reportonapreliminarystudyoftheriverine.docVIP

REPORT ON A PRELIMINARY STUDY OF THE RIVERINE FORESTS OF THE WESTERN LOWLANDS OF ERITREA Stephen Connelly and Nicola Wilson November 1996 SOS Sahel International UK 1 Tolpuddle Street London N1 0XT Tel: +207 837 9129 Fax: +207 837 0856 Email: sossaheluk@  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We owe thanks to many people for making our field work possible and enjoyable. Firstly to Abu Bakr Osman and Adem Sherif, who acted as our principal guides and interpreters in Barka and Gash-Setit respectively and also to Hussein and Elias Minnassie, who stepped in at short notice to interpret for us. We are grateful to the staff of the MoA at all levels in the Lowlands, particularly the Provincial Heads of MoA, Asmerom Kidane and Abraha Garza, who were always ready to assist with arrangements for working in their areas, and supplying us with vehicles in emergencies. The staff of GTZ/IFSP and VSF were very helpful, and provided much useful information. At MoA in Asmara Hagos Yohannes and Berhane Habte were unfailingly enthusiastic and helpful - Hagos translated the forestry directives and supplied us with much of our information on biodiversity, and without Berhane we would not have found Baldrati’s paper. We also relied on Leul Zeru for help with logistics. Last but not least, we are very grateful to the villagers of the Lowlands, who received us warmly and answered our many questions not only with patience but with interest, enthusiasm and good humour.  ACRONYMS CERA Commission for Eritrean Refugee Affairs CFW Cash for Work DANIDA Danish International Development Agency ELF Eritrean Liberation Front EPLA Eritrean People’s Liberation Army EPLF Eritrean People’s Liberation Front FAO Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations FFW Food for Work GoE Government of the State of Eritrea GPS Global Positioning System GTZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (German Technical Co-operation) IFSP Integrated Food Security Project Gas