Forests for integrated land-use development in an eastern Ethiopian water catchment

Abstract

Although forest has diminished to a few relics, the Eastern Ethiopian highlands are still relatively rich in scattered tree occurrences. Results of a land use survey in the Alemaya catchment comprising 20 000 ha show that natural forest vegetation has remained on only 0.5% of the reference area. The density of woody plants and the tree species composition of remnants of the natural forest render possible restoration without any enrichment planting by minimizing the intensity of use. -from Author