The historical development of local forest governance in Ethiopia: from imperial times to the military regime of the Derg
Year: 2007
Type: article
Abstract: Forest governance is a critical crosscutting issue for communities living in and from forests. The need to address forest governance in this work stems from the fact that forest governance not only impacts forest users' livelihoods but also the forest ecosystem. Whether forest land and resources are the property of the state, of an individual, of a group of individuals, or of a combination of these stakeholders, and whether governance is actually executed, are relevant concerns in this regard. The main tools of governance are institutions, here understood as the 'rules of the game' (North 1990, Ostrom et al. 1994). Their enforcement means putting these rules to work. Institutions are highly path dependent. Accordingly, the roots of the present forest governance system are likely to be found in earlier systems and institutions. However, not only in south-western Ethiopia but also across the country, primary forests have been dwindling rapidly for a long time. During the past 100 years, the forests in Ethiopia have shrunk from approximately forty per cent of the country's total area to less than three per cent (Gebre and Deribe 2001 in Richerzhagen and Virchow 2002: 10). The most apparent reasons are the destructive activities of the local population, undergrowth clearing for intensification and expansion of agriculture and extensive cutting of timber and wood for construction and fuel among others. It appears that this is mainly caused by population growth and poverty, since poor households have short time horizons and cannot afford to put much effort, time, or money towards sustainable long-term utilisation practices (Regasa 2000: 140). However, these explanations address just one part of the story. From the 1980s onwards, an increasing number of scholars and practitioners have come to the conclusion that a lack of appropriate and enforced formal or informal institutions that determine who enjoys which use and access rights to 1 This paper has been written within the framework of the research project 'Conservation and use of wild populations of Coffea Arabica in the mountainous moist forests of Ethiopia' carried out by the 'Center for Development Research' (ZEF) in Bonn, Germany in collaboration with the 'Institute for Biodiversity Conservation' (IBC) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Author: Till Stellmacher
Language: English
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1734893739