I had the opportunity to trek through a rural area landscape that once used to be dense forest as a kid with my mother. Glancing at the degraded landscape, she said: “Son, this area used to be green when I was young; everyone wanted to visit it, and everyone used to care for it as if the trees are young children, but now, it is not looked after.” Then, she turned and said to me that to play my part in planting trees and looking after nature, as its return to us is incalculable.
During my childhood, we saw Ethiopia as a basket of bread, but the reality that we are witnessing now is that we cannot even realize food security, and learnt that all the problems stem from the way we handle Mother Nature.
Human beings had been harming the harmony with nature for so many thousands of years that lead us to pay the highest price. We know deforestation is a widespread phenomenon at a global scale, resulting in impoverished landscapes with respect to environmental, economic and aesthetical benefits.
In Ethiopia’s context, there are similar trends of deforestation and forest degradation because of proximate and underlying factors. As a member of the global community, Ethiopia has been paying the highest price both in human and natural resource degradation. Over the last several years, Ethiopia has lost billions of trees and forest resources because of many reasons including lack of awareness towards afforestation and sustainable development. In order to overcome the effect of deforestation and degradation on climate change, a Climate-Resilient Green Economy is drawn as a master strategy, which is being implemented by different sectors.
In particular, the forest sector is one of the main pillars that give due emphasis on establishing new forests and sustainable management of the existing forest. In this regard, the national forest sector policy and strategy ensure the establishment of a new forest and conserving the existing natural forest.
To this end, Ethiopia mobilized its citizens to plant over 4 million seedlings last year. This year, the country is planning to plant 5 billion trees across the country.
According to the Prime Minister Office, the planting is part of the country’s Green Legacy Project, which aims to build a green and climate-resilient economy. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has said: “Our natural environment is an important determinant of human health.”
The Ethiopian Herald approached senior experts to ask about the initiative. They said that the five billion massive seedling plantation plan across the country in the coming rainy season puts Ethiopia on the right track in mitigating climate change impacts and increasing agriculture productivity.
Environment Safeguarding Specialist Eyob Tenkir on his part said that the move to carry out massive seedling plantation allows Ethiopia to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and build a green economy. According to him, planting massive seedlings is the best way to solve climate change as it can absorb two-thirds of the carbon humans have put into the atmosphere, and can also help rehabilitate degraded land into forests.
As variability and climatic change are threatening economic activity, human security, and sustainable development across the world, Ethiopia’s aspiration to plant five billion massive seedlings is a grand move to minimize the impact.
As many countries around the world are developing explicit strategies to promote “green” or “bio-based” economic transitions to reduce their dependency on non-renewable resources and increase sustainability, Ethiopia’s step is appreciated all around, he noted.
“Forest is the sole source to sustain life on earth, what we are doing to the forests of the world is a mirror reflection of what we are doing to ourselves and to one another.”
Asked about Ethiopia’s stance to plant five billion seedlings this coming rainy season, he indicated professional guidelines should be practiced and applied, in preparing seedlings to suitable various ecology, with recommended height, diameter and external practicing.
He added that, though the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, it is not too late for a good deed. Each stake should focus on coordination among the key role players and the communities found in various ecologies in order to make it productive.
Negash Teklu, Executive Director of Population, Health and Environment (PHE) Ethiopia Consortium, for his part underlined that the plan for massive seedling plantation in Ethiopia, with five billion in number, has great return to all mankind, to ensure food security and restore degraded lands.
He also notified, planning to plant seedling in such a huge figure is a bold stance but the effort should be translated in a well-established fashion in all ecological structures strategically.
Ethiopia’s dependence on rain-fed agriculture and its low adaptive capacity has made the country highly susceptible to the adverse impact of climate change and variability, and the massive seedling plantation could add some positive impacts, like easing the burden of hydropower stations face during low rainfall seasons.
He also called upon the relevant stakes to focus on Nile, Awash, Gibe watersheds and degraded lands in this massive plantation.
The marching of citizens to plant five billion seedlings should be implemented in more participatory and organized fashion than ever before, making sure all communities par take whilst acknowledging the danger of COVID-19.
He finally recommended that this noble idea should be celebrated by all stakes across the board, and efforts to paint political scenario in bid to cultivate seasonal political campaign activities should be discarded, as it is all about making Ethiopia capable of mitigating the effects of global climate change.
The Ethiopian Herald May 17, 2020
BY MENGISTEAB TESHOME
