Ethiopia Forms Coalition to Advance Great Green Wall Initiative

ADDIS ABABA — In an effort to bolster the fight against desertification, Ethiopia has established a national coalition focused on accelerating the Great Green Wall Initiative, an ambitious African-led project aimed at combating land degradation and promoting sustainability in the Sahel region.

According to Ethiopian News Agency, this coalition has been tasked with coordinating and mobilizing resources necessary for Ethiopia’s contribution to the initiative. The coalition encompasses federal and regional bodies, international organizations, and development partners, signaling a unified approach to the environmental challenges facing the continent.

The Great Green Wall aims to counter desertification across the Sahel, the region of Africa bounded by the Sahara to the north and the Sudanian Savanna to the south, by planting an 8,000-kilometer stretch of trees from Senegal to Djibouti. Ethiopia’s role in this project, as one of its 11 original founding countries, involves targeted restoration efforts in 58 districts across the Amhara, Tigray, and Afar regions.

During a stakeholders meeting in Addis Ababa, which served to evaluate the initiative’s progress, Ethiopian Forest Development Deputy Director-General, Motuma Tolera, highlighted that the country’s commitment to the Great Green Wall is aligned with domestic strategies like the Green Legacy Initiative. Tolera emphasized Ethiopia’s intention to rejuvenate 13 million hectares of land while appealing to international partners for further assistance in these environmental undertakings.

Elvis Pol, the African Union coordinator for the Great Green Wall Initiative, praised Ethiopia’s restoration activities as a model for other African nations and assured the African Union’s ongoing support for the successful implementation of the initiative. He stressed the importance of such initiatives in addressing the impacts of climate change in Africa.

This new coalition is expected to reinforce Ethiopia’s efforts to meet its ambitious goals for land restoration, carbon sequestration, and job creation within the environmental sector as part of the broader Great Green Wall project.