Wof-Washa Forest Project

Aiding the survival of an ancient Forest and its people .

Wof-Washa (wof means bird, washa means cave) is Ethiopia's oldest state forest, set aside by the Shoan King Zeray Yacob in the 14th century. It is in North Shoa Zone of Amhara Regional State, and is currently at 8,200ha, having shrunk from 9,200ha since 1994. The shrinkage continues with the surrounding population nibbling at the edges of the forest to expand their agricultural area. Additionally local people fell old trees for firewood and local use and teams reportedly go into the forest to harvest the timber for commercial use.  

Introduction to Problems:

Ethiopia is home to the source of the Blue Nile and responsible for 80 per cent of the Nile's volume - one of the major rivers of Africa, which runs through Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt. The Wof Washa Forest is part of the system of important sources of water running into Lake Tana - the official source of the Blue Nile. Millions of people in three countries depend on the Nile's ability to flood annually, reinvigorate the land, provide irrigation and feed them, as well as acting as an important channel for trade and communication.
The Wof Washa Forest is being drastically depleted. As a result, of the scarce resources in the area are failing to provide sufficient food and livelihoods for its population. This scarcity, and the human need to survive, has led to a destructive process of forest clearance and poor land management practices. There is currently no credible legal or regulatory structure in place to stop these harmful practices, neither is there sufficient capacity within the region to bring about a change in practice, mindset and attitude.
With no licence, local leaders state they cannot exercise control over destructive use by locals and outsiders. They are, therefore, powerless to manage the forest in a sustainable manner. A lack of capacity in participatory techniques has further exacerbated the ability to address these fundamental political issues. It is critical to the future of the area and its ability to support its communities that the various stakeholders agree on how best to manage this resource. This requires work at various levels from local communities and their leaders through to line departments in local government.  

Aims, Objectives and History:

This project seeks to improve the livelihoods of the people living in 14 kebeles(local areas) of Wof-Washa. The intention is to improve long-term food security of vulnerable families, especially women and children, through participatory and sustainable land use practices. 67,000 people live in these kebele and most are dependent on the forest and surrounding land for their livelihood. There is much that needs to be done to build capacity for these families to diversify their dependence away from the forest, regenerate the forest and provide a better environment and services for communities.The project is working to link the interests of the local communities with the protection of natural resources, so that they will become custodians of the forest. Beginning in April 2002, the project is building awareness among youth groups through tree planting and training and extended its work to include farmers and fruit trees in six rural kebeles of the woredas (districts) of Ankober and Baso-na-Worena. Two kebeles in Tarmaber woreda will soon be added.
It is a poor region in one of the world's poorest countries and suffers from a lack of provision of basic services - health, education and access infrastructure. By improving the lives of these communities and opening up alternatives for them, Sunarma hopes to help delay the impact of climate change for a number of African countries.

Project Initiatives:

Through a series of initiatives, Sunarma is seeking to alleviate the pressure on the forest by building up the capacity of the local people to seek more sustainable ways of managing the resources available through :

• Training in Sustainable land use management - to get the best for, and from, the forest and surrounding land
• Establishing a system of rights, benefits and responsibilities towards the forest resource, working with local government and Forest User Institutions.
• Enhancing Nursery management and tree seedling production - to build up a constant source of seedlings for planting in the forest region. Sunarma has already taken over management of Keyit Nursery, near Debre Berhan, at the request of local government.
• Marketing and alternative income generating activities - so that people can buy food and not be so dependent on the land
• Community based Tourism Development - an alternative source of income for communities in a stunningly beautiful region of the African continent that is also steeped in history (see separate project).
  There are other initiatives vital for the well-being of communities and efficient functioning of the region, which Sunarma is also working towards:
• Education provision - especially for girls
• Health provision - to provide a surgery / clinic in the region next to Keyit Nursery
• Water development - not just irrigation but rain harvesting and water management
• Access Roads - to enable villagers to get their produce/products to market more quickly

Wof-Washa project progress from July 2006 to March 2008

Phase II of the Wof-Washa Project is now fully launched. Following consultations with stakeholders, communities and government departments at zonal and regional levels, the project document was approved and signed by the region in September 2006. SUNARMA’s work in Wof-Washa is now supported by a number of local and international donors including the Methodist Relief and Development Fund (MRDF), SIDA through SLUF, the Nile Basin Initiative, the International Tree Foundation and a private corporate donor. We have had additional support from UK trusts to develop the Keyit nursery facilities. It has been possible to extend the activities from six to 12 kebeles, with a potential beneficiary population, direct and indirect, of 57,750 (28,940 female). There are now two operational project offices - one in Debre Berhan and the other in Ankober - and the project has recruited a full staff complement. 

Efforts in the new kebeles have focused on introducing the concept of Participatory Forest Management (PFM) to the communities (elders, youths and kebele administrations) and government officials: 1,878 people were reached by this training in 2007. Using FARM Africa’s approach to establish forest management institutes and the idea of forming a ‘federation’ of these institutes, the project has worked with communities at sub-kebele or ‘gott’ levels to establish land management/natural resources committees. Each committee has prepared draft by-laws and terms of reference.  

Keyit Tree Nursery - Working with Local Government:

In the new kebeles SUNARMA has trained government development agents (DAs) to enhance their knowledge and skills in environment and gender issues, and prepare them to pass on this knowledge to the communities. The training covered environmental protection (974 trainees in 2007); natural resource management; deforestation and land degradation; soil and water conservation; organic farming and compost preparation (207 trainees). The project has also provided training in highland fruit plantation and production to 45 model farmers, and training in participatory land use planning. Two experts, one from Ankober woreda and one from the project office, attended courses, each of two weeks, organised by SLUF at Mojo. These were followed by study tours to Konso, Yabello, Wonago and Borena Ranch, during which agroforestry, livestock management and pastureland, management of traditional water points, terracing, intercropping and general farm management practices were observed. Participatory land use plans have been prepared in Wof-Washa and will be reviewed in detail with communities to generate local management strategies. 

Tree Planting at Keyit Nursery:

During 2007 42,872 indigenous tree seedlings were produced and 42,330 planted; 1,661,340 multipurpose tree seedlings were produced and 1,259,000 planted. A further 79 kg of indigenous tree seeds and 213.6 kg of multipurpose tree seeds were distributed. A total of 26 nurseries - both individual and group - have been established throughout the project area for seedling production. Seedlings raised include eucalyptus globulus, tree lucern and cupressus lusitanica species.

Field technicians and the communities carried out an inventory of planted seedlings and found a survival rate of around 75 %. Keyit nurseries started land preparation activities to produce seedlings in 2008, recruiting 20 temporary daily nursery labourers. In a boost to livelihoods, the project distributed 167 improved sheep during 2007 and equipped 61 farmers with modern beehives and training in their use; other farmers received vegetable and potato seeds. Through their formation of new groups, both youth and elders have shown their increasing interest to work with the project.