Standard for Ethiopia to boost responsible forest management

The Interim Forest Stewardship Standard for Ethiopia ready to unlock the largest bamboo resource in Africa. The standard becomes effective on 15 December 2024.

Ethiopia could soon unlock access to niche global markets for certified forest products and increase the value of verified ecosystem services impact especially carbon, water, biodiversity, recreation and culture with this new FSC Interim Forest Stewardship Standard (IFSS) of Ethiopia.  The standard promotes responsible forest management through FSC certification and would strengthen the conservation of Ethiopia's rich biodiversity. By conforming with the standard’s requirements, smallholders and communities can increase the benefits they generate from the forest resources they manage. FSC certification is a core stepping stone to align with the European Union (EU) Regulation on Deforestation-free Products (EUDR), a legislation requiring companies to ensure their products are not linked to deforestation. This alignment, once utilized by Ethiopian stakeholders using the FSC certification system allows their forest products including bamboo to compete on the growing market for sustainably sourced forest goods and other non-forest timber products such as coffee, honey, and spices.

The FSC-standard has a broader approach to address the gaps in social, economic, ecological, and environmental aspects in a participatory manner so that all the stakeholders would benefit at the end of the day.

Dr. Yirgadu Mulatu, Senior Research Scientist, Ethiopian Forestry Development.

Ethiopia boasts over 17 million hectares of forests comprised of moist and dry tropical Afromontane, woodlands and shrub lands, plantations (industrial and small-scale woodlots) and is home to two-thirds of Africa ‘s bamboo resources. This includes two species: the highland bamboo (Yushania alpina) and lowland bamboo (Oxytenanthera abyssinica)– growing in both natural forests and on farms.

The country has set an ambitious climate target of restoring 15 million hectares of degraded forest lands by 2025 and aims to leverage these forest resources to become a middle-income nation by 2030. 

With the FSC-National Standard, we will maintain sustainable management of bamboo resources and ethical business practices.

Dr. Tamirat Teshome Shibeshi-Head of Bamboo Development and Technology Desk, Ethiopian Forestry Development.

Embracing the new FSC standard for Ethiopia offers a lifeline for protecting these restored resources, promoting long-term environmental sustainability.

This could create a pathway for the Ethiopian government, communities, the private sector and development partners to unlock the potential of the country’s forest sector in general, and particularly the bamboo subsector.

This standard will enable unlocking the potential of bamboo to propel green economic development and green jobs to youth and women with associated environmental development.

Jayaraman Durai, Director Global Programmes, International Bamboo and Rattan Organization-INBAR.

The approval of the IFSS of Ethiopia is a great milestone for Ethiopia! FSC Eastern Africa is set to work with the Government, and all partners to provide technical support for stakeholders interested in using the standard to implement certification at the forest management level and through the value chain.

We are very grateful to the Ethiopian Forestry Development (EFD) for their invaluable support and to the International Network for Bamboo and Ratan (INBAR), Forests of the World (FoW), and Ethio Wetlands and Natural Resources Association (EWNRA) for the support to the development of this standard.

Annah Agasha, Coordinator, Eastern Africa.

The IFSS for Ethiopia (English version) can be downloaded in the FSC Document Centre. For any queries on the standard, please contact FSC Country Requirements Team by writing to country_requirements@fsc.org.