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Biosphere Reserves in the Southwest of Ethiopia

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Biosphere Reserves in the Southwest of Ethiopia

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Forests that have a wide ecological gradient, diversity, and significant cover are confined in the southwestern part vis-à-vis other parts of Ethiopia, while the country is fronting biodiversity losses. The intention of this paper is comparative assessment of Majang, Kafa, Sheka, and Yayo biosphere reserves, located in the southwest of Ethiopia, regarding their status of plant diversity, challenges, and efforts of conservation. To this end, an extensive review of different journals, articles, and proceedings was made. Relevance to the objectives of the review was a selection criterion for sources inclusion. Consequently, the review indicates that all the biosphere reserves contained myriad plant biodiversity, specifically the "hotspot" of Afromontane rainforest biodiversity, with some degree of dissimilarities among them. For instance, the values of Shannon index illustrated a decreasing order in plant diversity as Sheka followed by Kafa, Yayo, and Majang biosphere reserve. Besides, out of the top ten documented plant families, the species richest families are Rubiaceae (15) in Yayo, Asteraceae (12) in Kafa, Euphorbiaceae (11) in Majang, and Asteraceae (11) in Sheka biosphere reserve, while the least species found in the families are as follows: Aspleniaceae and Sapindaceae in Majang; Poaceae, Solanaceae, and Araceae in Sheka; Celastraceae and Piperaceae in Kafa; and Fabacae and Solanaceae in Yayo. However, many challenges were encountered in all the biosphere reserves. The driving force behind is commercial coffee-tea plantation, agriculture expansion, overgrazing, firewood, charcoal, and other factors. Hence, to reduce forest conversion and biodiversity loss, the government of Ethiopia is creating conservation mechanism like the establishment of the protected area and biosphere reserve which is controlled and managed by the community and the government.

1. Introduction

Ethiopia is a center for abundant biodiversity attributable to its wide ranges of topographical diversity [ 1, 2]. This diverse physiographic feature has contributed to various ecosystems' formation which put Ethiopia in the top 25 biodiversity-rich countries of the world [ 3]. For example, about 6500 to 7000 species of higher plants are estimated to exist in Ethiopia, of which about 12 percent species are endemic [ 1, 3, 4].

Basically, forest in the southwest of Ethiopia has relatively high forest cover as compared to other parts of the country, about 56 percent of the country's forest cover [ 5- 7]. These lands have an altitudinal range from 900 to 2700 m.a.s.l. and form the upper catchments of several rivers, such as Baro- Akobo and Omo. A large number of endemic plants are in the Afromontane forest which include wild plants with considerable economic value such as Coffea arabica, Aframomum corrorima, and Piper capense [ 6, 8, 9]. These forests are playing roles in not only water regulation of the rivers but also biodiversity conservation. In other words, they are biodiversity hotspot of global interest forests [ 10]; for instance, according to [ 11], Coffea arabica is a flagship species in the Kafa biosphere reserve.

However, nowadays, Ethiopia is facing biodiversity losses, interalia, linked with commercial and subsistence cultivations [ 12]. The most important reason behind the rapid deforestation rate is increasing human population growth with subsequent high demand of land for agriculture and grazing, firewood, charcoal, timber, and other purposes [ 7, 13- 15]. Besides, inappropriate investment activities like commercial tea and coffee plantations confounded with lack of land use policy are also contributing factors [ 16- 18].

In connection to the challenges of forest conservation in the southwestern; Ethiopia has been taking measures to rehabilitate degraded forests and conservations of natural forests [ 19, 20]. Protected area and biosphere reserve were the main conservation mechanisms. In view of that, four biosphere reserves called Majang, Kafa, Sheka, and Yayo were established in the area from 2010 to 2017. The central objectives of these biosphere reserves are biodiversity conservation, research, and development function to meet the local people's needs and henceforth improve their quality of life [ 21, 22]. Therefore, this paper addresses comparative appraisal of these biosphere reserves on their status of plant biodiversity, challenges, and conservation efforts.

2. History and Definition of Biosphere Reserve

2.1. History of Biosphere Reserves

The first international biosphere reserve congress was held in Minsk, Belarus, since 1983 jointly covered by UNESCO and UNEP which gives rise to an "action plan for biosphere reserves." The second international congress was held in 1995 in Seville, Spain, on "biosphere reserves", and biosphere reserves were visualized as guides to the twenty-first century, "showing a way to a sustainable future" [ 23]. In this conference, the three most important tasks were identified as conservation, development, and logistic support [ 24].

The third world congress of biosphere reserves was held in 2008, Madrid, Spain, which is called "Madrid action plan for biosphere reserves." It strengthens the Seville strategy and rises biosphere reserves to be an international designated area dedicated to sustainable development in future generations [ 25]. More specifically, biosphere reserves have immense impacts on socioeconomic-related concern and hence play a significance role in poverty reduction and implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Obviously, biosphere reserves are sources of hope for local communities, recognized as a viable option for enhancing their income generation mechanism [ 26].

The worldwide network of biosphere reserves provides a global framework for education and research, as well as the manifestation and attainment of sustainable resource use [ 27]. Nowadays, there are 699 biosphere reserves in 120 countries of the world. Out of the total biosphere reserves, 79 are found in 29 African countries of which Ethiopia has 5 biosphere reserves. Kafa besides Yayo, Sheka, Lake Tana, and Majang was nominated since 2010, 2012, 2015, and 2017, respectively [ 27].

From historical perspectives of biosphere reserve establishment, the first country that established and registered biosphere reserves was the Democratic Republic of Congo since 1976. In general, the foundation of biosphere reserves illustrated a nearly linear increment from 1976 to 2018 (Figure 1), this is due to the desire to achieve sustainable development, and each country understands the benefits of biosphere reserves in conservation and sustainable management of forest resources [ 27].

2.2. Definition of Biosphere Reserve

In broader sense, biosphere reserve is an area established to conserve the biological and cultural diversity of a region while promoting sustainable economic and social development. According to Ishwaran [ 25], biosphere reserve is described as a place where people and nature coexist and interact with each other for their mutual benefits. All members of society, including local communities, environmental groups, and economic parties, are involved and work together to address conservation and development issues. Any place is given such title, biosphere reserve, by UNESCO as part of the Man and Biosphere (MAB) Programme [ 27].

The requirements of biosphere reserves should, explicitly, fulfill three basic functions: conservation function: this is conservation of cultural diversity and biodiversity: species, genetic, and ecosystem variation; development function: this encourages economic and human development; logistics function: this supports research, monitoring, demonstration projects, and information exchange related to local, national, and global conservation and developments [ 22, 25, 27].

2.3. Description of Biosphere Reserves in Southwestern Ethiopia

The Kafa Biosphere Reserve is located in the The Majang Biosphere Reserve is located in the The Sheka Biosphere Reserve is located in the The Yayo Biosphere Reserve is located in Illubabor and Buno Bedele zones of Oromia Regional State, southwest of Ethiopia. It covers 167,021 ha and stretched over six districts: Doreni, Yayu, Bilo Nopa, Algie Sachi, Hurumu, and Chora [ 26]. Sheka zone of the SNNP's regional state. It covers 238,750 ha of forest, bamboo thickets, wetlands, agricultural land, rural settlements, and towns. It shares border with the Illubabor zone, Kafa, and Bench-Maji zone of the SNNP regional state [ 30]. Majang zone of the Gambella People National Regional State. It covers a total area of 224,925 ha of forest, woodland, agricultural land, and rural and town settlements. It is a unique biogeography and shares border with the Illubabor zone of Oromia Regional State and Sheka and Bench-Maji zones of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People (SNNP) (Figure 2) [ 18, 29]. Kafa zone administration of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's (SNNP's) Region State of Ethiopia (Figure 2). It spans 540,713.1 ha and stretches across boundaries of 10 districts, namely, Adiyo, Bita, Chena, Chetta, Decha, Gesha, Gewata, Gimbo, Aylem, and Tello, 250 rural kebele administrations, and 25 urban towns. This forest is the home of Coffee arabica and holds 5000 wild varieties of coffee [ 28].

