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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, August 25, 2002

Roundup: Ethiopia faces worsening forest denudation

Almost all the forests in Ethiopia have been destroyed in the last 40 years, and only less than 3 percent of the entire country is now covered with trees, prompting fears of an impending environmental disaster if the problem is going to get worse.


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Almost all the forests in Ethiopia have been destroyed in the last 40 years, and only less than 3 percent of the entire country is now covered with trees, prompting fears of an impending environmental disaster if the problem is going to get worse.

Some experts hold that rapid population growth, extensive forest clearing for cultivation and over-grazing, movement of political centers, exploitation of forests for fuel wood, and construction materials without replanting have reduced the forest area of the country to 16 percent in the 1950's and 3.1 percent in early 1980's.

Further estimates of the distribution of forest and woodland areas made on the basis of information revealed that only 2.8 percent of the land surface is under forest and woodland.

The current rate of deforestation is estimated to be 200,000 hectares per year. As a result large areas of the country are now exposed to heavy soil erosion, it is estimated that fertile top soil is lost at a rate of 1 billion cubic meters per year, resulting in a massive environmental degradation and serious threat to sustainable agriculture and forestry.

In a recent document released by Oromia state of Ethiopia, the forest coverage of the state which used to stand at 40 percent about 40 years ago has diminished to a mere 7 percent at present.

It said Oromia forests are being fast denuded because of the destruction of between 60,000 to 100,000 hectares of forests of the state every year.

The document expressed fears that this dangerous trend, if not checked in time, would turn Oromia into a desert in the next 30 years.

Most of the present forest is located in the southwestern and central parts of Ethiopia, and these lands are used for grazing and crop production, while the trees are used for local fuel wood and charcoal production.

In addition to the natural forest cover, there are about 162,000 hectares of forest plantation and about 36,000 hectares of fuel wood plantation.

Eucalyptus are the main plantation species. As might be expected in a country with such wide variations in climate, topography and soils, Ethiopia is one of the few countries in Africa where virtually all major types of natural vegetation are represented, ranging from thorny bushes to tropical forests and to mountain grasslands.

The number of native flora species has been estimated at over 10,000, while more than 50 different botanical plant communities exist .

Little of the natural vegetation of the highlands remains today except for southern and southwestern parts of the country. The influence of man and his domestic animals has profoundly altered both the vegetation and the landscape.

Ecological degradation, including deforestation and erosion, iswidespread, particularly in the northern and central highlands. Though not as severely degraded, the southern parts of the highlands are being increasingly affected.

Ethiopia's forest resource conservation, development and utilization today is not the product of a long evolving process inwhich different land-use planning measures have been devised and used to meet changing needs and various ecological conditions of the country.

The absence of sound and comprehensive land-use policies encompassing the identification, selection and appropriation of suitable areas for forestry development based on production and environmental protection is the outstanding forestry problem in Ethiopia .

The World Summit on Sustainable Development is just round the corner in Johannesburg, South Africa, and the world's attention will focus on direct action toward meeting difficult challenges, including improving people's lives and conserving natural resources.

Natural resources are not such that they could bring in untold riches to the human being. People in the world should value the riches given by the natural resources.

The whole world do believe through the summit leaders of the state and government would take constructive actions in protecting natural resources.


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