Restored ecosystems remove carbon
The Ethiopian highlands are severely affected by land degradation, deforestation and increasing climate variability. Between 2002 and 2023, the country lost around 20% of its tree cover (Global Forest Watch, n.d.), leading to declining soil fertility, reduced water availability and loss of biodiversity.
This project addresses these challenges through a combination of afforestation, reforestation and agroforestry. A central approach is the establishment of “exclosures” – protected areas where natural vegetation can regenerate. In these zones, grazing and wood harvesting are restricted, allowing ecosystems to recover. At the same time, restoration activities such as enrichment planting, soil and water conservation measures, and active forest management further accelerate regeneration and increase carbon sequestration.
The protected area is continuously expanding: while it covered around 540 hectares in 2016, it has grown to approximately 11,190 hectares by 2023. As more land is restored, increasing amounts of CO₂ can be stored in biomass and soils. The project is implemented in close collaboration with associations of landless farmers, who play a central role in restoring and managing the land. These farmers receive free training in sustainable land management practices, including tree planting, soil and water conservation, beekeeping, and the harvesting of non-timber forest products such as frankincense. This enables them to restore ecosystems while building sustainable livelihoods.
In addition, the project promotes agroforestry systems, integrating trees into agricultural production. Over 1,500 farmers are already applying these practices, combining crops with fruit and forest trees. Coffee plays a particularly important role as a high-value crop with strong market potential, contributing to diversified and climate-resilient incomes.
By combining ecosystem restoration with sustainable agriculture and local value creation, the project delivers climate, biodiversity and livelihood benefits while strengthening the resilience of rural communities.
Project Standard
The project contributes to the the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals
How afforestation, reforestation and agroforestry contribute to climate action
There is a wide range of approaches to restoring degraded landscapes and increasing carbon sequestration. These include afforestation (establishing forests on previously non-forested land), reforestation (restoring degraded or deforested forest areas), and agroforestry systems that integrate trees into agricultural land.
Climate projects that combine these approaches take a holistic view of land restoration. They enhance natural regeneration processes, actively plant native tree species, and integrate trees into farming systems. This not only increases carbon storage in biomass and soils while improving biodiversity, soil fertility, and water retention.
Local communities play a central role in implementing these activities, drawing on traditional knowledge and sustainable land management practices. Measures such as protecting regeneration areas, planting native species, establishing agroforestry systems, and implementing soil and water conservation techniques help restore ecosystems while supporting livelihoods.
Research shows that forest restoration and improved land management have significant potential to mitigate climate change by removing CO₂ from the atmosphere. Projects that combine afforestation, reforestation and agroforestry therefore represent a highly effective and scalable nature-based climate solution. The afforestation, reforestation and agroforestry projects in the ClimatePartner portfolio are registered with international standards.
The project aims to contribute to these United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Four criteria for projects to meet quality thresholds
The life cycle of a climate project
A climate project has a set life cycle consisting of various phases, from the feasibility assessment to the retirement of Verified Emission Reductions (VERs).
The project developer reviews the general feasibility of the project, the project design, and the financing. Then, the Project Design Document (PDD) is prepared, which contains all the basic information about the project, such as the objective, location, timeline, and duration.
In this phase, independent auditors examine the PDD and the information it contains. This phase often also involves field visits with on-side interviews and analyses. Auditors are accredited, impartial assessors who have to be approved by the relevant standard as a validation and verification body (VVB). TÜV Nord/Süd, S&A Carbon LLC., and SCS Global Services are examples of VVBs."
Once validated, the project can be registered with a standard such as the Verified Carbon Standard or the Gold Standard. All high-quality climate projects are based on international standards. They provide the framework for project design, construction, carbon accounting, and monitoring. Recognised standards make the climate project system and the projects themselves resilient, traceable, and credible.
After the climate project has been registered, the monitoring begins. Here, the project developers monitor and document the data of the project activities and progress. The duration of the monitoring phase varies from project to project: it can cover two years, but documentation over five or seven years is also possible.
At the end of each monitoring phase, a VVB checks and assesses whether the values and project activities stated in the monitoring report are correct. As with validation, visits to the project site are often part of the verification process.
Once verified, the emission reductions that were confirmed in the verification phase can be issued as VERs. The steps of monitoring, verification, and issuance of VERs are repeated regularly and are therefore considered as a cycle.
Once a VER has been used, it must be retired. This process is also reflected in the registry. If the financing of a climate project is done through ClimatePartner, the VERs are bundled in a system certified by TÜV Austria and then retired on a regular basis. This ensures that each VER can no longer be sold and is only used once, preventing double counting.
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