Celebrating 100th anniversary of CPC | China’s seminar enables Ethiopia to pursue sustainable forest development

Mesha Fetter is a senior official at the Ethiopian Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Climate Change. In 2018, he participated in a seminar for forestry officials on climate change and sustainable development in countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.

The seminar was organized by the Chinese government and was under the China-aid Human Resource Development Cooperation Program.

Fetter and other attendees of the seminar learned about Chinese concepts on ecological civilization such as "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" and "a coordinated approach to the governance of mountains, rivers, forests, farmland, lakes, grasslands and deserts."

They also studied China's practices in sustainable forest development, especially techniques in man-made forest cultivation and afforestation, as well as China's development experiences in forestry reform, wildlife conservation, and desertification control.

They learned about the intrinsic link between climate change and poverty reduction among forest farmers, which can help them improve their forest governance capacity in all respects, theoretically and practically.

After returning to Ethiopia, Fetter shared theories and practices in China's forest governance with his colleagues, and applied what he learned to forest management in his country, based on its conditions.

Meanwhile, he kept regular contact with the seminar's Chinese organizer, and had online exchanges with experts when he encountered problems in the process of seedling planting and forest management plan formulation.

Fetter said by learning and sharing its experience, China has enabled Ethiopia to improve its forest governance capacity, curb forest degradation, increase forest area and forest stock, and improve its ecological environment.

China has actively shared its experience and plans in coping with climate change, making positive efforts for the sustainable development of global forests and contributing to the common response to global climate change.