EthioTrees

Tigray
North Ethiopia

Ecosystem restoration and agroforestry by smallholders and landless farmers

Project
aims

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Community led ecosystem restoration

The EthioTrees Plan Vivo project aims to partner with communities to create sustainable livelihood opportunities for smallholders and landless farmers in different villages across Tigray (North Ethiopia). The project supports woodland restoration, agroforestry and ecosystem services development. For this purpose, a holistic landscape restoration approach is developed to strengthen socioenvironmental regeneration.

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Project
impact

Community
Community

Long-term engagement is realized through community participation in project design and socioecological reinvestments.

Biodiversity
Biodiversity

Improving biodiversity goes hand in hand with reducing land degradation and water runoff. This creates resilience against the effects of recurrent droughts.

Carbon
Carbon

Climate resilience and crop productivity are strengthened through carbon removal in soil and biomass.

Woodland restoration
Community-driven woodland restoration on highly degraded slopes supports ecosystem services and green water availability.
Agroforestry & Agricultural production
Food security is improved for smallholder farmers through agroforestry and enhanced direct cash income.
Valorizing non-timber forest products
Non-timber forest products include frankincense resins, fruits and honey for associations of landless farmers.

Projects
specs

Project type

Plan Vivo 4.0 — Ecosystem Restoration and Agroforestry Project

Project area

The project started with 541 hectare undergoing restoration activities in 2016 and grew organically to include a total of 2739 hectare by 2021. The project aims at continuous and organic growth, by including more and more community lands and agroforestry plots in central Tigray.

Main activities

The project developed a holistic landscape approach for socioenvironmental regeneration in Tigray. The approach integrates ecosystem restoration of steep upslope community lands (hizaéti) with downslope agroforestry plots of smallholder farmers.

Plan Vivo stage

The project started in January 2016 with baselining and the first planting. It became Plan Vivo certified in 2017 and first successful verification is expected to be obtained in December 2023.

PVC Type

Ex-post PVCs from ecosystem restoration – and ex-ante PVCs from agroforestry.