Environments and livelihoods linked

Our Friday science feature, courtesy oflecturers at the University of Huddersfield, is by Prof Adrian Wood, Emeritus Professor in the School of Applied Sciences

THE forests of Ethiopia may seem to be an unexpected place in which to find some of the practical answers to the problems of climate change discussed in Copenhagen before Christmas.

Not all Ethiopia is brown and dusty, as you might think. The little-known south-west highlands, some 600 miles from the capital of Addis Ababa, are very different.

Far away from the deserts of the south and east or the often famine stricken areas of the north, these highlands receive more than 70in of rainfall each year. The land is covered with a mixture of tropical rainforests and farmland and is the source of some important tributary rivers of the Nile. This is “Green” Ethiopia.

Such a remote and neglected area may seem a strange place for research. However, important lessons have been learned there over the last 15 years by researchers, spearheaded by myself from the University of Huddersfield.

These lessons are relevant to the growing concern about climate change — addressing both the issue of how to reduce the rate of climate change, and also how to adapt as it occurs.

Halting climate change depends in part on reducing the amount of carbon dioxide that is released into the atmosphere. One of the sources of this gas is the burning of wood.

In “Green” Ethiopia — and in many tropical countries — the burning of the forests to create farmland is the major source of carbon dioxide.

In fact, global figures suggest that 20 per cent of carbon emissions come from such clearances.

Strategy

With funding from the European Union and Norwegian and Netherlands governments for a nine-year project, the university team is trying to stem this forest clearance.

The strategy is to increase the value of products which can be obtained from the forest, so that the land is more valuable to communities with its forest cover, rather than when cleared for farming.

The project’s initial approach has been to develop the production and trade in non-timber forest products, such as honey, coffee and spices, which all occur naturally in the forest.

So far the forest communities have been helped to develop trading groups which have links to national and international traders in Addis Ababa.

The coffee and honey have both been certified as organic as well as fair trade, and these products generate a healthy income for the small-scale farmers living on the forest fringe.

Another aspect of this work is helping develop better forest policies. These will ensure that the communities get back control over their forests, something which was lost to central government many decades ago.

Once the communities know that the forests and their benefits belong to them for the foreseeable future, they are motivated to develop management plans to use the forest sustainably.

Carbon offset payments are an innovative area the project is exploring. This involves getting payments from carbon emitters in the west to these forest communities as another way of encouraging continued protection of the forest. This is a complex process as it involves measuring how much carbon is locked up in the trees in the forests and estimating the reduction in deforestation which is being achieved by the communities now the forests are sustainably managed, rather than cleared for farming.

The communities are compensated for not clearing the forests with funds from what is called the voluntary carbon market.

These funds can be used for a variety of purposes. They include improving water supplies, or developing schools or clinics. However, they will probably also be used to develop the forest-based business so that people really feel the forest is helping them.

Adjusting to the climate change which is already occurring is another issue which the project is addressing. Increased variations in rainfall are expected to result from climate change and are already occurring. The protection of these forests, which can act as a sponge and store water for months, will help stabilise the flow in the River Nile, reducing floods and maintaining flows in the dry season.

Biodiversity protection is another key concern. Keeping intact large areas of forest can also help plants and animals migrate as temperatures rise.

While the environmental importance of “Green” Ethiopia is not doubted, the area’s natural resources cannot be sustainably managed without well motivated communities.

Hence, in all this work, there is a focus on the communities, and improving their livelihoods, so that they find sustainable forest management worthwhile for them.