An Eyewitness to Deforestation Effects in Gojjam, Ethiopia
By Ahmed Gelchu
I work as an environmental specialist at BC Hydro in Vancouver, but I am originally from Oromia in southeast Ethiopia. I came to learn about EBA’s charitable activities in Ethiopia from a colleague, Matt Barnette. Matt introduced me to Dr. Richard Sims, who is part of the group fundraising at EBA for the GROW Ethiopia Project. Over the past few weeks and months, Richard has briefed me about several important projects supported by EBA that have been implemented in Ethiopia, targeting critical development issues such as clean water supply, environmental protection, and rural educational development areas. I can tell you, without any doubt, these projects make a fundamental and real difference for the lives of thousands of Ethiopians who live in rural and remote locations, far away from more central areas where development aid has been concentrated.
EBA’s GROW Ethiopia Project will provide aid so that local people can reforest. This effort will have a very positive influence on the lives of Ethiopians living in rural areas. It is planned for the Gojjam Zone, an area that I know well from when I lived and worked there, and one that has experienced grave and devastating deforestation problems.
I have first-hand experience with the problems – in the early 1990s, I worked in Gojjam as an Agricultural Extension Development Expert, and even at that time, it was clear that the single most damaging environmental problem affecting Gojjam was deforestation. Gojjam is a relatively old part of the country where traditional land cultivation has been practiced for centuries. Over the last several decades in particular, the regional population has grown and this has placed tremendous pressure on the crop farming system, and has raised the demand for firewood. Poor forest management practices have led to the loss of the region's natural rainforests, accelerated soil erosion, loss of soil fertility, excessive water runoff, and, has culminated into a loss of agricultural productivity. Throughout the region, nutrient-rich topsoils have continued to erode from hillsides and uplands, and largely end up either blown away by winds, or in the mighty Blue Nile River (which originates from Lake Tana, in Western Gojjam). Topsoil disperses and disappears downwind and downstream to the Sudan and Egypt.
Reversing the effects of many decades of poor forest management will now only happen at a grassroots level, with individual communities learning how to rehabilitate the forests and then working together to replant forest areas, to reverse soil erosion. Focused revegetation projects such as the GROW Ethiopia initiative are absolutely essential – they will play a crucial role in reducing land pressure and land degradation, while rehabilitating the environment in the region.
I have seen Gojjam’s deforestation problems first-hand, and I can tell you that GROW Ethiopia is a most worthy cause – your support means that critical guidance, education, and financial help can be provided to a local community in Gojjam, so that they can take essential steps to start recovering their forestlands and improving their soil.
This page was last updated on: 9/24/2009 2:21:00 PM
