Achieving the Sustainable Management of Forests by Alastair Fraser

Author:Alastair Fraser
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
ISBN: 9783030158392
Publisher: Springer International Publishing

Box 9.1: The Green Belt of Addis Ababa

Prior to the twentieth century, the capital of Ethiopia moved periodically, partly for political reasons and partly because essential sources of fuelwood had declined drastically. In 1887 the then Emperor, Menelik II moved the capital from Gondar to the present location at Addis Ababa, where there are hot springs. The population grew rapidly, and soon fuelwood became a problem again. Around the turn of the Century, the French were building a railway from Djibouti to Addis Ababa, and the story goes that the Emperor consulted with the chief engineer about transporting fuel. Since, at that time the trains also used wood as fuel, the engineer suggested that the Emperor should plant Eucalyptus trees around the city.

The Emperor managed to import a large number of Eucalyptus trees from Australia, and either by luck or good judgement they were the species Eucalyptus globulus. Addis Ababa lies in a wide basin surrounded by rising land mainly to the north, and the trees were planted all across the hillside on the slopes of Mt. Entoto and eventually extending to about 3400 ha.

This particular species of Eucalyptus thrives in the climate of Ethiopia and is now widely planted all over the country at the higher elevations. The species also has the useful property that it coppices well and so is ideal for fuelwood. The trees are cut when about 4–5 years old and produce 3–6 new shoots that can be cut again after another 4–5 years. An army of mainly elderly women collects most of the fuelwood and carries it in large bundles down to the market every day.

By the mid-1980s the “Green Belt” had become very degraded due to overcutting and failure to replant dead stumps, while the population of Addis Ababa had grown enormously, increasing demand. As a result the World Bank stepped in with a large loan to finance restoration and expansion of the planted area. The expansion took place on degraded grassland some way out of the City to the East.

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