Gemgema is an

exclosure An exclosure, in an area being used extensively for grazing, is a limited area from which unwanted browsing animals, such as domestic cattle or wildlife such as deer, are excluded by fencing or other means. Environmental protection Most commonl ...

located in the

Dogu'a Tembien Dogu'a Tembien (, "Upper Tembien", sometimes transliterated as Degua Tembien) is a woreda in Tigray Region, Ethiopia. It is named in part after the former province of Tembien. Nowadays, the mountainous district is part of the Southeastern Tigray ...

''woreda'' of the

Tigray Region The Tigray Region, officially the Tigray National Regional State, is the northernmost regional state in Ethiopia. The Tigray Region is the homeland of the Tigrayan, Irob, and Kunama people. Its capital and largest city is Mekelle. Tigray is ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

. The area has been protected since 1992 by the local community. Gemgema

Timeline

* 1992: established as exclosure by the community * 2017: support by the

EthioTrees The EthioTrees Ecosystem Restoration Association, in short EthioTrees, established in 2016, is a project for environmental rehabilitation and woodland restoration in Dogu’a Tembien (Ethiopia). Context Since many years, there has been severe ...

project

Environmental characteristics

* Area: 92 ha * Average slope gradient: 59% * Aspect: the exclosure is oriented towards the west * Minimum altitude: 2124 metres * Maximum altitude: 2288 metres * Lithology:

Antalo Limestone The Antalo Limestone, also known as the Antalo Sequence, is a geological formation in Ethiopia. It is between 300 and 800 metres thick and comprises fossiliferous limestones and marls that were deposited in a reef. Marine microfossils have shown a ...

Management

As a general rule, cattle ranging and wood harvesting are not allowed. The grasses are harvested once yearly and taken to the homesteads of the village to feed livestock. Physical soil and water conservation has been implemented to enhance infiltration, and vegetation growth. There are five guards to protect the exclosure. Field observations showed that however some illegal grazing occurred in the exclosure in 2018.

Benefits for the community

Setting aside such areas fits with the long-term vision of the communities were ''hiza’iti'' lands are set aside for use by the future generations. It has also direct benefits for the community: * improved

ground water Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated ...

availability *

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...

production * climate ameliorator (temperature, moisture) * the sequestered carbon (in total 53 tonnes per ha, dominantly sequestered in the soil, and additionally in the woody vegetation) is certified using the Plan Vivo voluntary carbon standard,EthioTrees on Plan Vivo website
/ref> after which carbon credits are sold * the revenues are then reinvested in the villages, according to the priorities of the communities; it may be for an additional class in the village school, a water pond, or conservation in the exclosure.

Biodiversity

With vegetation growth, biodiversity in this exclosure hast strongly improved: there is more varied vegetation and

wildlife Wildlife refers to domestication, undomesticated animal species (biology), species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wilderness, wild in an area without being species, introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous ...

References

External links

EthioTrees on Davines website

EthioTrees project website
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215154255/https://ethiotrees.com/ , date=15 February 2020
EthioTrees on Plan Vivo website

Link For Forestry Projects
1992 establishments in Ethiopia Land management Environmental conservation Greenhouse gas emissions Emissions reduction Carbon finance Exclosures of Tigray Region Dogu'a Tembien