A high level Ethiopian government delegation is now back in the country following a successful experience and knowledge sharing visit to South Korea and China.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and UNREDD facilitated the visit by the high level delegation, which was led by the Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Dr. Shiferaw Teklemariam and included regional presidents from Afar, Tigray and Southern Nations and Nationalities People’s regions.

Forestry is one of the four pillars in Ethiopia’s Climate Resilient Green Economy (CRGE) strategy and is identified as having the largest potential in reducing emissions and increasing the country’s climate resilience.

Ethiopia’s fast growing population, currently placing the country as the second most populous African nation, is  feared to increasingly become a major burden on resources, particularly natural resources.

According to the strategy, Ethiopia will need to reverse its deforestation and degradation if the country can be expected to meet its development goal.  
The official forest coverage figure stands at only 15% showing a 50% decrease from 30 years ago.  

Whereas in just 50 years South Korea has managed to tackle deforestation and degradation to transform its forest coverage mass to 64%.

The south-south knowledge exchange is hoped to lead to further cooperation around strengthening Ethiopia’s institutional capacity for sustainable forest management and facilitate the country’s access to appropriate technology, technical expertise and latest tools.

UNDP is currently partnering with Norway to enhance Ethiopia’s capacity to sustainably manage its forest resources.