Tree growing in Amhara, Ethiopia

At a glance

In Machakel in Ehtiopia’s Amhara region, the local community is at the heart of the forest restoration project. Indigenous trees are planted on community land, gullies and river banks, and fruit and timber trees are planted on farms. Training the local people is an important aspect: villagers learn new skills and share these with other people in the surrounding villages. This enables the entire community to start protecting and restoring their own forest. WeForest's goal is to create a world where communities and nature sustainably thrive together to stop global warming in our lifetime.

CO₂ impact

With 85% of Ethiopia’s population engaged in agriculture, the level of deforestation for crops for firewood or charcoal is extreme. As little as 6% of forest in Machakel remains today. Letting forests regrow naturally can help absorb 23% of the worlds CO2 emissions every year, research indicates. This process is carried out all year round and serves to promote the natural succession of the forest. Reducing CO2 through carbon sequestration activities also contribute to clean water, reduced erosion, lower landslide risk, and flood or drought mitigation.

Biodiversity benefits

WeForest’s restoration and reforestation program helps to increase biodiversity by providing thriving trees. They have been working since 2016 to directly restore and protect nearly 40,000 ha of the forest through Assisted Natural Regeneration (ANR) and Enrichment Planting. They select species that serve multiple purposes in the forest and for the communities. Indigenous trees are planted on community land, gullies, river banks and farmland, and fruit and timber trees are planted on farms. Expanding areas of naturally regenerating forests will provide safe havens for many forest-dependent animal and plant species that are vulnerable to extinction. By nurturing and protecting wild tree seedlings in forested areas much more land can be restored more quickly as it requires very little human intervention.

Socio-economic benefits

WeForest prefers to engage women and youths throughout the project activities whenever possible, in order to ensure that the most vulnerable among the communities are benefiting directly. “Animators” are trained in a variety of project activities from seed collection to sustainable harvesting of non-timber forest products, and pass on training to others. This places leadership back into the hands of local people, encouraging communities to become more resilient and self-reliant. Next to that, fruit and timber trees, apiculture, brick production, cooking-stove and fodder production offer additional income to diversify income streams in ways that ease pressure on the surrounding forest.

Project gallery

Location of the project

Project partner

United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals