Ethiopia aggressively working to implement UNCCD
Experience-sharing workshop underway
WIC
Feb. 22, 2005
Ethiopia has been aggressively working towards implementing the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), which it ratified in June 1997, Director General of the Environmental Protection Authority said.
Further info about Ethiopian EPA
Community management of
Afroalpine highlands in Ethiopia
Zelealem Tefera (PhD)
Feb. 22, 2005 published in LEISA MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2004
The long association with their environment and commitment to
remaining there in the future equips indigenous communities for
prudent management of natural resources – even by present day
standards. Indigenous communities have held resource
management systems under complex, often overlapping tenure
rights, which share benefits across their community and exclude
non community members.
Director of Forum for Environment speaks.....
Reporter (Amharic)
Feb. 6, 2005
This interview in Amharic includes different issues such as the ethiopian environmental policy, environmental impacts of investments, international agreements, the role of the international community etc.
Further info about Forum for Environment
Authority warns of the gravity of environmental degradation in Ethiopia
Reporter
December 1, 2004
...the degradation was manifested in the form of losses of vegetation cover, losses of biodiversity, soil fertility depletion in agricultural lands, massive soil erosion, disruption of hydrolic regime which resulted in drying up of rivers, streams and springs during dry season and severe desertification process, and its ecological and socio-economic consequence.
Africa 'makes excuses on climate'
BBC
November 30, 2004
"The tree is an empowering symbol: when you've planted one, something happens to the environment. It's not the only solution, but it's something most of us can do.
Anyone can dig a hole. And one tree multiplied several million times gives you a forest.
We need to explain it to them[Africans] in simple terms and to give them simple solutions,When a baby is born, or when someone dies, plant a tree." Wangari Maathai, who won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize as "a source of inspiration for everyone in Africa fighting for sustainable development, democracy and peace".
Afforestation on Hakim Gara mountain said encouraging
WIC
September 7, 2004
Inhabitants around Hakim Gara Mountain in Harrari State said that the forest on the mountain, which was depleted, is now revived following the afforestation drive carried out by the public.
New Documentary Film Inaugurated
Addis Tribune
September 3, 2004
The film depicts the ever-increasing degradation of natural resources in the country, particularly in rural areas caused by man-made and natural factors and its negative impact upon the livelihood of the people living in the area.
The film is intended to motivate the public in rehabilitating the environment.
The Devil Tree - the tree that's eating Ethiopia
The Independent
August 27, 2004
In Ethiopia they call it the Devil Tree. It is both an addiction and an affliction. In this largely pastoral country there are many people who can't do without it: it provides shelter, building materials, fencing for livestock, firewood, charcoal and shade from the fierce African sun. ....In the 30-odd years since it was introduced from Mexico, it has started to take over the rural landscape. Now it has eaten up as much as a quarter of all arable grazing land in some areas, leaching the earth of the nutrients that once nurtured the grass that pastoralists rely on to graze their cattle, their livelihood.
Conservation award for Ethiopian student
August 24, 2004
"Conservation is my lifestyle. It is my inherent belief that the only and highest service I can ever render to my country is to be involved in activities related to the conservation of biodiversity and the environment."
A Perspective On "Ending Famine in Ethiopia And the Horn of Africa: " By the G-8
Addis Tribune
August 13, 2004
One of the great challenges of development policy for the 21st century is the combating of rising poverty, recurring famines, and environmental degradation in Africa. We should also be aware that at the close of the last century, poverty among developing countries declined, famines were mostly defeated in most parts of the developing world, and per capita income and per capital food production increased, in spite of a modest population growth.
President calls for active public involvement in forest conservation, development
WIC
August 9, 2004
“We have a collective and individual responsibility to create conducive environment to rehabilitate the dwindling natural resources employing our local experiences with those from external sources.”
Prosopis juliflora: THE PARADOX OF THE DRYLAND ECOSYSTEMS, AFAR REGION, ETHIOPIA
Hailu Shiferaw
July 23, 2004
....this species is “YeAlah Kuta New” (meaning the punishment of Alah/God). However, even pastoralists need the presence of matured tree/shrub because it is very important to tolerate sunrays, soil erosion, windstorm, salt reclamation, etc, and some people say that this species is the "paradise of the desert". Thus, it is controversial.
A WONDERFUL BUT NEGLECTED TREE SPECIES IN ETHIOPIA called SHIFERAW
Simon Shibru
July 23, 2004
M. stenopetala or
SHIFERAW's leaves, pods, and roots are edible; bees love the flowers; and seeds are powdered and used to purify water from muddy rivers. Its parts are actually and potentially useful to extract ingredients of medicinal value. It is truly the mother's best friend in rural parts of southern Ethiopia particularly for mothers of poor family.
