Ethiopia Country Environmental Profile
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ETHIOPIA COUNTRY ENVIRONMENTAL PROFILE " r ϊίΐ ■ ■ ΙΙΙΜΙ»»Ι шт^ш^ -J. .—^—^ Remnants of an evil eye protection hedge, Shimela Maryam, ANRS. Jonathan MCKEE August 2007 EC Delegation Addis Abeba Table of contents Summary………………………………………………………….…………………...5 List of Tables………………………………………………………………………….12 List of acronyms………………………..……………………………………...……..13 1-BACKGROUND…………………………………………………………………...16 2-THE STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT……………………………………….17 2.1-Mineral resources and geology…………………………………………17 2.2-Land……………………………………………………………………...18 2.3-Water and sanitation…………………………………………………....20 2.3.1-Quality of drinking water……………….…………..………..20 2.3.2-Safe disposal of human excreta………….…………………...21 2.3.3-Water and sanitation availability………………………….. ..21 2.4-Ethiopia, a toxic hotspot…………………………….………………….22 2.4.1- Obsolete pesticides …………………….….…………………22 2.4.2- DDT ……………………………………………..……………24 2.5-Air………………………………………………………………………..24 2.5.1- The Ethiopian climate and current debates on climate change………………………………………………………………..24 2.6-Shrinking forests………………………………………………………..26 2.6.1-The highland desert…………………………………………...26 2.6.2-Deforestation rates……………………………………………29 2.6.3-Forestry threats…………………………………………….…31 2.6.3.1-Resettlement ………………………………………...31 2.6.3.2-Commercial farming………………………………..32 2.6.3.3-Fire…………………………………………………...33 2.7-Other important ecosystems of Ethiopia……………………………....33 2.7.1-Wetlands…………………………………………………….…33 2.7.1.1-Overall impact of threats on wetlands…………….35 2.7.2-Afro-alpine ecosystems………………………………….……36 2.7.3-Pastoral rangelands…………………………………………...37 2.8-Ethiopian biodiversity: threats and potential………………….……...39 2.8.1-Biodiversity status…………………………………………….39 2.8.1.1-Highland biodiversity………………………….…....40 2.8.1.2-Biodiversity of the Horn………………………… .... 41 2.8.1.3-Crop diversity………………………………...….….42 2.8.2-Biodiversity threats…………………………………………...42 2.8.3-The potential for development of Non Timber Forest Products (NTFP)……………………………………………………………....44 2.8.4-Bio-diversity, genetic resources and bio-piracy…………….45 2.8.5-The economic value of Ethiopian genetic resources and Access & Benefit Sharing (ABS) agreements………………………………...45 2.8.6-Biodiversity and conservation efforts………………….…….48 3 – ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY LEGISLATION AND INSTITUTIONS…...50 3.1-Environmental policies and legislation……………………….………..50 3.1.1-The Conservation Strategy of Ethiopia……………….…..…50 3.1.2- Environment in the Constitution…………………….……….51 3.1.3-The Environmental Policy of Ethiopia…………….………....51 3.1.4-Recent Developments in the Regulatory Framework for Environmental Management…………………………….…………52 3.2-Key environmental institutions…………………………….…………..53 3.2.1-Government institutions…………………………….………..53 3.2.1.1-The Environmental Protection Authority….……...53 3.2.1.2-The Environmental Protection Council…….…..….54 3.2.1.3-The IBC……………………………………………...54 3.2.2-Issues of government institutional capacity……….………...55 3.2.2.1-Federal and regional level…………….……………55 3.2.2.2-Government decentralization, empowerment and the environment: the woreda experience……..……….…… .... 56 3.2.3-Civil society, NGOs…………………………….………..……58 3.2.4-Private sector…………………………………….……………60 4-ENVIRONMENT IN THE MAIN POLICIES AND SECTORS……….……..60 4.1-Agricultural Development Led Industrialization and the Rural Development Strategy………………………………………………………60 4.2-Capacity Building…………………………………………….…………62 4.3-The Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction Program….…63 4.3.1-Irrigated perimeters…………………………………………..65 4.3.2-Resettlement and commercial farming………………………66 4.4-PASDEP……………………………………………………………….…67 4.5-Water and sanitation policies……………………………………….…70 4.6- Other Policy Developments………………………………………….…71 4.7- Implications for Environmental Management…………………….….72 5 - ANALYSIS OF AID…………………………………………………………….73 5.1-Forestry………………………………………………………………….73 5.1.1-Agro-forestry………………………………………………….73 5.1.2-Participatory Forestry management initiatives…………….74 5.2-Bio-diversity…………………………………………………….………75 5.2.1-IBC and ABS……………………………………………….…75 5.2.2-Conservation……………………………………..……………76 5.2.3-Geographiocal Indications and “produits de terroir”………77 5.3-Water and sanitation………………………………………...……….…77 5.4-Land issues………………………………………………………………78 5.5-Climate change initiatives………………………...……………………79 6-CONCLUSION …………………………………………………….…….…….…80 BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………..………….85 ANNEX 1- FORESTRY DEFINITIONS…………………………………….……90 ANNEX 2 – WBISSP FORESTRY FIGURES……………………………………91 ANNEX 3 – MAJOR WETLAND TYPES AND THEIR DISTRIBUTION ACROSS THE COUNTRY………………………………………………….……………..…92 ANNEX 4 – BIOMES AND ECOSYSTEMS OF ETHIOPIA…………...………93 ANNEX 5: PROTECTED AREA LISTS FOR ETHIOPIA…………….….……95 ANNEX 6 – NATIONAL FOREST PRIORITY AREAS OF ETHIOPIA (NFPA) BY TYPE AND COVERAGE (Ha)……………………………………….