Deforestation, Information and Citations: A Comment on Environmental Degradation in Highland Ethiopia

The paper comments on the "deforestation orthodoxy" in Ethiopia; the process through which information is constructed and spread. A fairly comprehensive search in literature does not reveal the origin of the figure 40%, a value frequently describing the forest cover at the turn of the century both in highland Ethiopia and in Ethiopia as a whole. Compared with the present forest cover, it suggests a severe deforestation taking place in Ethiopia. The bias towards emphasising enclosures, terracing and tree-planting as a strategy to counteract environmental degradation processes in the Highlands of Ethiopia most likely stems from the available data on deforestation rates. These alarming figures are reproduced indiscriminately in many reports and papers without referring to their origins or to methodologies through which the data is obtained. The paper finally presents a study on changes in woody plant cover based on aerial photo interpretation. The study area around Debre Sina in North Shawa Province shows a distinct increase in tree/bush cover between 1957-86. The location of the study area may however indicate that results from local studies not necessarily are applicable to wider areas in the Highlands.