The Horn of Africa was known for its natural richness, but nowadays it is one of the most degraded areas in the world, mainly due to the consequences of unsustainable land management. Ethiopia, and its diverse ecological zones, is home for extraordinary biological diversity and endemicity. Sadly, the Horn as well as Ethiopia is losing its biological wealth at an alarmingly high rate. According to FAO, Ethiopia loses its forest resources with an estimated rate of 141,000 ha/year, which in turn has contributed to poorer livelihood conditions and increased vulnerability to adverse climate change effects. 

The Horn Re-Greening Programme (HRGP) was launched to address key environmental and social issues in relation to land degradation. Proper conservation and management of existing forests and rangelands, rehabilitation of degraded areas (e.g., re-afforestation and soil conservation programs), control/manage the spread of invasive species, and livelihood development (e.g., beekeeping, ecotourism development) are the program’s principal approaches to deal with environmental and social challenges. Implementation of the aforementioned activities is mainly through bottom-up approach by involving the communities, local governments, and NGOs directly to ensure the success and sustainability of the different activities. Currently, the programme focuses on Ethiopia in three geographic clusters - the Addis Ababa Mountain Range, the Northern Highlands and the Central Rift Valley.

Addis Ababa Mountain Range

In the Addis Ababa Mountain range, Horn Re-Greening is coordinating/facilitating a project (Mount Wochecha Rehabilitation Project) in partnership with Oromia Forest and Wildlife Enterprise (OFWE) and Oromia Development Association (ODA) to protect the remaining forest, promote re-afforestation, rehabilitate degraded land, and develop community livelihoods. The project has various components to rehabilitate the mountain and the forest; re-afforestation is one of the major activities of the project. A total of 500,000 indigenous tree seedlings have been planted annually during the past three years to enrich the forest and create awareness to the local community residing in and around the forest through direct participation of the communities. Recently, on August 6, 2011, HoA-REC and OFWE celebrated the 3rd Annual Tree Planting Ceremony at Mount Wochecha with H.E. President Girma Wolde-Giorgis, and members of the local community in an effort to protect the watershed from soil erosion, rehabilitate the natural landscape and educate the community regarding the importance of forests. The project was partially funded by the Chinese and French Embassies. Major activities such as beekeeping, fruit tree and biogas development are underway. Horn Re-Greening Program has been undertaking a pre-feasibility study for REDD++ project in Mount Wochecha (Menagesha –Suba State Forest) in partnership with the Oromia Forest and Wildlife Enterprise for possible voluntary carbon market.  

Other projects areas under the Addis Ababa Mountain Range are:

• Entoto & Yerer, collaborating with the Ethiopian Heritage Trust;
• Gullele, collaborating with the Gullele Botanic Garden (the location of HoA-REC's future office).

Northern Highlands

In the northern highlands, Horn Re-Greening is engaged in biodiversity conservation by using remnant church forests through integrated community based approaches in an Ethiopian Highland Landscape in Western Estie, South Gonder  in partnership with Organization for Rehabilitation and Development of Amhara Region (ORDA). The project proposal is submitted for the Federal Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) for funding. In addition, re-greening program is working with ICCO to assess the carbon sequestration potential of church forests in Estie Woreda.

Central Rift Valley

In the Central Rift Valley, a project proposal has been developed to improve the livelihood of the population in the area by managing and rehabilitating forests and rangelands to protect its biodiversity and the overall ecosystem. The main focus of Horn Re-Greening in the CRV includes: controlling and management of invasive species, protection, management and rehabilitation of degraded forests and rangelands, and promotion of income generating activities to improve the livelihood of communities to lessen the direct pressure on natural resources. These activities shall be implemented in partnership with the CRV Program of HoAREC, local governments, NGOs, CBOs, and the communities at large.