2.4. Zonation of a Biosphere Reserve in Southwest Ethiopia

Biosphere reserves aim to manage resources in an integrated manner by taking protection into consideration for sustainable utilization and resource planning. This is tangible through classifying biosphere reserves into three such as core, buffer, and transition zones [  Core zone: every biosphere reserve must contain one or more core areas. These have strong legal protection and serve as a shelter for wild plants and animals free from any human disturbances. Activities that are allowed in this zone are monitoring, research, and traditional nondestructive uses, while activities like agriculture, settlement, grazing of domestic animals, and harvesting products are not allowed [  Transition zone: in this zone, people are allowed to live and make livings. In this zone, local residents, NGOs, scientists, cultural groups, economic stakeholders, and others work together to manage and sustainably develop the area's resources. Activities like farming, fishing, tourism, beekeeping, settlements, urban and villages, industry, and enterprise are permitted in this zone [ 25, 31]. This classification is considered in all the biosphere reserves found in Ethiopia, for conservation and sustainable management of resources [ 32]. Accordingly, in relation to the concepts of zonation, core, buffer, and transition zone and their size of distribution of all the biosphere reserves are presented in Figure 3. The total area coverage of all biosphere reserves is estimated to be 1.2 million hectares (ha), of which the Kafa is the largest and Yayo is the smallest biosphere reserve in the southwest of Ethiopia. 25, 31]. In southwest of Ethiopia, biosphere reserve zones differ in their size of coverage; for instance, the core zone is the smallest in cover as compared with the other zones (Figure 25, 31]. The transitional zone comprises the largest cover as compared to the total area of the biosphere reserves in Southwestern Ethiopia (Figure 3). 3).   Buffer zone: this zone is the guard keeping of the core zone by enclosing and protecting from the anthropogenic impacts. This zone functions as essential ecological corridors, connecting the core zone to the transitional zone. Activities that are allowed in the buffer zone include tourism, recreation, research, and education training.

3. Status of Biodiversity's in the Biosphere Reserves

Regardless of their biological diversity, many other tropical biosphere reserves, Sheka, Majang, Kafa, and Yayo, have plenty of biological entities and several ecological services. These areas are endowed with many plant diversities such as coffee, spices, and medicinal plants. In situ preservation of biodiversity can be best ensured under the protection of the entire biosphere reserve ecosystems [ 32].

According to many study findings, the biosphere reserves, namely, Majang, Sheka, Kafa, and Yayo, encompass diverse plant species. As in Table 1, the values of the Shannon index illustrated a decreasing order of the biosphere reserves: Sheka followed by Kafa, Yayo, and Majang in plants' diversity. These differences could be associated, but not limited, to dissimilarity in sociocultural and environmental factors, as well.

All the biosphere reserves hold diverse plant families. But family richness varied between biospheres reserves. For instance, among the top ten plant families, the highest species found in the families are Euphorbiaceae (11) in Majang, Asteraceae (11) in Sheka, Asteraceae in Kafa (12), and Rubiaceae (15), respectively, while the least species found in the families are Aspleniaceae and Sapindaceae in Majang, Poaceae, Solanaceae, and Araceae in Sheka, Celastraceae and Piperaceae in Kafa, and Fabaceae and Solonaceae in Yayo (Table 2). The difference in plant family richness may be due to environmental aspects including slope, altitude soil, and anthropogenic factors [ 7, 32].

4. Challenges of Biosphere Reserves Conservation in the Southwest of Ethiopia

4.1. Deforestation and Forest Degradation

The forest cover of the southwestern biosphere reserves has been declining at an alarming rate due to the combined effects of different factors. The causative factors of deforestation have their roots in different sectors of anthropogenic and natural. Based on different findings, the main driving forces behind in all biosphere reserves are commercial plantation (coffee and tea) by investors, agriculture expansion, settlement, fuelwood extraction, illegal logging for timber, and farm tools (Table 3) [ 17, 18, 38, 39].

The causes of deforestation in all biosphere reserves were largely subjugated to investment and agriculture-related land expansion. Different findings indicated that more than 60 percent of the forestland covers were changed to investment land (plantation of coffee and tea) agricultural crops in all biosphere reserves of Southwestern Ethiopia (Table 3) [ 38]. More fragmented forests are found in the transition zone and near edges of buffer zone boundary since they are more prone to human impacts or activities [ 39].

A number of specific studies have been undertaken which provide some indication on the rate of deforestation in Southwest Ethiopia [ 40- 43]. For example, Demel et al. 2010 [ 44] attempted to forecast future land cover changes resulting from human population increase in the Baro-Akobo basin, and it was estimated that on average 1.77 million ha of high forest is cleared annually between 1987 and 2010 for agricultural activities (Table 4).

