Forum for Environment (FfE)

Organizational Profile

 

Forum for Environment (FfE) is a non-governmental and non-profit-making environmental communication and advocacy group established in 1997 to serve as a platform for advocacy and communication among people and institutions concerned with the Ethiopian environment.

 

FfE deals with environmental issues with a special focus on six major thematic areas, namely, Forests and Protected Areas; Fresh water; Flowers; [Renewable] Energy, Pollution and Climate Change.

 

FfE has employed various kinds of tools, which, among others, include capacity building;  advocacy; training; network building; communicating information; policy level debates and discussions; public meetings; and incentive and acknowledgement schemes.

 

Vision: FfE envisages a sustainably developed Ethiopia through bringing about environmentally literate, conscious and accountable and accountable citizens.

 

Mission

To provide a base for environmental advocacy and communication on environmental concern.

 

Main Projects/areas of work

Green Award Program: is an incentive scheme initiated and introduced by FfE to acknowledge, celebrate and encourage good practices by individuals, CSOs, the private sector etc in terms of their contribution for sustainable activities. The program takes place both at the regional and the federal levels. To this end, FfE has identified partner organizations in the regions to implement the project. The regional programs are monitored by regional green award committees comprising individuals drawn from relevant government and non-government institutions. Heads of state of the regions and the President of the nation are patrons of the regional and national program programmes respectively. The first awards were granted in 2006 in four categories, namely, individuals; CSOs; private sector; and student/youth groups. So far a total of 276 awardees have been awarded both at regional and national level. Over the last three years the national award ceremonies were celebrated at the National Palace on the World Environment. In 2007 and 2008 new categories such as Outstanding Green Leadership, Outstanding International Contribution and Outstanding

Environmental Reporting have been added to the list to honour environment friendly attitudes and practices of political and leadership figures and environmental journalists in the country.

 

Establishment and empowerment of local groups: FfE has established 12 environmental activist groups in different localities of the country. It has been building the capacities of these local groups through providing trainings, office equipment and some financial assistance towards some activities to mobilize the public and raise the awareness of the local people. Table 1 provides some information on the local groups.

 

Table 1: Local groups established by FfE

No	Local FfE Groups	Regional state/City administration	Year of Establishment	Legal Status	No. of members
1	Holleta	Oromia	2002	Legalized	80
2	Assela	Oromia	2002	Legalized	76
3	Awassa	SNNPR	2002	Legalized	110
4	Dire Dawa	Dire Dawa	2003	Legalized	200
5	Beshoftu	Oromia	2003	Under process	123
6	Assosa	Benshangul	2004	Legalized	58
7	Arbaminch	SNNPR	2004	Legalized	61
8	Arsinegelae	Oromia	2004	Legalized	71
9	Gonder	Amhara	2004	Legalized	62
10	Mekele	Tigray	2006	Legalized	65
11	Gambella	Gambella	2008	Legalized	72
12	Bahi Dar	Amhara	2008	Legalized	53

 

Public engagements: One of the flagship activities of FfE has been organizing civil dialogue and debate forums on various issues of environmental concern. To this end, FfE conducts public meetings on a monthly basis and some big policy-level debates and discussions on timely topics such as the flood disaster in Ethiopia. Table 2 depicts the major topics covered by FfE during the public meetings since 2001.

 

Table 2: Themes of public engagements undertaken by FfE so far

Year	Thematic area	Collaborators
2001-3	Ethiopian civil society preparation for Rio + 10
2004	Integrated forest policy development in Ethiopia
2005	Science and Technology to save our trees
2005	Political party debate on the Ethiopian environment
2006	Non-timber forest products: a win-win for poverty reduction and environmental protection	Ethiopian Foresters Association; Ethiopian Coffee Forest Forum; NTFP Research and Development Project
2006	Promoting non-timber forest products (NTFPs) in Ethiopia: bottlenecks and prospects	Ethiopian Foresters Association; Ethiopian Coffee Forest Forum; NTFP Research and Development Project
2006	The 2006 flood disaster vis-à-vis environmental issues and climate change
2006	International multi-stakeholder forum on cut flowers

 

2006	Panel discussion on the cut flower industry	Heinrich Boell Foundation
2007	Towards effective water resource use and management in Ethiopia	Ethiopia Country Water Partnership; Water Aid Ethiopia; Ethio-Wetlands and Natural Resources Association
2008	Protected Areas in Ethiopia: 50 Years and Beyond	Ethiopian Association for Impact Assessment; Ethiopian Wildlife and Natural History Society; Frankfurt Zoological Society; WildCODE; Horn of Africa Regional Environment Network/Centre; Wildlife for Sustainable Development; Ethiopian Wildlife Association

 

Research and Publications:

FfE commissions researches on selected topics to be used as a tool for its advocacy activities. Besides, FfE has been publishing and distributing Akirma, a magazine on environment and development so as to disseminate information on various environmental issues. On top of that, FfE has also published and distributed various policy briefs, reports, proceedings, and databases. Table 3 gives list of publications containing the research findings plus other FfE’s publications.

 

Table 3: List of FfE publications

Topic	Year
Ethiopian civil society preparation – Rio + 10 publication issue No. 1	2001
Ethiopian civil society preparation – Rio + 10 publication issue No. 2	2002
Ethiopian civil society preparation – Rio + 10 publication issue No. 3	2003
Integrated forest policy development in Ethiopia: Proceedings	2004
Science and technology to save our trees: Proceedings	2005
Database of environmental actors in Ethiopia (CD Version)	2005
General overview of Ethiopia’s rivers and lakes: Information leaflet in Amharic	2005
Environment, poverty and the MDGs: Information leaflet in Amharic	2005
Why conserve biodiversity?: Information leaflet in Amharic	2005
General overview of the Ethiopian forestry resources: Information leaflet in Amharic	2005
Let’s fight poverty through protecting and sustainably utilizing the environment: Information leaflet in Amharic	2005
Natural resource management in and around Nech Sar Park, a situation analysis: Research Report	2006
Non-timber forest products: a win-win for poverty reduction and environmental protection: Proceedings	2006
Climate change & Environmental Degradation. Report on the 2006 Flood Disaster in Ethiopia	2006
Towards effective water resources management and use in Ethiopia	2007
Agrofuel Development in Ethiopia: Rhetoric, Reality and Recommendations.	2008