Project
Valuation of Forest Ecosystem Goods and Services in Ethiopia
Client
United Nations Environment Program
Objective
As part of the UN-REDD Programme, UNEP and the Government of Ethiopia agreed to undertake an assessment of the economic value of forest ecosystems to the Ethiopian economy following the UN SEEA guidelines. The project led to an enhanced understanding of the contribution of forests to the country’s GDP and to national income beyond that measured in GDP. The results served as an input into the development of Ethiopia’s REDD+ Strategy and informed the national Growth and Transformation Plan II.
Our Role
Midsummer Analytics estimated the value of the various ecological goods and services provided by Ethiopian forests, including:
- provisioning goods such as timber, firewood, honey and coffee
- regulating services such as flood control and soil conservation, and
- cultural services such as recreation and non-use values.
We provided Ethiopian government officials with guidance on the concepts, methods and data sources lying behind the estimates and on the interpretation of the results in the broader context of the Ethiopian economy.
During the project, we worked directly with senior stakeholders from Ethiopian government ministries (e.g., the Advisor to the State Minister of Forests) and with experts from Ethiopian consultancies (Sankofa Consultancy Service), NGOs (e.g., Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Association and Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute), and multi-lateral institutions (e.g., UNEP, UNDP, World Conservation Monitoring Centre).