ENVIRONMENT

Protection of the environment and stimulation of sustainable development are high on the priority list of the government of The Netherlands, as highlighted by article 6 of the Dutch national budget and the firm efforts of the Netherlands in contributing to attaining MDG 7. They are also important issues in the policy note of the current minister for development cooperation, stressing the need to support developing countries in their efforts to adapt to the effects of climate change and to harness more sustainable energy sources.

The environmental situation in Ethiopia and other parts of the Horn is precarious, given the low levels of economic and human development and the rapid population growth of more than 2% per year. The effects of climate change are making matters worse; and public as well as private sector investments are generally not yet properly guided from an environmental point of view. Issues around access to natural resources are becoming increasingly prominent within the mix of conflict factors in the region.

On the other hand environmental concerns are also relatively “neutral” issues that can be approached not only from a political angle but also from a scientific, ecological point of view. A sustainable development framework can function as a conflict resolution and prevention mechanism, because trade-offs can be made between various interests. All major stakeholders can then be involved in working towards feasible developmental options for different ecosystems (before damaging them beyond repair).  

Large parts of the region are heavily denuded and suffer from land degradation. Several ecosystems are desiccating, mainly due to the rapid deforestation and overgrazing; but in some areas also due to over-exploitation of water for irrigation (like in the case of Lake Haromaya and the Central Rift Valley, both in Ethiopia). The changing hydrology often has cross border effects. For instance, if the Harena Forest and the Bale Mountains National Park are not properly protected this will have substantial consequences downstream, even deep into Somalia. The headwaters of the Baro-Akobo-Sobat sub-basin of the Nile are another example. When the forest and wetlands in that area disappear, lower parts of the basin, in Western Ethiopia and South Sudan, will also be directly affected.

Most nature conservation areas are under heavy pressure from both grazing, small scale farming and bigger investments e.g. for biofuel feedstock production. As a result unique habitats and species are disappearing, even in global biodiversity hotspots and in parts of the Great Rift Valley Flyway, which is important for migratory birds. Ecological losses in the Horn of Africa region are thus also affecting the rest of the world.

Rising demand for fuel wood and charcoal for cooking also leads to deforestation and ultimately also decreasing soil fertility when animal dung is used as a substitute for wood, often in highly inefficient fires, because this dung can then no longer be used as an organic fertilizer on crop fields.   

On the other hand, much of the natural resource-based development potential is underutilised, particularly in terms of (properly guided) irrigation, renewable energy and eco-tourism.

Environmental awareness and the human and institutional capacity to plan, develop and manage natural resources sustainably, are still largely undeveloped. The environmental movement in the region is still quite weak and fragmented and not yet well connected to international environmental organisations and institutions.

Outside the region there is a general misconception that the Horn in its entirety is a hot desert area. This is, however, not the case. With proper governance, good environmental management, a good business climate and improved technologies, the natural resources base can be used effectively to generate accelerated and sustainable economic growth. 

Both the environmental awareness and the perception that the natural resources of the region, including hydro-power and nature conservation areas, can be marketed internationally, is gradually increasing (particularly in Ethiopia, Sudan, Djibouti and the more stable (semi-autonomous) parts of Somalia (such as Somaliland and Puntland). There are currently not many possibilities to work with Eritrean organisations on environmental issues. Kenya is in many aspects ahead of the rest of the region in terms of environmental management and  therefore sometimes functions as a ‘learning centre’ for the rest of the Horn.

The environment programme of the Embassy of the Kingdom of The Netherlands in Addis Ababa.

The Dutch environment programme administered by the Embassy in Addis Ababa aims to contribute to sustainable development, biodiversity conservation and the prevention of conflict escalation around access to natural resources in parts of the Horn of Africa, especially in the Nile Basin and the Rift Valley.

The main focus of the programme is to improve environmental governance and management, emphasising the management of wetlands, nature conservation areas, erosion prone highlands and dry lowlands, often in the framework of river basins and watersheds. This is done by facilitating institutional and human capacity building, mainly via a combination of a ‘learning by doing’ and a ‘demand driven action research’ approach, focussing on the conservation and rehabilitation of ecosystems and sustainable development. Improvement of (Strategic) Environmental Impact Assessment systems and other environmental management instruments is encouraged.

Besides, two environmental support sectors are strengthened: the promotion of renewable energy and the development of new value chains for sustainable products (e.g. honey and bush coffee) and services (e.g. eco-tourism). Supported activities in these sectors are integrated as much as possible into the broader efforts to improve environmental management. This implies concentrating on certain geographical areas (mainly cross border areas). In all supported activities, climate change is factored in as much as possible. Hereby the adaptation to greater weather variability and more frequent extremeties (such as drought and heavy rainfall), plays an important role, alongside mitigation efforts, also using underutilised options to access carbon credits.  

As environmental awareness in the region is still at a low level, the first essential step is to ensure that more people become aware of the ecological situation, the trends and possibilities to stop further environmental degradation, to rehabilitate damaged ecosystems and to enhance sustainable development.

It is also considered important to stimulate inspiring, positive actions with visible results that can be brought to scale and last but not least to enable especially people working at grassroots level, to learn from each other, to support each other and to develop joint programmes.

The environment programme of the Embassy provides financial and technical assistance to the Horn of Africa Regional Environment Centre and Network (HoA-REC/N), an initiative of the Addis Ababa University (see below). Via HoA-REC, Dutch funding is also channelled to about 40 endogenous civil society organisations and universities that are dealing with environmental issues in the Horn countries. Several Ethiopian endogenous environmental NGOs that are a memberorganisation of HoA-REN, are also directly supported by the Embassy: the Ethio Wetlands and Natural Resources Association (EWNRA); the Forum for Environment (FfE) and the Ethiopian Wildlife and Natural History Society (EWNHS). The latter two organisations also serve as fund holder for the Embassy to support certain activities of  other environmental civil society organisations, which are selected on the basis of agreed upon criteria.

Dutch funds for environmental rehabilitation activities at grass roots level, are also made available to Community Based Organisations and NGOs via the Small Grants Programme of the Global Environment Fund administered by UNDP in Addis Ababa. Another structure that is supported by the programme is the Eastern Nile Technical Regional Office (ENTRO) under the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) covering Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt.

Apart from the environment programme, the Embassy also plays a role in the coordination of environment-related activities stemming from a variety of Dutch institutions and organisations (like various departments of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Development Cooperation, that are dealing with multi-lateral and other programmes focussing on environmental issues at the bilateral, regional and continental level; other Dutch ministries; the Netherlands Commission for Environmental Assessment; NGOs; companies; universities; etc.).  

The Embassy also raises environmental issues in policy dialogues with the Ethiopian government and to a lesser extent the governments of Djibouti and Sudan (mainly South Sudan) as well as with supra-national organisations such as the Nile Basin Initiative, HoA-REN, the African Union, the UN-Economic Commission for Africa, the African Development Bank and the Inter-Governmental Authority for Development.

Current Programmes

1. Horn of Africa Regional Environment Centre and Network

2. Ethio Wetlands Natural Resources Association: Non-Timber Forest Products

3. Forum for Environment

4. GEF-Small Grants Programme;

5. Ethiopia Wildlife and Natural History Society

6. Eastern Nile Technical Regional Office