Postcard from Ethiopia: "We can't live without the forest"

21 March 2013

Photo: A forest community in Ethiopia meets to discuss plans to manage the forest

By Hulemenaye Assefa, Farm Africa's assistant documentation and communications officer in Ethiopia

It is the first International Day of Forests – a day for celebrating the value that forests provide, particularly to those communities that live in and near them.

Farm Africa works with forest communities to help them use the resources forests provide, such as honey and wild coffee, to provide a sustainable income as well as protecting the biodiversity of the forests.

Alemayehu Gebre, a member of Bola Yaja Forest Management Association, in southern Ethiopia, says the local community used to cut down trees to use for construction and fuel. But, after learning from Farm Africa, and our partners SOS Sahel, they now know how to get benefits from the forests while also keeping it protected.

Sustainable forest conservation

According to Alemayehu, the communities’ attitudes towards the forest have changed and their level of awareness about sustainability has been raised.

“We can’t live without the forest,” he says. “We’ve promised to share and protect the forest in a way that helps us all, and lets us earn money.”

Alemayehu recently took part in a seedling exhibition held in the capital city, Addis Ababa.

“It was a great opportunity for me to participate in this exhibition to increase my income from non-timber forest products. Today, I am able to send all my children to school with the bags, books and clothes they need” he says.

Farm Africa is working jointly with SOS Sahel in Ethiopia on two projects, forest management in Bale eco-region and forest management expansion, to secure the sustainable management of forests and better the livelihoods of the local communities.