Our MEDfOR alumnus Tesfay Gidey recently received funding from the Rufford Foundation, based in the UK, for his new project “Local Women-Based Livelihood Interventions for Sustainable Conservation of the Endangered Boswellia papyrifera Woodlands in Ethiopia”. The project aims to improve the woodlands conservation through improving capacity of the local stakeholders via intensive training, and livelihoods of the local women via alternative livelihood sources (e.g., poultry, beekeeping and home-gardens). Further, it also aims to develop a comprehensive manual for the woodlands conservation, and share its results to the relevant stakeholders through workshops, printed and e-sources media outlets.

More information on the project can be found at: https://www.rufford.org/projects/tesfay-gidey-bezabeh/local-women-based-livelihood-interventions-sustainable-conservation-endangered-boswellia-papyrifera-woodlands-ethiopia/

Tesfay has been closely working with the foundation since 2017 on conservation of the woodlands, and this is his 4^th project funded by the Rufford Foundation.

Related publications to the project can be found at:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844020319824

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnc.2023.126404

Tesfay is from Ethiopia and studied at the University of Padua (Italy) and the University of Lisbon (Portugal) in the academic years 2014/2016.