Eritrea – Greening Anseba

Background

Anseba is a region in Eritrea where the forests were lost as water reservoirs a long time ago. Today, only 1% of the land is covered by forest. During the colonial period and the war of independence, many forest areas were cleared and countless trees were felled for firewood. For about six years, drought and acute water scarcity have been prevalent in the Anseba region due to the lack of rainfall, which has now become a semi-desert. The maximum annual rainfall does not exceed 45 cm. Rivers and lakes have dried up, the soil has eroded and washed out. Cattle are dying and the population of wild animals has also declined drastically. The water level drops by 0.75 cm annually. Due to deforestation, there is neither an adaptation to climate protection nor an ecological effect of the forests. The project area is located west of Keren, near the Senkil Mountains, a small piece of no man’s land. It is managed by a committee led by the Forestry and Wildlife Protection Agency, which includes the Catholic organization CESK.

Objective

With the “Greening Anseba” project, we are committed to the sustainable protection and preservation of the biodiversity and ecosystem services of the forests in four new nature reserves in the Anseba region. Similarly, we want to work with village communities in these protected areas to implement a reforestation program. The indigenous plants that are still available are to be protected from extinction, foreign plants are to be planted and 15 dams are to be built to regulate a controlled water runoff. “Greening Anseba” enables the rural population to receive improved education in the fields of horticulture, soil and water protection.

Realization

According to a set plan, trees and plants were planted, check dams and terraces were built over a period of three years. A total of 50,000 trees have been planted, 15 retention dams have been built, and an area of 400 hectares has been fenced in. What makes this project special is that the local population helped to create the nature reserve. They were even paid a small fee for their work. The Ministry of Agriculture has since officially declared the area part of a large nature reserve. This means that the area is not accessible to people or animals and is guarded by rangers.