Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration in Ethiopia

Assefa Tofu

Context

The Bonn Challenge (Germany, 2011) - Global target to restore 150 million ha of land by 2020 The New York declaration - Extends the Bonn challenge to 350 million hectares by 2030

Africa• 65% of arable land

and 30% of grazing land has already been lost

• More than 700 million ha of land has the potential for restoration

Ethiopia• 1/4th of land is

degraded, affecting about 20 million people

Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration

• Ethiopia plants 4-6 billion seedlings annually for the last 7 years increasing forest coverage from 2.7% to 15% across the last 2 decades.

But…• Seedling survival rate is less than

50%• 1.5 billion USD is lost annually due

to the survival rate

Forests are key to stabilizing climate change and improving rural community livelihoods

Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) is the protection and management of shoots growing from existing living tree stumps, roots and tree seeds, especially of useful woody species.

Ethiopia & FMNR

As part of the country climate resilient green economy (CRGE) path intended to reduce net GHG emissions by 64% in 2030, Ethiopia as a country committed to restore 15million ha of degraded land by 2030.

Restoring 15m ha in Ethiopia could capture as much as 1.42 gigatons of CO2 –equivalent of removing almost 300m cars from the roads for one year – global

2010

2014

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1. Select eligible land2. Consult community/land owner3. Close the area for about 1-2 years 4. Select desired tree stumps 5. For each stump, choose 3-5 (tallest

and straightest) stems to leave 6. Remove unwanted stems and side

branches 7. Regularly remove emerging new

stems and prune side branches occassionally.05/03/2023 7

The Humbo project covered a 2,678ha. Planation cost could be US$1.38m - almost equal to the AR-CDM cost of US$1.16m from 2005 to 2013

FMNR Process

Three stumps

Single stump Two stumps

Control

Standardizing FMNR

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The criteria used were:• Low cost• Replicability• Innovation• Linking local community with

global climate mitigation and bringing carbon finance to the community

The Humbo Project was awarded the 2012 National CSO Certificate by H.E Haile Mariam Desalegne

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A spring that was dry for 50 years in Sodo Woliaita resurged

Results• Dramatically reduced tree planation cost• Remove tree survival challenge• Bringing back biodiversity• Improved water percolation/recharge• Improved land productivity & food security• Sequester carbon – Humbo alone

880,000tCO2 in 30 years. 1st crediting period sequestered 4.9% above projected

• Rehabilitate ecosystem – landscape level hence, enhance resilience

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Considerations

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• Attitude (framers & professionals)• Selecting eligible area• Protecting from damage at early stage• Not pruning/thinning• Nursery syndrome• FMNR Vs open grazing at early stage

World Vision and FMNRRestoring landscapes through FMNR is bringing prosperity, security and opportunity

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• World Vision has been promoting FMNR in Africa and Asia in more than 34 countries

• World Vision Ethiopia is promoting the practice across 82 districts - approx. 1/10 of the country