ETHIOPIAN ORTHODOX TEWAHIDO CHURCH FORESTS:
The Blue Prints of the lost forest resources in the Northern Highlands of Ethiopia
Alemayehu Wassie (M.Sc.)
May 6, 2004
Deforestation in the northern highlands of Ethiopia is becoming an unstoppable process dating back many hundreds of years. In much of the landscape of northern Ethiopia, the lush vegetation on the hillsides surrounding a church or a monastery presents a sharp contrast to the surrounding bare ridges and mountain slopes.
Kidist, Cairo April 15, 2004
It was & still is heartbreaking. I asked God, " why you gave us all this & took it from us? Who is going to be blamed for this? " Perhaps.........
Indigenous Natural Management Initiative of Menz -
a finalist for Equator Initiative Award 2004
Zelealem Tefera (PhD)
, April 8, 2004
The Guassa area Indigenous Natural Management Initiative of Menz in north Showa, Ethiopia has been recently selected as a finalist for a very prestigious Equator Initiative Award 2004. The Equator Initiative selects the best community-based practises, those contribute significantly to biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction at a community level all around the Equator (tropics), and takes place once in two years.
Fire damages one of Ethiopia's indigenous forests.
AFP, March 5, 2004
Six People Sentenced for Setting Wildfire
WIC, March 13, 2004
Fire damages one of Ethiopia's indigenous forests.
AFP, March 5, 2004
The 100,000-hectare (247,000-acre) Wondo-Genet forest, 280 kilomtres (170 miles) southeast of Addis Ababa, caught fire on Wednesday, according to the radio, which said that many indigenous trees, some estimated to be more than 300 years old, have been destroyed. .
Wondo forest ablaze-
Indigenous trees more than a century old under attack
WIC, March 4, 2004
Police Commissioner of the Southern State, Admassu Ango told WIC that the fire [in Wondo]that erupted from two directions yesterday (March 3) at 4 p.m is now widespread and causing huge damage.
Four years ago Fire Legacy
“I have learnt not to undermine the power of one person’s will…”
Aster Asgedom, January 2004
The last time I was in Ethiopia I wanted to take my share of responsibility and planted 34 trees during my six weeks vacation. Today about half of them are alive while an ignorant and unconscious people destroyed the rest. Any way the big change came one year ago, I inspired the town’s commissioner (kentiba) he started a campaign to plant trees across the whole town. I burst into tears of happiness when I heard that.
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Rabies in endangered Ethiopian wolves
Zelealem Tefera (PhD), Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Programme, Dec. 4, 2003
In the last few weeks there has been an outbreak of disease, confirmed as being rabies, among the Ethiopian wolves in the Bale Mountains. The Bale Mountains is home to the most important population of this endangered species that is endemic to Ethiopia. The current Ethiopian wolf population in Bale was estimated at 300 (of the global total estimate of 500) wolves. Since September 2003, 20 wolves have died in the Web valley within the Bale area. The Web valley is a critical core area that harboured an estimated 80 wolves prior to this crisis.
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How can You help? Websites on Ethiopian wolves
Balancing Trade Rules, the Environment and Sustainable Development
INTERVIEW with Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egziabher
Question: People in the civil society groups in Johannesburg expressed great disappointment about the lack of forward movement at the WSSD meeting, but they spoke very warmly of Ethiopia's role in the negotiations. Why is that?
Dr. Tewolde : We were not involved early on in the negotiations. That was our own problem - it is expensive, we are a poor country, and I wasn't enjoying full health; but we came in later, in relative force. There were five of us in the negotiations, and we were following all that was happening.
Pollution Concern in Wonji, Wonji/Shoa, and Metehara since the 1950's
Almaz Mequanint
I am one of the victims who is suffering from asthma because of the air pollution at that time. I am also suffering from teeth decay, knee and other joint problem because of the excess fluoride in the water. My parents had knee joint problems but they passed away recently. My kids are suffering from teeth decay, cavities and staining.
Recently I visited Ethiopia and I found out that many people whom I know were sick from various disease caused from the air and water pollution. Some of my father's friends are sick and bed bounded because of the skeletal fluorosis. Many young beautiful girls of these communities hide their mouth with their hand when they smile to hide their heavily stained teeth, and those who have money replace their front teeth with artificial teeth. The sad thing is nobody knows whom to blame, or where to seek help.
