BY ADDISALEM MULAT
The federal development of Koysha, Wenchi, and Gorgora sites announced a few months ago is aimed at unearthing the investment potential of each location by tapping into natural endowments.
The presentation by project leads on proposed designs for each site is promising in its potential to generate many jobs and activate the local economy. I deeply appreciate all civil servants that have made a contribution and encourage businesses to put their mark on these national projects.
The aforesaid statement is made by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. It is no secret that Ethiopians at home and abroad have been supporting the ‘Dine for the Nation’ project intending to speed up the multifaceted development of their country time after time no matter what the cost may be.
When Koysha, Wenchi, and Gorgora sites see the day of light, they will create a lot of job opportunities for the unemployed segment of the society without a hitch. At this point, what is expected of the general public is standing by the side of the government for the realization of these projects beyond a shadow of a doubt.
It is to be remembered that taking the initiative of the premier, Ethiopians residing in every corridor of the country managed to plant billions of tree seedlings in the length and breadth of the country at the earliest possible time. Aside from giving a majestic look to the nation, Ethiopians have been creating greener environments throughout the country.
This in return plays a prime role in accelerating the country’s development endeavor and achieving the desired goal in the not too distant future.
Of late, The Ethiopian Herald had a short stay with Professor Masresha Fetene, an Emeritus Professor of Plant Ecophysiology at Addis Ababa University.
He said, “The most critical point is bringing home the realization that Ethiopia’s development is strongly dependent on what we do to protect our forests and reclaim our degraded landscapes.
In the same way, the forest ecosystem services are directly linked with Ethiopia’s strategic priorities such as food security, productivity, and sustainability of hydroelectric dams, irrigation expansion as well as other growth and development facets, not to mention job creation, peace, security, and stability.
We should be as well grateful to the government for the emphasis on forest-based green development. We should all applaud that but should also demand that it be well planned, expert-led, community-based, unfailingly executed, and dutifully followed-up.
He elucidated that the sector has obtained significance due to the adoption of the Climate Resilient Green Economy program of the Ethiopian government in the last decade which advocates sustainable forest development- a decrease in deforestation and an increase in reforestation and afforestation.
Nevertheless, mainly due to the poor availability of electricity in much of the country, in 2015 alone, over 115 million m3 of firewood and about 5.4 million m3 of charcoal were extracted from our forests and woodlands, according to a report of the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Climate Change.
By planting billions of trees in the length and breadth of the country, we can cover degraded lands and make the country suitable for the whole thing required within the shortest possible timeframe.
Some considerable time ago, the forest coverage of Ethiopia was missing the intended target because of wood harvest, road building, urbanization, unsustainable forest management, fire incidence, overpopulation, and other similar activities. However, following the initiative of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed billions of trees have been planted by the general public.
In a related development, the recently built Entoto National Park has been attracting quite a lot of tourists from different parts of Addis Ababa and its environs in addition to giving color to the city. The inhabitants of the capital have been refreshing themselves at their doorsteps. If the government of Ethiopia keeps on expanding parks in every part of the country, Ethiopians will have ample opportunities to pass their time.
Gullele Botanic Garden is one of the biggest and beautiful gardens situated in the heart of Addis Ababa. On top of attracting the attention of all and sundry in a little while, the garden plays a major role in attaching great importance to conservation, research, education, ecosystem, and things of that sort.
In the recent past, The Ethiopian Herald had a short stay with Sebsebe Demissew, Professor of Plant Systematics & Biodiversity, Department of Plant Biology & Biodiversity Management, College of Natural Sciences, Addis Ababa University on the topic of the nitty-gritty of the Gullele Botanic Garden.
He said, “Gullele Botanic Garden covers an area of Addis Ababa City Administration and Addis Ababa University on 705 hectares of land and it was established by proclamation 18/2002. The Gullele Botanic Garden as in other known Botanic Gardens, is “an institution holding documented collections of living plants for scientific research, conservation, display, and education,”
Gullele Botanic Garden is an important center harboring 700 indigenous species, 611 of which are endemic to Ethiopia i.e. holding 10 per cent of the Ethiopian flora.
“I believe Gullele Botanic garden deserves a column of its own to adequately describe it. Several institutions and individuals have contributed to the establishment of the Gullele Botanic Garden,” he added.
“The effort to establish a garden in Addis Ababa dates back to the 1970s with interest from the Institute of Agricultural Research and the National Herbarium based at the College of Natural Sciences, but it did not lead to fruition.”
A second effort was initiated by staff members of the National Herbarium, College of Natural Sciences supported by Addis Ababa University Officials. This did not lead to any fruition either.
“In 1999 the Addis Ababa City Environmental Protection Authority and staff members of the National Herbarium (AAU) formed a team which realized the establishment of the Gullele Botanic Garden with a Memorandum of Agreement signed between the Addis Ababa City Administration and Addis Ababa University. I was one of many that contributed to the establishment,” he continued.
He kept on saying, “I was given an opportunity to serve as the Executive Director of the Garden (with secondment from Addis Ababa University) for two years (2017-2019). In close collaboration with my colleagues working in the garden, we were able to achieve two important things.
One is getting Accreditation to the Garden from the Botanical Garden Conservation that allowed the garden to be a member of a family with 600 other botanic gardens around the globe, and secondly to have title deeds for the Garden.
The Ethiopian herald December 19/2020