In North Bench, Sheko and Yeki districts in the SNNP region and Dima district in Gambella region, about 46,940 ha of forest land was converted between 1987 and 2005 for agricultural activities in the adjacent of Sheka biosphere reserve [ 42]. Moreover, in Gesha, Masha, Anderacha, Yeki, Sheko, and North Bench districts in SNNP region, about 61,00 ha of forest land was lost between 1987 and 2005 because of NTFPs exploitation (Table 4) [ 43]. Recently, over 2455 ha of forest land has been leased for investors working on plantations of coffee and spices in the Sheka biosphere reserves [ 45]. Besides, recently, about 19,165.83 ha of forest land in Majang biosphere reserve surrounding has been leased for plantation of tea before the establishments of Majang biosphere reserves [ 18].

4.2. Loss of Plant Biodiversity

Considerable cover of the moist Afromontane vegetation and biodiversity occurs in the remnant forests of Southwestern Ethiopia [ 46]. Conversely, the conversion of biosphere reserves into semiforest coffee system and other land uses has influenced and will have prolonged impacts on the diversity of the moist forest, if management measures are not carried out. Floristic composition or species diversity was severely changed in the southwest remnant forest blocks which include all the biosphere reserves [ 13, 32].

A significant number of native trees species were threatened as a result of heavy exploitations. For example, different scholars [ 10, 32, 35, 47, 48] reported that Prunus africana, Cordia africana, Afrocarpus falcatus, and Dracaena afromontana are endangered species in all biosphere reserves' surroundings. Moreover, currently coal mining and fertilizer factories have been established in Yayo biosphere reserves which have a negative impact on biodiversity resources through site clearing, excavation, drilling, and earthworks involved. More specifically, it is causing wild coffee extinction and loss of another biodiversity [ 49].

5. Conservation Effort in the Southwest of Ethiopia

The last remaining cloud forests in Southwest Ethiopia contain different endemic species including Coffea arabica [ 34, 35, 50]. To conserve or reduce deforestation and forest degradation of the remained Afromontane rainforest, the governments of Ethiopia and different stakeholder participated in the establishment of biosphere reserves [ 17]. For instance, high deforestation (1035.8 ha) occurred during 2005-2009 and lesser deforestation was experienced in 2010-2013 (22.23 ha) before and after the establishment of Yayo biosphere reserves, respectively (Figure 4).

With regard to biosphere reserve establishment, nowadays, the REDD + project involves three regional states of Ethiopia (Oromia, SNNP, and Gambella) for conservation and sustainable development through reduction emission from deforestation and degradation, forest conservation, sustainable forest management, and enhancing forest carbon stock [ 51]. However, it requires strong local people participation and women inclusion during the intervention. Similarly, it needs creation of forest base livelihood and income diversification mechanism. Thus, the local people will benefit and minimize their forest dependency in the biosphere reserve surrounding [ 17, 52].

6. Conclusion

Regardless of its biological diversity, many other tropical biosphere reserves, Sheka, Majang, Kafa, and Yayo, have plenty of biological entities and Afromontane biodiversity "hotspot" (endemic species, coffee, spices, and medicinal plants) delivers several ecological services. However, the forest cover has decreased due to increasing human population growth with a very high demand of land for subsistence agriculture and grazing land, forest resources for firewood, charcoal, timber, construction, and many other purposes. The conversion of coffee forest or biosphere reserves into semiforest coffee system and other land uses has influenced and will prolong impacts on losing of biological entity. To conserve this, the governments of Ethiopia and different stakeholder participated in the establishment of biosphere reserves. With regard to biosphere reserve establishment, nowadays, the REDD + project involves three regional states of Ethiopia (Oromia, SNNP, and Gambella) for conservation and sustainable development of the ruminant forest through REDD + mechanism. However, it requires local people participation and as well as women inclusion during the project intervention. Similarly, it needs creation of forest base livelihood and income diversification mechanism. Thus, the local people will be benefited and minimize their forest dependency in the biosphere reserve surrounding. Finally, to reduce the forest conversion, the government of Ethiopia is creating conservation mechanism like the establishment of the protected area and biosphere reserve which is controlled and managed by the community and the government.

Data Availability

The data used to support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding authors upon request.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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Biosphere Reserves in the Southwest of Ethiopia

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Forests that have a wide ecological gradient, diversity, and significant cover are confined in the southwestern part vis-à-vis other parts of Ethiopia, while the country is fronting biodiversity losses. The intention of this paper is comparative assessment of Majang, Kafa, Sheka, and Yayo biosphere reserves, located in the southwest of Ethiopia, regarding their status of plant diversity, challenges, and efforts of conservation.

