Resultados finales del Recorrido Virtual

The rural people of Ethiopia, which comprise 85% of the total population, depend exclusively on biomass fuel as energy source. Even a considerable portion of the 15% urban dwellers use biomass as a source of energy.48 The main source of energy for the Ethiopian people is therefore biomass fuel. The aggravation of electric power interruption in the past few years in the country is also pushing urban dwellers to resort to biomass fuel, further increasing its consumption. A 1984 estimate indicates that 94.8% of the total energy consumption in Ethiopia was made up of biomass fuels consisting of fuel wood, animal dung and crop residue. Fuel wood use makes up 81.8% of these traditional sources,49 causing massive deforestation in the country, the rest being covered by animal dung and crop residue. Most of the firewood is obtained from the natural forests. It is based on this fact that Teketay argues that ―there is big wood deficit in Ethiopia, as the plantation forestry is very far from meeting the demand for wood.‖ He calls this situation a ‗wood famine‘ and it is this wood famine which is the main cause for the ‗mining‘ (the volume of wood harvested in a given period exceeding the sustainable rate/increment yield) of the forest resource base of the country.50 This wood famine has forced the rural (and also the urban) people to use animal dung (which should have been returned to the soil to maintain the recycling of nutrients which help in enhancing agricultural products) as fuel. The costs of using dung in

47 _{See Kelbessa, supra note 44, p.53. Kelbessa argues that the modern religions, especially Islam and Pentecostal} Christianity are intolerant to the traditional Oromo belief systems and take the responsibility (partial) for the weakening and the total eradication of the belief systems in different parts of the Oromo land. (See, Ibid, p.71) 48 _{See Zenebe Gebreegziabher (2007), Household Fuel Consumption and Resource Use in Rural-Urban Ethiopia,} PhD thesis at the University of Wageningen, the Netherlands, pp.115-134.

49 _{Shibru Tedla and Kifle Lemma (1998), Environmental Management in Ethiopia: Have the National Conservation} Plans Worked?, OSSREA, p.7.

50 _{Demel Teketay, ‗Deforestation, Wood Famine, and Environmental Degradation in Ethiopia‘s Highland} Ecosystems: Urgent Need for Action‘, North African Studies, Vol. 8, No. 1 (New Series), p.60. The fuel wood demand and supply projection made by EFAP (1994) indicated that the then demand for fuel wood was 58 million m3 whereas the supply was 11 million m3. The same projection for fuel wood for the year 2008 indicated a supply of 9.8 million m3 against a demand of 74.9 million m3 showing a deficit of 65 million m3 of wood. The projection made for the year 2020 indicated that the demand will reach to 100 million m3 against a supply projection of 7.7 million m3 envisaging a deficit of 92.3 million m3. See Country Report – Ethiopia,

83 Ethiopia are multifaceted, ranging from reduction in crop production to ecosystem disturbance.51 Returning farm residues and animal dung to the farm is a farming method that could maintain the natural balance in the farming system and is considered to be one aspect of ecological farming.52 The fact that the country depends heavily on biomass fuel for energy source contributes significantly for the loss of the country‘s biodiversity in two major ways. Firstly, it causes destruction of forests which are the main concentration areas for biological diversity. Secondly, it denies the return of organic matter from farm residues and animal dung to the soil thereby aggravating soil degradation by pushing farmers to resort to artificial fertilizers and HYVs, which act as threats to soil and agricultural biodiversity.53

Biomass fuel consumption, especially utilizing farm residuals and animal dung as fuel is one of the most exploitative relations that humans established with nature. This is an example of conflicting relations with nature. Although using these materials as fuel gives people provisional solution in resolving fuel problems, it always leaves behind crises which will cost them heavily. Societies which establish ethical relations with nature are not expected to treat land in such an exploitative manner.

The impact of such conflicting relations with nature would not be limited to nature alone; it also affects people‘s livelihoods. For instance, one of the reasons for the chronic hunger conditions on the Ethiopian highlands is severe degradation of the ecosystem. Things could have been averted otherwise if people have developed harmonious relations with nature.54 If things continue with

51

See for instance, Mahmud Yesuf, et al (2005), Cost of Land Degradation in Ethiopia: A Critical Review of Past Studies, Environmental Economics Policy Forum for Ethiopia and Alemu Mekonnen and Gunnar Köhlin (2008),

Biomass Fuel Consumption and Dung Use as Manure: Evidence from Rural Households in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia, Environment for Development Discussion Paper Series.

52

For details of discussion on this issue see Chapter 6.

53 _{The Energy Policy of Ethiopia of 1994 provides for the gradual shift from the traditional energy sources use to} modern energy sources, which is electricity generated from hydropower. The Policy clearly states that the country‘s major priority is developing hydroelectricity. (See §3.2 and 5.1 of the Energy Policy of 1994) The Policy further emphasizes on the development of mini hydropower projects. (§4.1) In practice this has been reversed as the country is now engaged in the construction of mega hydropower plants. As any ‗development‘ project, the hydropower generation activities, especially the mega projects, will have their own impacts on biodiversity.

54 _{Some communities in Ethiopia have indigenous practices of developing agroforestry instead of clearing the whole} of the landscape for farming. Such practices have supported even large population densities. For instance, the Gedeo people in SNNPRS are known for their agroforestry practices. This zone is one of the highly populated areas in Ethiopia with an average of 1000 persons/km2. The agroforestry practice of the Gedeo is said to have protected the area from a complete degradation. (See Mogues Worku ‗Ethiopia‘s HPE Spotlight: the Environment and Development Society of Ethiopia‘, BALANCED, Vol. 1, Issue 3, June 2011, pp.8-10; and Solomon Tamrat (2011),

84 business as usual without taking appropriate measures it is likely that the life support systems of those vast ecosystems may fail to perform their functions.55

Although these people have caused degradation of the highland ecosystems since centuries ago, they have not acted similarly against church forests which are now serving as refuges for biodiversity in these vast degraded highland ecosystems.56 People considered these forests as sacred and refrained from clearing them even during harsh times such as famine. From this it can be said that people could have lived harmoniously with nature, without affecting it much, had they been guided by a non-anthropocentric worldview. It can also be seen that there is still great potential in religious institutions to act as protectors of biodiversity if they incorporate environmental concerns in their teachings.