Ethopia

Agriculture State Minister Sileshi Getahun said that the implementation of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) has evolved wider benefits in managing forests more sustainably, ensuring greater conservation efforts and carbon through forest expansion, beyond reduci

A green economy that prioritises forest conservation to boost development in one of Africa’s poorest nations is at the heart of a recent initiative launched by the Ethiopian government ahead of the Rio+20 summit.

A multifaceted project to preserve one of the last of Ethiopia's native forests has been underway for the past four years with the support of Germany's International Climate Initiative and NABU, the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union. The project focuses on reforestation, job creation in the region and the introduction of sustainable forest management practices. The area was officially named a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve earlier this year.

Atnafu Endashaw, 12, travels on foot two hours every day from home to school. He is from the isolated Menja communities found in Sheka zone of Southern region of Ethiopia, 765 kilometers southwest of Addis Ababa. Unlike the members of Sheka tribe, Menja communities are mainly marginalized because they feed on leftovers of dead animals. “My mother told me that we (Shekas and Menjas) were brothers of the same father and mother,” says Endashaw Ayno, father of Atnafu, commenting on the origin of marginalization of Menjas from the rest of Sheka tribe.