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Yayu: DeSIRA and DeSIRA-LIFT featured in the EU GCCA+ Review of Climate

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Yayu: DeSIRA and DeSIRA-LIFT featured in the EU GCCA+ Review of Climate

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DeSIRA and DeSIRA-LIFT featured in the EU GCCA+ Review of Climate – DeSIRA-LIFT

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Story: Wild coffee from Ethiopian rain forests

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Story: Wild coffee from Ethiopian rain forests

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HOW COFFEE FARMING CONTRIBUTES TO REFORESTATION IN ETHIOPIA

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HOW COFFEE FARMING CONTRIBUTES TO REFORESTATION IN ETHIOPIA

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The sun rises over the evergreen village of Hurumu in southwestern Ethiopia. Aster (47) and her family are working in their nursery amid thousands of seedlings. The breeding of new trees has become an important part of the family farm under the International Climate Initiative (IKI) project "Restoring Degraded Coffee Landscapes," and contributes to reforestation in Ethiopia. It also contributes to the preservation of forest landscapes in the region and the local action against climate change.

Worldwide, agriculture is one of the main drivers of deforestation. In particular, smallholder farmers often expand into originally forested areas without fully exploiting the potential of their already used areas. This is also the case in southwestern Ethiopia where the UNESCO Forest Biosphere Reserve, and an important carbon sink in the Oromia region within Yayu are located - as well as where the farm of Aster's family is.

Yayu: The genetic origin of Arabica coffee

The Yayu Coffee Biosphere Reserve is considered the Genetic origin of Arabica coffee. Ethiopia is the largest coffee producer in Africa. More than two million smallholder families grow coffee as the basis of their income. This contributes to about 5% of Ethiopia's GDP. Coffee is more than an agricultural product in Ethiopia. Not only with the firmly anchored coffee ceremony, but also coffee consumption is also an important part of Ethiopian culture.

In the core of the 167,000 ha Yayu Biosphere Reserve there is a high genetic diversity of coffee Arabica. This area should remain unused by humans. The project focuses on the transition zone, i.e. the outer edge of the reserve, from which the pressure on the natural forest, which is considered a biodiversity hotspot, is increasing.

In the transition zone, coffee grows naturally under shade trees. Mostly it was not planted but has grown wild. It is used by smallholder families, but not properly managed. As a result, yields are low and there is a risk that shade trees will be cut down to grow more coffee. The consequences are a loss of biodiversity, CO2 storage potential, and the destruction of the heterogeneous ecosystem in which the coffee grows.

But coffee that grows in Yayu in semi-forested areas or directly at the farm buildings in the so-called "Garden Coffee" cultivation holds great potential: In contrast to most other crops, the coffee plant finds ideal conditions in agroforestry systems. Well managed, it brings yields that enable stable economic conditions to smallholder families and contributes to the preservation of biodiversity and climate protection.

Low productivity and low income in this area are drivers for the expansion of coffee cultivation into the protected core zone of the Yayu Biosphere Reserve. Coffee is the most important source of income for smallholder families. Therefore, agronomic knowledge of how they can improve their yields and living conditions with better, climate-friendly coffee cultivation and processing methods without being a driver of deforestation is very important. With proper management of the existing coffee trees, a doubling or more of yields is possible.

The Garden Coffee or semi-forested systems in Yayu form a very good basis for this. With existing trees, agronomic skills can be applied to improve yields and income. Where appropriate, further shade trees can be planted, for example as windbreaks or natural land boundaries, thus contributing to reforestation in Ethiopia and making coffee farms more climate-resilient. This is where the IKI project 'Restoring Degraded Coffee Landscapes' comes in.

T h e I K I p r o j e c t ' R e s t o r i n g D e g r a d e d C o f f e e L a n d s c a p e s ' h a s b e e n c o - f i n a n c e d w i t h t h e L a v a z z a F o u n d a t i o n s i n c e 2 0 1 8 a n d h a s s o f a r r e a c h e d a r o u n d 2 , 0 0 0 s m a l l h o l d e r c o f f e e p r o d u c e r s a n d t h e i r f a m i l i e s . T h e p r o j e c t d u r a t i o n i s u n t i l A p r i l 2 0 2 2 , a n d c u r r e n t l y , a n e x t e n s i o n u n t i l D e c e m b e r 2 0 2 4 i s p l a n n e d .

