SWFLG Briefing Note 15: Biodiversity Assessment - Sheko Forest, South West Ethiopia

The Wild Coffee Conservation by Participatory Forest Management (WCC-PFM) Project (2010-2016) is testing an innovative approach to in situ conservation of wild Coffea arabica using Participatory Forest Management (PFM) with the aim of maintaining the forest and its biodiversity in Sheko district, southwest Ethiopia, including the Amora Gedel and Kontir Birhan forests.
An assessment of woody species was conducted to assess the impact of the PFM approach to maintaining the biodiversity of the forest. Data was collected from 82 plots in 2015 which overlapped with an equivalent study undertaken in 2010. Woody species density was found to have increased over this time period in all diameter classes in the natural forest, as had the number of species found, demonstrating a positive contribution by PFM to the maintenance of biodiversity and the conservation of the wild Coffea arabica gene pool in the natural forest. In contrast, there has been a decline in biodiversity in the coffee forest where selective management practices have manipulated the forest to favour coffee.