Status of forest governance in Ethiopia: Evidence from a diagnostic assessment of policies, planning, and implementation

Forests are vital for biodiversity conservation, climate resilience, ecological balance, and rural livelihoods in Ethiopia. However, land degradation driven by deforestation, weak governance, and competing land uses remains a pressing challenge. This study assessed the overall status of forest governance in Ethiopia under current land use dynamics using forest governance diagnostic framework developed by the Program on Forests (PROFOR) and Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). Forest governance performance was evaluated across three core pillars: (i) Policy, legal, institutional, and regulatory frameworks; (ii) Planning and decision-making processes; and (iii) Implementation, enforcement, and compliance. Data were collected from 97 purposively selected key informants representing government institutions, civil society, academia, and forest-dependent communities, complemented by a review of legal and policy documents. In total, 12 components and 47 indicators were assessed using a scoring method. Results indicate moderate to good forest governance performance, with overall scores ranging from 64% to 71%. Pillars 1 and 3 demonstrated relatively strong performance (71% and 65%, respectively), while Pillar 2, which emphasizes participation and transparency, was rated as weaker (64%) indicator Key weaknesses include poor institutional coordination, limited stakeholder participation, lack of transparency, inadequate benefit-sharing, and restricted access to forest resources and capital. These challenges largely stem from systemic issues such as overlapping mandates, limited capacity, and unclear tenure arrangements. The study concludes that strengthening participatory governance, clarifying tenure rights, improving institutional coordination, and fostering private sector engagement are critical for enhancing forest governance. These findings provide actionable insights for policymakers to advance sustainable forest and land use management in Ethiopia. • We assessed overall performance of forest governance using the PROFOR-FAO diagnostic framework • Results indicate moderate-to-good forest governance performance scores across three governance pillars • Stakeholder participation and transparency scored lowest performance relative to other aspects • Weak coordination, unclear tenure, and limited-private sector involvement are critical areas needing improvement