ETHIOPIA Ethiopia loses about 141,000 hectares of natural forest each year due to firewood collection, conversion to farmland, overgrazing, and use of forest wood for building material. Ethiopia faces a difficult future, because the agricultural sector, which forms the backbone of the economy, is totally dependent on forest resources.

Between 1990 and 2005, Ethiopia lost 14 percent of its forest cover or 2.1 million hectares. Deforestation rates have increased by 10.4 percent since the close of the 1990s.

On paper, 16.4 percent of Ethiopia is under some form of protection. The country has some 6,603 species of plants, 839 birds, 205 mammals, 288 reptiles, and 76 amphibians.



Suggested reading - Books

• The Bradt Travel Guide Ethiopia
• Lonely Planet Ethiopia & Eritrea
• Map of Ethiopia
• Ethiopia, the Unknown Land: A Cultural and Historical Guide
• Journey Through Ethiopia
• Birds of Eastern Africa

Image copyright Google Earth, MDA EarthSet, DigitalGlobe 2005

CIA-World Factbook Profile
FAO-Forestry Profile
World Resources Institute


Last updated: 4 Feb 2006