Bees to the rescue: restoring the degraded catchment area of the Lake Tana Biosphere Reserve

Natural resource degradation and deforestation are severe problems in Amhara, Ethiopia. About 1.9–3.5 billion tonnes of fertile topsoil are washed away annually into rivers and lakes due to deforestation alone. Yet the vast majority of the region’s 17 million people rely on these same natural resources for their livelihoods. The consequences of deforestation are a disaster for the environment, and a disaster for people too. The direct causes are interlinked and complex and concern population pressure, overgrazing, poverty, prevailing agricultural practices – and importantly – lack of adequate support to facilitate change.

Bees for Development Ethiopia has long recognised the link between land degradation and apiculture. Degraded lands, with declining vegetation cover do not provide enough food for bees or adequate nesting sites for wild colonies. Conversely, beekeeping is one of the few productive activities which can be carried out sustainably in areas which are recovering. Highly degraded land which is unusable for agriculture and provides only poor-quality grazing can be restored through closure and re-planting. During this time of recovery, bees pollinate herbs, shrubs and trees, aid in seed-setting and contribute to the restoration process – whilst also producing honey for nearby beekeepers, giving community members an immediate financial gain from such restoration projects.

It is this positive link between land restoration and beekeeping which prompted Bees for Development Ethiopia to work with communities to restore degraded sites in two key locations with their catchment area. In both sites the first step in achieving these ambitious projects was to consult widely with community members to understand their needs and to identify which sites could be prioritised for restoration. It is important that community members select the sites, the boundaries and the extent of the areas. The next step involves coming to an understanding about the process involved in land restoration and this begins with a commitment to ‘close’ the area to exploitation for a number of years. Importantly this means no grazing of cattle. The community are advised about how to create their own rules and guidelines for ‘permissable’ activities, and this usually includes cut-and-carry of grass for cattle and beekeeping.

In Gult Abishkan kebele, 47 ha of degraded land in Agintta have been enclosed. Cattle are not allowed to enter the site and 18,000 tree seedlings were planted over a two year period. Community awareness campaigns led by local leaders and local government officials were conducted. Villagers appointed guards to ensure adherence to locally-agreed rules, but their role diminished over time as community members began to see the positive results of the closure. After just two seasons the re-growth of natural vegetation was remarkable with community members expressing surprise, one saying “we did not think trees would grow back!”. Wildlife such as aardvark and klipspringer have been seen in the site.

In Ysala kebele the scale of degradation was much greater with active gullies cutting great gashes through the land. These active gullies could only be halted through the construction of physical stone weirs. Bees for Development Ethiopia provided the materials, the local government expert provided the technical design recommendations and the community did the rest.

“We were trying to arrest this erosion by ourselves. But we have had some difficulties related to lack of skill and material scarcity. The project’s intervention in filling these gaps means a lot to us. We expect we will see good results and we will see our endangered natural resource conserved through this activity. We are committed to this initiative”.

Throughout this exciting project the commitment and dedication exhibited by community members has been overwhelming. 35,000 trees have been planted, 500m of fencing erected and over 20 hours of community discussions held, involving 150 households. As in Gult Abishkan the growth of the planted trees and the regrowth of the natural vegetation has been remarkable. Native herbs which had not been seen in the site for many years were found growing and porcupine have returned. For the villagers one of the most exciting developments was the return of a fresh-water spring which has previously dried up.  

Importantly these land restoration projects go hand in hand with beekeeping development. In both sites landless youth were selected to benefit from a programme of beekeeping training and were each given one bee colony to get started. The new beekeepers learned how to establish bee colonies in top-bar hives, how to set-up and maintain small-scale apiaries, protect and tend their bees and to harvest honey. Several of the participants are already adding more bees to their apiaries as a result of taking the training sessions. The new beekeepers are optimistic about their future honey harvests and have high hopes of a long term future for their beekeeping. 

The link between re-forestation and beekeeping is undeniable. Bees near forests are able to access more abundant and varied nutrition and are more productive and successful. Forest areas also provide essential nesting habitat for the wild honey bee population, which beekeepers benefit from through catching swarms. There are three main ways beekeepers can increase their bee colony numbers in Ysala, through multiplication from their existing colonies, through purchase and by catching wild swarms.  

“Bees do not ask you for feeding. The hive can easily be made with locally available materials. A small plot of land at our backyard suffices for beekeeping. We only need start–up capital for purchase of bee colonies and accessories”, Ato Tafere Alemu, Gult Abishkan Kebele, Dangila Woreda.

“All these methods are good. But buying bees costs money and multiplying from our own bees is slow. One colony can only produce one new colony each year. The best and the cheapest way to increase our beekeeping is to put bait hives in trees and catch wild swarms. That works best in and near forests – there is no question about that”, beekeeper, Ysala.