CoCE - COnservation and use of wild populations of Coffea arabica in the montane rainforests of Ethiopia

Keywords

biodiversity, conservation and use, coffee, economic valuation of diversity, rainforest

Countries

Ethiopia

Summary

The aim of the research project is to assess the diversity and the economic value of the Ethiopian coffee gene pool and to develop concepts of model character for conservation and use of the genetic resources of Coffea arabica in its center of diversity in Ethiopia. The concepts are to be based on the conservation of the montane rain forests as the natural habitat of the wild coffee populations, and the forest coffee systems as the traditional use of the wild coffee populations.

Methodology

The investigation of wild coffee populations in their comprehensive biodiversity context calls for an approach that considers natural sciences, economics and social sciences as well as biological and ecosystem cause-effect chains. An interdisciplinary research approach is chosen to develop conservation and use concepts that are ecologically sustainable, economically efficient and at the same time socially acceptable.

Main Cooperation Partners

• Institute of Biodiversity Conservation (IBC)
• Addis Ababa University (National Herbarium, Department of Biology, Department of Economics)
• Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR)
• GEO schützt den Regenwald e.V.
• Amber Foundation

Main Funding Partners

• BMBF, through the programme „Biosphärenforschung - InTEgrative und Anwendungsorientierte Modellprojekte (BioTEAM)“
• GEO schützt den Regenwald e.V.

Further information

Workshops / Conferences:

• Conference of the Parties (COP 9) of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Bonn, Germany, May 19th-30th, 2008
• Joint Workshop of CoCE, ECFF and the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, October 3rd-5th, 2006
• CoCE I Final Conference, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, March 27-28, 2006
• CoCE project presentation at the DAAD Higher Education Forum on "Capacity Building and Development Research in Sub-Saharan Africa", Bonn, Germany, October 2-6, 2005
• Festive celebration on the occasion of 100 years of German-Ethiopian diplomatic relations, Bonn, Germany, July 15, 2005
• BioTeam Status Seminar, Bonn, Germany, March 14-16, 2005
• Development of coffee forest conservation strategies, joint workshop of CoCE and the Ethiopian Coffee Forest Forum (ECFF), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, February 14-16, 2005
• Project Midterm Workshop, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, May 3-10, 2004.
  Project Launching Workshop, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, February 10-11, 2003.

Publications

Gatzweiler, F.W. (2008). Beyond Economic Efficiency in Biodiversity Conservation. Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics, 19: 215-238.

Wiersum, K.F., Gole, T.W., Gatzweiler, F.W., Volkman, J. Bognetteau, E. and O. Wirtu (2008). Certification of wild coffee in Ethiopia: Experiences and Challenges. Forests, Trees and Livelihoods 18: 9-21.

Duration of the Project

Phase I: August 2002 - July 2006
Phase II: August 2006 - July 2009

Team

Project Directors:
Prof. Dr. P.L.G. Vlek (ZEF)
Dr. Manfred Denich (ZEF)
Dr. Girma Balcha (IBC)

Project Coordinators:
Dr. Franz Gatzweiler (ZEF)
Dr. Tadesse Woldemariam Gole (ECFF)