Aster's Garden Coffee System covers two acres. The family plants coffee, avocados, and bananas on it but like many other families, Aster's family had problems with their farm. Old, too densely planted and unmanaged coffee trees brought poor yields. The effects of climate change such as unusual weather caprioles or new diseases on the coffee plants were also increasingly problematic. In addition, the family was not a member of a farmer organization, which meant that they had no access to advice, information, know-how, financing, and other services essential for modern agriculture and could not fully exploit the marketing potential of coffee.

Creating better living conditions with agricultural knowledge about coffee

The project implementation partner in Ethiopia is Hanns R. Neumann Stiftung Ethiopia (HRNS). A private foundation with more than 15 years of experience in agronomic projects in coffee regions. The main areas of work on sustainable agriculture and processing methods on coffee farms, farmer organizations, and gender equality were brought together in the project in Yayu. The goal: Better and more climate-resilient agricultural practices should improve the living conditions of smallholder families, contribute to reforestation in Ethiopia, and reduce the pressure on natural forests.

Aster began attending a Farmer Field School (FFS). She still remembers: "In the beginning, I was supposed to stump my coffee trees, which I definitely didn't want. Then I can't harvest anything anymore." Finally, she agreed to first cut back a quarter of the trees, but only if HRNS takes responsibility if they did not grow again. She states: "My farm was full of old coffee plants with minimal to no yields for many years. But now the old dying trees are bearing fruit again. I have become an advocate of stumping and other agricultural techniques such as diversification and use of shade trees."

Thanks to the improved cultivation methods, Aster's family was able to more than double their coffee harvest. Most recently, she earned almost 6,000 euros with coffee and other farm products. And because she started to diversify her cultivation with corn, she was able to earn an additional 2,500 euros.

Garden Coffee as a scalable business model

Her Garden Coffee has become a successful business model and thus an example of the scalability of the approach. As part of the project, the implementation partner UNIQUE forestry and land use GmbH have carried out a feasibility study to determine the potential of scaling sustainable coffee production in the southwestern highlands of Ethiopia.

Skeptical at first, Aster is now the driving force behind the family's economic success. Through the gender component of the project, the family has learned how to jointly develop and implement a vision for the family farm. "We have learned to show respect and understanding for each other and to collaborate more," says Aster. And her husband Eshetu encourages her: "I am the proud husband of a wonderful, assertive and independent woman," he says, adding: "We have overcome the deep-rooted cultural setup and the idea that women and men should have different roles. I do everything my wife does, including fetching water, collecting firewood, and cooking." Then his wife nudges him into the page and adds: "The one thing that only women do and men don't do is give birth!" It was Eshetu who encouraged Aster to take responsibility for the transformation of her family.

Increased yields alone do not help smallholder families a lot. They must become active and strong participants in the coffee value chain. To this end, the project works with nine regional farmer organizations and a coffee cooperative and supports them in the professionalization in processing, storage, and marketing. Aster's family has become a member of the Lacosaya farmer organization. She now has better marketing opportunities for her increased yields. She has access to and is part of the coffee value chain. In addition, she can proactively participate in shaping her community with other farming families through the farmer organization.

New income with new trees

Because of the membership in the farmer organization, Aster learns additional knowledge for the family farm. She is doing much more than just planting coffee. Additionally, the family now makes their own compost which Aster believed had no use and would be a waste of time before the project explained to her the advantages.
"We have a large vegetable garden in the backyard where the corn also grows. What we do not consume we sell. We have a balanced diet, and we generate additional revenue that we invest in our children's education or reinvest in our coffee production." - Aster.

The coffee farm is a family affair for Aster. The whole household incuding her husband and her uncle Adissu help. Aster's children Kassahun and Engabu are also taking part in their free time when not in school. The fact that the two can now go to school is also due to the better income of the family.

To not only be dependent on coffee and also to contribute to the reforestation in Ethiopia, the family has opened the nursery. "In this way, we make our contribution to nature conservation and have another income," says Aster. Around them are thousands of small coffee plants and seedlings of various fruits such as avocado or banana and future shade trees. To date, a total of 63 nurseries for coffee trees and shade trees were supported by the project. The 225,000 coffee tree seedlings produced so far support the necessary rejuvenation of the coffee farms through new plantings. Aster has now planted around 5,000 new coffee trees on her grounds. All are part of the future in the Yayu Biosphere Reserve and reforestation in Ethiopia and help to reduce deforestation and degradation pressure. Aster smiles.

Reforestation at the Origin of Coffee in Ethiopia

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The International Climate Initiative (IKI) "Restoring Degraded Coffee Landscapes" is contributing to reforestation in Ethiopia. Here is how.

