Community-Led Forest Restoration in Ethiopia's Bale Highlands

Community-Led Forest Restoration in Ethiopia's Bale Highlands

For generations, the Garano Gorota Forest was a thriving sanctuary. Ancient juniper and rosewood trees sheltered rare wildlife and fed mountain streams that sustained downstream communities. Local elders remember when the forest floor bloomed with wild coffee.

But decades of axes, plows, and overgrazing have silenced this ancient woodland. Native trees vanished. Springs dried up. Soil washed away. Invasive weeds took over.

This is the turning point.

The Garano Gorota community is reclaiming its heritage. By blending traditional Gada stewardship values with modern ecology, local farmers and youth are becoming architects of forest rebirth—collecting wild seeds, raising native saplings, and restoring 50 hectares of degraded woodland.

The Challenge

Agricultural expansion and overgrazing have devastated this irreplaceable Afromontane ecosystem, leaving 65% canopy loss and severe soil erosion across the intervention zone.

Our Solution

We're partnering with local communities to restore the forest naturally—replanting indigenous species like Hagenia abyssinica and Juniperus procera that naturally thrive here and create perfect conditions for recovery.

Community Leading the Way

Local women and youth drive restoration through:

• Community-managed nurseries transforming conservation into green livelihoods
• Youth Climate Ambassadors using mobile technology to monitor tree survival
• Forest honey production creating sustainable incentives that protect the forest

12-Month Impact

• 20,000+ native saplings planted across 50 hectares
• 75% minimum survival rate through systematic monitoring
• 3 operational community nurseries and formal forest management committee
• Thriving honey enterprise supporting forest families

Funding needed: $12,500 — 100% directed to on-the-ground work, community wages, and sustainable livelihoods.

through the following: