The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR and World Agroforestry (ICRAF) joined forces in 2019, leveraging a combined 65 years’ experience in research on the role of forests and trees in solving critical global challenges.
Training on identification, conservation, and use of natural forest types as seed sources aims to fill knowledge gap
Knowledge about Ethiopian natural forest types and distribution is currently limited for most key actors in the Ethiopian tree seed sector. This in turn limits the procurement of quality seeds, with key impacts for reforestation and agroforestry across the country.
With that concern in mind, the Provision of Adequate Tree Seed Portfolio in Ethiopia (PATSPO) project, in collaboration with Addis Ababa University, held a training on Ethiopian natural vegetation types and distribution; tree species distribution and identification techniques; and conservation and use of natural forest populations as seed sources.
The five-day course took place on 22-26 August 2022 in Addis Ababa, with twenty participants drawn from major PATSPO stakeholder organizations. It aimed to enhance the knowledge of staff working with seed procurement to understand the diversity in vegetation zones, the species in each zone, ecological characteristics that define the distributions, and practical implications for seed collection, seed distribution and gene conservation. The training was delivered by Addis Ababa University professors Sebsebe Demissew, Zerihun Woldu and Ermias Lulekal.
On the last day of the training, participants visited the Gullele Botanical Garden and the National Herbarium. At the botanical garden, they saw naturally regenerated vegetation. “I was especially impressed by how the Gullele Botanical Garden replaced the eucalyptus plantation that had been there for decades with Junipers procera forest,” said participant Zekarias Tesfaye, who works at Hawassa Seed Centre. “They cut the eucalyptus trees and killed their stumps by removing the bark, and then enclosed the area, letting the juniper trees grow back naturally. The natural regeneration of the vegetation there is impressive.”
According to Zewdie Abebe, a participant from Oromia Wildlife and Forest Enterprise, there was active participation during the training, as attendees were eager to share their experiences and the challenges they face in their respective workplaces. “I can say the training brought together the work and the worker,” he said. “It was very useful and applicable. We learned about which species of trees are found where: for instance, I now know where dry afromontane and moist mountain tree species are found in Oromia Region. My organization collects tree seed, and now I know where to look for a particular species of tree whose seed we want to collect.”