Ethiopia’s green growth strategy includes a commitment to restore more than 20 million hectares of degraded forest landscapes within the next 20 years – one of the world’s most ambitious forest landscape restoration programmes. The NICFI-funded Provision of Adequate Tree Seed Portfolio in Ethiopia (PATSPO) project is designed to improve the productivity and resilience of forest landscape restoration in the country.

Since 2017, PATSPO has supported the Government of Ethiopia through the provision of high-quality tree seeds of priority species, for large-scale restoration plantings. The project has also strengthened existing tree-seed organizations and supported the establishment of additional private and government seed dealers.

“As a result of these efforts, both the physical and genetic quality of seed has improved,” said Kiros Hadgu, a CIFOR-ICRAF scientist and country representative for Ethiopia.

PATSPO conducted sector analysis and, in partnership with the Environment, Forest and Climate Change Commission (EFCCC), established the national Tree Seed Network to foster collaboration among all stakeholders in the tree seed sector, including private companies.

The project has also provided species-specific knowledge for priority species, a critical mass of tree genetic resources for the future, and capacity development to monitor and deliver quality seeds and seedlings of the species required for large-scale restoration. An atlas on the distribution of 150 tree species in Ethiopia is being finalized, as well as an app called ‘What trees to plant where’.