Farm Africa on exchange visit to Brazilian rainforests during Rio + 20

While world leaders focus on a more sustainable approach to global development at the Rio+20 conference this week, Farm Africa is part of a team travelling deep into the Amazon rainforest in Brazil to learn from work being undertaken there to reduce deforestation and  promote more sustainable ways of earning livelihoods.

The team, which includes representatives from Farm Africa Ethiopia, SOS Sahel Ethiopia, the Oromia Forest and Wildlife Enterprise and the Ethiopian Government’s Ministry of Agriculture, is on an exchange visit organised by the Institute for Conservation and Sustainable Development of Amazonas (IDSAM).

Exchanging ideas from Ethiopia and Brazil on reducing deforestation

The team will travel to the city of Manaus, located on the Amazon River, to exchange ideas with members of a Brazilian project working to reduce deforestation in the heart of the Brazilian rainforest. As well as learning from their Brazilian colleagues, the Ethiopian team is hoping to provide some insights of their own from the work they have undertaken with forest communities in Ethiopia to reduce deforestation.

The reason the groups are so eager to exchange ideas on reducing deforestation is simple: deforestation is a major contributing factor to increased emissions of carbon into the atmosphere. Trees breathe in carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen, making them one of the most efficient systems for capturing and storing carbon dioxide. The fewer trees there are to capture and ‘lock up’ carbon, the more carbon there is in the planet’s atmosphere which in turn increases the effects of climate change.

Sharing insights and experiences is certain to be an invaluable experience for both the Brazilians and the Farm Africa team which, alongside its partners, is busy preparing to integrate a major international deforestation scheme on one of its project sites in the Bale Mountains next year. This week’s visit to Manaus is an important part of the work involved in implementing the new scheme.

International schemes to reduce deforestation

The international scheme is REDD: “Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation”. It’s an important initiative in securing a reduction in carbon emissions through limiting deforestation. (REDD) is aimed at financially compensating developing countries which reduce their carbon emissions through reducing deforestation.

Along with its Ethiopian partners, Farm Africa is busy preparing to implement one of the world’s largest REDD projects over approximately 500,000 hectares of forest in the Bale Mountain region of Ethiopia, home to Africa’s largest Afro-alpine habitat. The Farm Africa REDD project will fall within a larger programme, the Bale Eco-Region Sustainable Management Programme and will develop income-generating activities for communities living in Bale’s forests that do not involve felling timber. These will include coffee-growing, beekeeping and tree nurseries.