……………99 ANNEX 7 – INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE FOR PROJECTS IN THE FIELD OF ENVIRONMENT…………………………………………….…………………101 ANNEX 8 – DONOR-FUNDED GOVERNMENT PROJECTS CURRENTLY UNDERWAY IN THE WATER AND SANITATION SECTOR……….………103 ANNEX 9 – UNDP-GEF ENVIRONMENTAL PROJECTS…………….………104 ANNEX 10 – MAP OF ETHIOPIA………………………………………………..106 ANNEX 11- AGREEMENT ON ACCESS TO, AND BENEFIT SHARING FROM, TEFF GENETIC RESOURCES……………………………….……..…………....107 ANNEX 12- PROCLAMATION No. 482/2006: ACCESS TO GENETIC RESOURCES AND COMMUNITY KNOWLEDGE, AND COMMUNITY RIGHTS PROCLAMATION……………………………………………..………..114 ANNEX 13: ESTIMATED ANNUAL COSTS OF DEFORESTATION OF HIGH FOREST AND WOODLAND IN THE BARO-AKOBO SUB-BASIN (US $ / YR)……………………………………………………………………………………130 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Ethiopia is a biodiversity hotspot that occupies the major part of the Horn of Africa. The country belongs to a broader highland-lowland system where resources are not equally distributed but are dynamically interlinked. The country’s population, predominantly rural (84 % rural, 16% urban) is currently experiencing sharp increases estimated at 2 million people / year. STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT Environmental degradation in Ethiopia ranges from very severe in rural areas to severe in urban areas. Soil erosion and degradation remains one of the most critical and far ranging environmental issues affecting the country. As a result of population increases, increased crop cultivation in marginal areas and increased livestock grazing pressure have also contributed to increased deforestation and soil erosion in the central highlands. In the forested areas of the South and South West, deforestation is occurring at a sustained rate with major forestry threats including resettlement, commercial farming and fire. In the eastern and southern lowlands, commercial agricultural investments, rangeland enclosures, (re)-settlement schemes, charcoal production and the relentless expansion of very aggressive invasive alien species are having a profound and detrimental effect on the natural resources availability, the traditional rangeland management systems and institutions in place and ultimately the livestock based pastoralist livelihoods of the Afar, Somali and Boran people. In this respect, the current agro-fuel investment scramble taking place in many lowland areas does not bode well for the future and stability of pastoralist livelihoods in Ethiopia. Other major ecosystems in Ethiopia (wetlands and afro-alpine areas) are also increasingly being threatened and degraded. Recognising that land tenure insecurity in Ethiopia was indirectly contributing to environmental degradation, the government has recently taken important measures to implement a land certification program in the 4 main regions aimed at increasing land tenure security. It is however too early to assess its potential impact on levels of productive investments and on environmental degradation. Ethiopia is one of the world biodiversity hotspots but also one of the most degraded ones. The diversity of ecosystems and the geographically isolated highlands and arid lowlands to the east mean that Ethiopia harbours unique and diverse biological diversity. The biogeography of the country is characterized by these two dominant features. The Ethiopian flora is rich both in species number (between 6500 and 7000 species) as well as in endemics. Ethiopia also represents one of the eight centres in the world where crop plant diversity is strikingly high. As the centre of origin of Coffea arabica, Ethiopia is home to a unique pool of genetic diversity of this species, which is found mainly among stands of wild coffee in the rainforests of the West and South West. The increased clearing of coffee forests due to resettlement and commercial farming initiatives is resulting in the irreversible loss of unique and commercially valuable coffee genetic diversity. Overall, invasive alien species are posing an increasing threat to biodiversity and to the economic well-being of the population in Ethiopia, threatening agricultural land and protected areas, aggressively invading pastoral areas, destroying natural pasture, displacing native trees, forming impenetrable thickets, and reducing grazing potential. To counter these multiple biodiversity threats, several in situ and ex situ conservation activities have been successfully launched by the Institute of Biodiversity Conservation (IBC) in partnership with farming communities. Air quality has sharply declined in Addis Abeba and other major towns as a consequence of the drastic increase in new and second hand vehicles. In terms of water drinking quality, fluoride is the major problem especially for the Rift valley. Ethiopia has one of the lowest levels of sanitation coverage in the world, estimated by the Ministry of Health at less