near the village of Tahtay Sesemat (46 ha) * Togogwa, near the village of Togogwa (196 ha) * Tukhul, near the village of Tukhul, in Addi Azmera municipality (36 ha) *

Ziban Dake Ziban Dake is an exclosure located in the Dogu'a Tembien ''woreda'' of the Tigray Region in Ethiopia. Environmental characteristics * Area: 300 ha * Average slope gradient: 43% * Aspect: the exclosure is oriented towards the south-southwest ...

, near the village of

Didiben Dogu'a Tembien Walta is a municipality in the Dogu'a Tembien district of the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. The ''tabia'' centre is in Da’erere village, located approximately 7 km to the south of the ''woreda'' town Hagere Selam. Geography ...

(300 ha) * Gojam Sfra, near the village of Migichi (275 ha) * Katina Ruba, near the village of

(48 ha)

Ecosystem restoration and valorisation

EthioTrees manages 18

s with a total area of 1174 hectares in 2017 and 1596 ha in 2018.La Lettre de Tesfay, N° 28, September 2019 (Liége, Belgium)
/ref> The older the exclosures, the higher is the total carbon content in vegetation and soil. EthioTrees has calculated that they manage to sequester 9.2 tonnes CO₂ per year per hectare.

Carbon offset

The sequestered carbon is certified using the Plan Vivo voluntary carbon standard, after which carbon credits are sold, among others to Davines, an Italian producer of beauty products. This company at the same time wishes to create a virtuous impact on people and the environment. The revenues are then reinvested in the villages, according to the priorities of the communities; it may be for an additional class in the village school, a water pond, conservation in the exclosures, or a store for incense.

Partners

Main partners of Ethiotrees are *

District Administration (Ethiopia) * Municipal administrations (Ethiopia) *

Incense Incense is aromatic biotic material that releases fragrant smoke when burnt. The term is used for either the material or the aroma. Incense is used for aesthetic reasons, religious worship, aromatherapy, meditation, and ceremony. It may also ...

producing cooperatives (Ethiopia) * Plan Vivo (U.K.) * Mekelle University (Ethiopia) * VLIR-UOS (Belgium) * Davines (Italy) *

Ghent University Ghent University ( nl, Universiteit Gent, abbreviated as UGent) is a public research university located in Ghent, Belgium. Established before the state of Belgium itself, the university was founded by the Dutch King William I in 1817, whe ...

(Belgium) * Province

East Flanders , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Province of Belgium , image_flag = Flag of Oost-Vlaanderen.svg , flag_size = , image_shield = Wapen van O ...

(Belgium) * King Baudouin Foundation (Belgium) * Bos Plus (Belgium) * Province

West Flanders ) , settlement_type = Province of Belgium , image_flag = Flag of West Flanders.svg , flag_size = , image_shield = Wapen van West-Vlaanderen.svg , shield_size = , image_map ...

(Belgium) * Ñangareko Consultores (Bolivia) * Association Tesfay (Liége, Belgium)

References

{{reflist, 32em

External links

EthioTrees on Davines website

EthioTrees project website

EthioTrees on Plan Vivo website

Link For Forestry Projects
Land management Environmental conservation Greenhouse gas emissions Emissions reduction Carbon finance 2016 establishments in Ethiopia Tigray Region Dogu'a Tembien Nature conservation in Ethiopia Exclosures of Tigray Region