Sustainable Development in Ethiopia
Report of Assessment of Activities and Issues in Ethiopia relevant to the review process of the Earth Summit 2002.
by Medhin Zewdu (Ph.D.) for Heinrich Boell Foundation
The current capacity for sustainable development in terms of skills, knowledge and
expertise is very low in the country in many ways.
Take care of the Earth, The Earth will take care of you
by FORUM FOR ENVIRONMENT
"To be poor in Ethiopia is not only the inability to feed oneself or ones family. It is also lack of power, lack of access to resources, lack of freedom of choice, loss of your sovereignty, loss of environmental and cultural heritage, etc. Poverty is as much mental as it is physical.
Dechassa Lemessa of UN-Emergencies Unit for Ethiopia speaks to Surafiel Fantaye of VOA -Amharic Service on the Assessment Study done from June - September 2001 on forest fires in 2000. The full report of the assessment entitled
Forest fires in Ethiopia: Reflections on socio-economic and environmental effects of the fires in 2000 is now available here.
In his part one interview aired March 19, 2002 he outlined that:
-Ethiopia loses at least 200,000 hectares of forest per year
-major cause of this much loss is forest fire
-the forest fire in year 2000 was caused totally by human made
-involvement of locality communities in protecting forest areas based on benefit sharing is important.
A Breath of Fresh Air
By Sereke Berhan, WIC, March 19, 2002
It is truly a revolution. An environmental revolution, which has captured the hearts of a large segment of the population, with the youth at the forefront. I am so pleased and encouraged by what I have seen. So are many people who deeply care about the welfare of this nation. The hopelessness and despair that I experienced in the past have been lifted from my shoulders. I am beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. New hope is emerging. The wilted desire to make a difference is slowly beginning to blossom. Seleshi has watered the garden of hope. Oh, how glorious it would be if we could use this kind of co-operation and dedication to improve other aspects of our lives. We could easily get rid of corruption. Hunger and malnutrition could be wiped out. Moreover, we could move forward towards sustainable development to ensure a better life for all our people.
Expert laments death of Ethiopian wildlife
In the opinion of many concerned persons in Wildlife in Ethiopia today, all the major populations of wildlife will have disappeared from Ethiopia within a decade. The only way to divert this trend is for a new system of wildlife management to be introduced in Ethiopia which will enlist the co-operation of the Ethiopians themselves.
Environment related International Agreements signed by Ethiopia
Ethiopia was a member of the League of Nations and joined the United Nations on 13 November 1945.
Ethiopia is party to twelve international environmental agreemenents.
Ten Years after RIO: Share your observations!Akababi, 20 Feb 2002
Johannesburg Summit 2002 - the World Summit on Sustainable Development - will bring together tens of thousands of participants, including heads of State and Government, national delegates and leaders from non-governmental organizations (NGOs), businesses and other major groups to focus the world's attention and direct action toward meeting difficult challenges, including improving people's lives and conserving our natural resources in a world that is growing in population, with ever-increasing demands for food, water, shelter, sanitation, energy, health services and economic security.
The Summit will take place in Johannesburg, South Africa from 26 August to 4 September 2002. What did you observe when it comes to Ethiopia during the ten years after Rio? Share your observations with
akababi.
Ethio Enviro Page will update you on Ethiopian Issues in light of to Johannesburg Summit.
Editor and manager of
Akababi: Ethio Enviro Page underlined the need to work together for the youth in rehabilitating Ethiopian environment during his interview with VOA(Voice of America)- amharic service - concerning
Akababi website. The interview was aired on January 26 and February 2, 2002 on the weekly program
Mestawot.
Ethiopia's forests face extinction
ADDIS ABABA, 17 Jan 2002 (BBC)
The UN warns that frequent fires mean Ethiopia's forests could disappear in 20 years and urgent action is needed to promote conservation.
Deforestation leaves two million hectares of land barren in the country: EPA
ADDIS ABABA, 12 Jan 2002 (WIC)
The Environmental Protection Authority disclosed that as a result of the extensive deforestation in Ethiopia, some two million hectares of land in the country has now become irreversibly barren.
Report warns of looming environmental disaster
ADDIS ABABA, 7 Jan 2002 (IRIN)
Almost all the forests in Ethiopia have been destroyed in the last 40 years, according to a study by the United Nations. Less than three percent of the entire country is now covered with trees - prompting fears of an impending environmental disaster - and the problem is only going to get worse. Wild fires, which in 2000 caused more than US $39 million of damage in the southern Bale and Borana regions alone, have destroyed many of the forested areas of the country.
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