Abstract
Poverty, hunger and demand for agricultural land have driven local communities to overexploit forest resources throughout Ethiopia. Forests surrounding the township of Humbo were largely destroyed by the late 1960s. In 2004, World Vision Australia and World Vision Ethiopia identified forestry-based carbon sequestration as a potential means to stimulate community development while engaging in environmental restoration. After two years of consultation, planning and negotiations, the Humbo Community-based Natural Regeneration Project began implementation—the Ethiopian organization’s first carbon sequestration initiative. The Humbo Project assists communities affected by environmental degradation including loss of biodiversity, soil erosion and flooding with an opportunity to benefit from carbon markets while reducing poverty and restoring the local agroecosystem. Involving the regeneration of 2,728 ha of degraded native forests, it brings social, economic and ecological benefits—facilitating adaptation to a changing climate and generating temporary certified emissions reductions (tCERs) under the Clean Development Mechanism. A key feature of the project has been facilitating communities to embrace new techniques and take responsibility for large-scale environmental change, most importantly involving Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR). This technique is low-cost, replicable, and provides direct benefits within a short time. Communities were able to harvest fodder and firewood within a year of project initiation and wild fruits and other non-timber forest products within three years. Farmers are using agroforestry for both environmental restoration and income generation. Establishment of user rights and local cooperatives has generated community ownership and enthusiasm for this project—empowering the community to more sustainably manage their communal lands.
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Notes
The World Bank has established several funds to precipitate the development of the carbon market in specific sectors. The BioCarbon Fund was created to assist in the development of a market for forestry-based carbon. This fund identified and committed to purchase carbon from projects selected for inclusion in the fund.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge the significant contribution of the many individuals and organisations that have assisted with the development of this project. The project would not have been at all possible without the persistence and commitment of World Vision Ethiopia project staff. The authors would like to acknowledge the financial and technical support provided to this project primarily by World Vision Australia and the Japanese Policy and Human Resources Development Fund, via the World Bank. In addition to its financial contribution, the World Bank’s BioCarbon Fund contributed by way of technical assistance and flexibility to the project. In particular, Elly Bradbury, Andre Aasrud and Mikko Ollikainen played a critical and supportive role throughout. The local forestry staff of the Humbo Woreda, Wolaita Zone, SNNPR State, and the Ethiopian EPA have also been of tremendous assistance and instrumental to the implementation and success of the project. Finally, the community members deserve genuine recognition as pioneers, and as innovators who were willing to undertake a difficult and ambitious task. Their cooperation and commitment in bringing this project to fruition is to be recognised and respected.
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Brown, D.R., Dettmann, P., Rinaudo, T. et al. Poverty Alleviation and Environmental Restoration Using the Clean Development Mechanism: A Case Study from Humbo, Ethiopia. Environmental Management 48, 322–333 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-010-9590-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-010-9590-3