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COFFEE LANDSCAPES IN ETHIOPIA: RESTORATION INSTEAD OF DEFORESTATION

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COFFEE LANDSCAPES IN ETHIOPIA: RESTORATION INSTEAD OF DEFORESTATION

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There are estimates that the yearly increase of coffee land reaches about 100,000 ha pointing towards a critical issue: Deforestation. Michael Opitz, Managing Director of Hanns R. Neumann Stiftung (HRNS) comments: "At HRNS we are viewing trees as important elements in our programming efforts." However, this does not stop at combating deforestation but includes "developing sound cooperation formats with farmers, qualified organizations and authorities to promote forests and agroforestry systems as components in sustainable coffee landscapes". Supporting reforestation and aiding the compensating of smallholder families for ecological services (e.g. connecting them to the carbon market) complement the HRNS project portfolio. And within that range also falls the Yayu Coffee Forest Project in Ethiopia of which HRNS is part and acts as coordinating implementer.

A rich and dense forest in ethiopia

About 1,000 kilometres southwest by west of Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa lies a nature reserve which is the centre of origin for Coffea arabica, the most popular coffee variety worldwide. The sanctuary is located within the Illubabor Zone of the Oromia Region. It's called Yayu reserve and it is the most important forest in the world for the conservation of wild coffee diversity (coffee forest). It also plays a major role in conserving Oromia's natural and cultural sites. Yayu includes a biodiversity hotspot of Eastern Africa's mountainous regions and contains important archaeological and ritual sites. It covers 167,021 hectares and stretches over six districts.

However, currently more than 150,000 people live in and around the Yayu area, and they mainly depend on agricultural means for their livelihood - mostly coffee production. Subsequently the forests of the region have come under considerable pressure by agricultural expansion, firewood gathering, new settlements and infrastructure development. Between 2005 and 2010 deforestation rates reached 0.7 % annually.

Thus, in 2010 Yayu was designated as a Biosphere Reserve by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and made part of UNESCOs' Man and the Biosphere (MAB) programme. The MAB programme aims to establish a scientific basis for enhancing the relationship between people and their environments and it started to succeed: Deforestation rates quickly dropped to 0.4 % per year in Yayu. However, the drivers of deforestation have not disappeared completely and need to be further mitigated.

That's why MAB aims to make use of the natural and social sciences in order to improve human livelihoods while safeguarding natural and managed ecosystems at the same time. The idea is to promote innovative approaches to economic development that are socially adequate, culturally appropriate and environmentally sustainable as well.

Three zones to protect the forest

Yayu, like all UNESCO biosphere reserves, consists of three zones with special relevance to the local population:
- The "core areas" natural environment is legally strictly protected. Research is the single human activity which is allowed in it.
- The "buffer zone" surrounds the core area and comes with some restrictions too. Human activity in this area should be compatible with the conservation goals. This e.g. includes collecting natural products in a sustainable manner but excludes logging or clearing the forest for agricultural use.
- However, within the wider "transition area" adjacent to the buffer zone, the focus lies on stimulating sustainable economic activities. This includes ecologically sound and traditional agriculture, ecotourism and small businesses such as coffee growing, bee-keeping, spice gardening and horticulture. Additionally afforestation and sound management of non-forest areas like agricultural land, wetland, grassland, communal forests and even settlement areas are crucial to preserve biosphere as a whole.

In order to sustainably contribute to improved environmental resilience and food security in the Yayu Coffee Forest Biosphere Reserve, it requires the introduction of research-oriented and climate-relevant landscape management systems. Not only good agricultural practices for coffee and non-coffee crops have to be adapted to local conditions and circumstances ecologically and socially. Proper reforestation needs thorough investigation in order to succeed sustainably, too. For example any reforestation effort is doomed to fail if the local population does not value it and/or is too poor to refrain from using firewood and from expanding their agricultural lands.

The preconditions for a concerted knowledge based effort in the Yayu forest are close to ideal. Belonging to UNESCOs scientific MAB-Program the project is implemented by the European Union as part of its DeSIRA initiative ("Development Smart Innovation through Research in Agriculture").

The governance structure of the project matches that of the implementing organizations as it too guarantees a strong scientific impetus: The national governing body is the Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute (EBI) and international governance is provided by the International Union for Conservation of Nature(IUCN), a membership Union composed of both government and civil society organizations. And although research-based-practices have not been and cannot be researched in a controlled setting they are developed based on the best research available in the field. This means that practitioners can feel confident that their strategies and activities included in the program have a well-founded scientific basis for their use.

