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Pitch

Manage 2 million hectares each of Ethiopian forests and woodlands, and 10 Mt CO2e will be abated.


Description

Summary

This seed proposal is based on Ethiopia's Climate-Resilient Green Economy - Green economy strategy and was prepared by a member of the Climate CoLab staff. We invite other CoLab members to link to this proposal or to use it as a starting point for creating new proposals of their own. The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia has not reviewed nor endorsed this proposal.

The report states that, "based on interviews with experts, experience from existing forest management projects, and discussions in the STC [report steering committee], the area for the management of forests and for the management of woodlands was set at 2 million hectares each."

"From a technical point of view, both afforestation/reforestation and forest management are highly feasible: They do not require any complicated technologies and have already been successfully tried in Ethiopia. In fact, there are several large projects for afforestation/ reforestation (e.g., Humbo CDM) and forest management (e.g., Participatory Forest Management projects) already ongoing – making the country one of the largest afforestation/reforestation areas on the continent. Large pilot projects for REDD+ are in the preparatory stages. A continuing forest data inventory might be helpful to ensure long-term success. In general, there appear to be no cultural or social barriers to implementation."


What actions do you propose?


Who will take these actions?


Where will these actions be taken?


How much will emissions be reduced or sequestered vs. business as usual levels?

"Forest management boasts an abatement potential of nearly 10 Mt CO2e in 2030, with management of forests contributing 6.5 Mt CO2e and management of woodlands 3.2 Mt CO2e."

"Management of forests has a sequestration potential of 3.24 t CO2e/ha/year as international benchmarks indicate. Assuming that the management of woodlands has about 50% of that impact, the potential for this activity is around 1.62 t CO2e/ha/year."


What are other key benefits?

"Afforestation/reforestation as well as forest management levers might both lead to additional economic benefits by creating employment, income from sustainable forestry for the managing communities, a stronger link between forest industry and forest development, and eventually even increasing exports and public revenues. Additional benefits such as erosion control and other ecosystem services also speak for the implementation of these measures."


What are the proposal’s costs?

"Abatement costs are around 1 and 2 USD/t CO2e for the management of forests and woodlands respectively:

  • Planting material. The direct cost of planting material will amount to around 30 USD/hectare. It is accounted for as CAPEX with an amortisation period of 50 years (based on standard GHG methodology for forest management).
  • Nurseries. Here it is assumed that one nursery, at the cost of USD 50,000, is needed for every 50,000 hectares. For a gradual scale-up, four nurseries will be needed, amounting to a CAPEX investment of USD 200,000. A nursery also incurs an operating cost of USD 10,000 per year. In addition, operating expenditures of USD 1 million were taken into account for annual research and development activities.
  • Operating cost for afforested/reforested areas. The management and care for project coverage areas cost 2 USD/ha/year.
  • Programme cost and additional operating expenditure. A programme cost of around 4 USD/ha/year is incurred over the first three years for the management of forests (50% of the cost for afforestation/reforestation) and 3 USD/ha per year for woodlands (total programme cost of 10 USD/hectare). Other operating expenditures include monitoring (1 - 2 USD/ha/year) for all areas.
  • Economic income effect. Sustainable forestry creates an income from timber and non-timber products, which has been estimated to be about 3.50 USD/ha per year (50% of benefits assumed in afforestation/reforestation).


Time line

2030


Related proposals

Afforest or reforest 3 million hectares in Ethiopia


References

 

  • The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia's Climate-Resilient Green Economy - Green economy strategy:  http://www.epa.gov.et/Download/Climate/Ethiopai's%20Vision%20for%20a%20Climate%20Resilient%20Green%20Economy.pdf