Subject and goals of the project

Ethiopia is one of the least developed countries in the world and faces major social, economic and ecological challenges. Rapid demographic and economic growth is generating extremely dynamic socio-economic transformation processes that are leading to massive overexploitation of natural resources and unsustainable land use strategies. The Desa'a Forest is one of the largest remaining forest stands in the dry forest zone of northern Ethiopia. As a biodiversity hotspot with a significant function for the landscape water balance, it secures the livelihoods of more than 250 000 people in 34 surrounding communities. Due to illegal logging and expansion of agricultural land, the forest area of Desa'a Forest has been reduced by about 40 percent in recent decades. In order to avoid further degradation and forest destruction, the implementation of sustainable land and forest management strategies with the involvement of the local population appears to be urgently needed, as is strived for in particular within the framework of UNESCO biosphere reserves. The aim of the planned project is therefore to develop a concept for the establishment of such a biosphere reserve in cooperation with the regional government of the federal state of Tigray. The overall project is divided into research-oriented and application-oriented project modules. The planned scientific investigations as a basis for a successful conception of the biosphere reserve are carried out on the basis of the theoretical-conceptual perspective of political ecology and are dedicated to the following research guiding questions:

• Which fundamental socio-ecological forest use problems (social conflicts, ecological problems) can be identified in the Desa'a Forest?
• Which actors are involved in the forest use problems at the different levels of action, what goals do they pursue and what agency do they have?
• To what extent are the use and control of forest resources influenced by socio-economic, socio-cultural and political-legal framework conditions and their interaction?
• How can participatory methods be used to best tailor forest-relevant uses, local interests, skills and knowledge resources to the region and integrate them into a holistic forest management strategy?
• How can social awareness of socio-ecological conflict constellations be raised collectively at the local level and contribute to more effective forest management?
• How does a correspondingly "participatory forest management" affect the acceptance, social viability and effectiveness of a large-scale protected area?

Innovation and exemplary nature of the project

Based on the planned investigations, a practical approach for participatory forest management that can be transferred to other target regions is to be developed. In concrete terms, the results are to be implemented in the application-related segment of the planned project. The following sub-objectives will be pursued:

1. Development of a draft nomination application for the UNESCO biosphere reserve in cooperation with the above-mentioned partners.
2. Establishment of a competence network for the communication and exchange of international knowledge on the designation and establishment of biosphere reserves, involving local, regional and national actors in the context of participatory forest management.
3. Establishment of a "Green Church Programme" to strengthen environmental awareness among the local population by involving local religious institutions.
4. First implementation steps of the developed concept to establish sustainable land use in the region to preserve biodiversity and the remaining dry forest ecosystems as well as to secure water resources.
    

Special aspects of the project

The DBU has already funded a number of projects in Germany and internationally aimed at creating a basis for the establishment of biosphere reserves. In some cases, corresponding protected area concepts were implemented, others were less successful and failed, among other things, because it was not possible "top down" to gain the necessary acceptance among the population. This was only possible in states based on more or less totalitarian systems. The situation in Ethiopia, on the other hand, is different. This is because biodiversity conservation projects have already been carried out in Ethiopia, which is of course due to the fact that it is one of the most important biodiversity hotspots. In addition, there is considerable pressure to act due to the rapid demographic development in Ethiopia, which also has a negative impact on ecosystems, threatens people's livelihoods (loss of important ecosystem services) and also endangers welfare and value creation (e.g. industrialisation of agriculture, loss of jobs). In this respect, it is indispensable to develop protection concepts that take local people with them, not only in the medium or long term, but also as promptly as possible. Compared to other regions of the world, this results in an extraordinarily high dynamic. The project uses innovative methods that promise a new quality of conception for a protected area, which will also include comprehensible components for sustainable regional development. The project is anchored locally in an exemplary manner, and a continuation of the project in the sense of establishing a biosphere reserve is already announced in the feasibility study.

Funding subject: Nature conservation and sustainable use of nature in cultural landscapes and protected areas

Applicant:

• University of Hamburg, Centre for Earth System Research and Sustainability, Institute of Geography

Associated partner:

• Michael Succow Foundation, Greifswald

Location: Ethiopia

Funding period: January 2020 to September 2022

Project costs: Total volume: 123 981 Euro, DBU funding: 123 981 Euro

DBU-AZ: 35183

Note: Translation of the German version with DeepL

Last updated: 20.05.2022