Ethiopian Orthodox Church Forests: Opportunities and Challanges for Restoration

In the northern highlands of Ethiopia, patchy remnants of old-aged Afromontane forests can be found mainly around the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Churches (EOTC). Forests in other areas have been completely destroyed and converted into farms and grazing lands over centuries. Hence, when a traveler sees a patch of indigenous old-aged trees in the northern highlands of Ethiopia, he/she can be sure that there is an Orthodox Church in the middle. Many indigenous trees and shrubs, which in some places were destroyed completely over the last century, are still found standing in the compounds of churches. The future existence of the woody flora and vegetation characteristic of dry Afromontane areas in Ethiopia depends on effective conservation and sustainable utilization of these remnant natural forest patches. Excluding cattle interference is a prerequisite to facilitate regeneration in church forests. Interconnecting these remnant forests by vegetation corridors following natural terrain or stream lines, or reducing the distance between them by creating buffer areas and plantations around them, and developing more patches in the landscapes are possible management activities to sustain these forests and help restoring the surrounding landscape.