Human influences on forests in southern Ethiopia: the case of the Shashemane-Munessa-forest

Especially during the last decades, the natural forests of Ethiopia have been heavily disturbed by human activities. Some forests have been totally cleared and converted into agricultural fields, others suffered from different influences, such as heavy grazing and selective logging. The ongoing research in the Shashemane-Munessa-study area showed clearly that, in spite of interdiction and control, forests continue to be cleared and degraded. However, it is not yet sufficiently known, how and why  these processes are still going on. Growing population pressure and economic constraints for the people living in and around the forests contribute to the actual situation but allow no final answers to the complex situation. Concerning a sustainable management of the forests there is to date no solid basis for recommendations from the socio-economic and socio-cultural view. Therefore, a comprehensive analysis of the traditional needs and forms of forest use, including all forest products, is  necessary. The objective of this project is, to achieve this basis by carrying out intensive field observations, the consultation of aerial photographs, satellite imagery and above all semi-structured interviews with the population in the study area in order to contribute to the recommendations for a sustainable use of the Munessa-Shashemane forests.

Contact person
Prof. Klaus Müller-Hohenstein, University of Bayreuth, Institute of Biogeography
klaus.mueller-hohenstein@uni-bayreuth.de

Homepage