While the core area of the Yayu Coffee Forest Biosphere Reserve accounts for 27,733 hectares (16.6 % of the whole expanse) and the buffer zone encompasses 21,552 ha (12.9 %) respectively, the bulk of the reserve consists of the transition zone 117,736 hectare (Source) . "In this transition zone, coffee and other crops are allowed to be grown", Marco Kruse, Program & Partnership Manager of the implementing Hanns R. Neumann Stiftung (HRNS) explains." Within its borders "we are teaching more than 8,500 coffee farming households in the project how to increase their productivity with the area that is at their disposal". Kruse emphasizes the last part of this sentence to signal that a possible extension of farmlands is not on the agenda.

" T h e r e i s a p o s s i b i l i t y t o r e j u v e n a t e c o f f e e p l a n t s s o t h a t t h e f a r m e r s c a n i n c r e a s e p r o d u c t i v i t y . "

Marco Kruse

In order to raise productivity of and income from coffee farming Kruse does not favour intensification of the production like enhancing pest controlling activities or the like. "It's not necessarily intensification. It's more about climate-adapted farming methods like rejuvenation of coffee plants", he explains. "Because coffee plants in the area and in Ethiopia in general are often very old", Kruse details. "However, there is a possibility to rejuvenate coffee plants so that the farmers can increase productivity (...) after one or two years. This is a good, relatively effective option to increase productivity without intensifying."

Besides rejuvenation, new coffee trees are planted. But this is easier said than done. The participating farmer families have dug 132,000 holes for new coffee trees so far. To ensure optimal growth, the smallholder families learned to arrange their rows of coffee trees with proper spacing: 2 meters between rows and 1.5 meters between each tree, giving each coffee tree 3 square meters to grow. Proper, scientifically researched and site-optimized distancing of coffee trees has numerous benefits:
- Optimal growth conditions for healthy coffee trees;
- Prevention of diseases through improved air circulation;
- Efficient harvesting and maintenance;
- Effective weed control.

Shade Management in coffee forests

Another aspect that needs scientific consultation is the shade management: New shade trees are being planted to mitigate the effects of climate change on the crop. Suitable tree varieties and their correct spacing are crucial for ecological sustainability and economic success.

The research based approach also enabled the team to select coffee seedlings from the cooperation partner Jimma Agricultural Research Institute. It developed a Coffee White Stem Borer ( Monochamus leuconotus P., CWB.) resistance improved variety. These amended coffee seedlings, allow the farmers to enhance resilience against the effects of climate change even more.

An additional important inroad to increase incomes from coffee farming without expanding the farming area is improved marketing. "The region has the difficulty that there is no coffee available that is designated as Yayu coffee", Kruse explains. To remedy this HRNS strives to create a Yayu coffee brand. "This involves geographical identification, which is well known - quite classically - from champagne, for example. Currently there is no good way to identify coffee from Yayu and market it that way", Kruse continues. "This is a major theme of this project, to give a name to the coffee from the region and make it marketable."

On top of its practical work, HRNS is coordinating the highly collaborative project partners in the Yayu coffee forest reserve which are many:

- Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Development and Marketing (Government institution);
- Jimma Agricultural Research Center (represented by Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research);
- Population, Health and Environment Ethiopia Consortium (local NGO);
- Environment and Coffee Forest Forum (local NGO);
- International Coffee Partners GMBH

Other main stakeholders include:
- The Ministry of Agriculture and deconcentrated Regional Bureaux and District offices;
- The Ministry of Plan and Development;
- Actors from the private sector working on coffee value chain and
- Local communities and their institutions such as Forest Management Cooperatives.

" T h e p o i n t i s t o m a k e s u r e t h a t f a r m e r s a r e l e s s m o t i v a t e d t o m o v e f u r t h e r i n t o t h e p r o t e c t e d a r e a t o g r o w c o f f e e o r o t h e r p r o d u c t s . "

Marco Kruse

Together with these diverse partners HRNS is contributing to improved environmental resilience, rising farmers' incomes and enhanced food security in the Yayu Coffee Forest Biosphere Reserve. The application of research-oriented and climate-relevant landscape management systems are part and parcel of the endeavour. Kruse sums it up in the language of the practitioner: "The point is to make sure that farmers are able to improve their economic standing without moving further into the protected area to grow coffee or other products."

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