Environmental Protection Through Rural Land Laws

Table of contents

Acknowledgments

Acronyms

Abstract

Table of contents

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1 General background
1.2 Statement of the problem
1.3 Research questions
1.4 Research objectives
1.4.1 General objective
1.4.2 Specific objective
1.5 Scope and limitation of the paper
1.6 Purpose and significance of the paper
1.7 Description of the study area
1.8 Design of the paper
1.8.1 Methodology
1.8.2 Data source
1.8.3 Felid data collection and sampling methods/techniques
1.8.3.1 Individual face to face interview
1.8.4 Research Analysis techniques
1.8.5 Organization of the thesis
1.8.6 Ethical consideration

CHAPTER TWO: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
2.1 Land: meaning, nature, and importance
2.2 Land law, environmental law, and environmental protection
2.3 Enforcement mechanisms of rural land laws for the protection of the environment
2.3.1 Civil remedies
2.3.2 Criminal remedies
2.3.3 Administrative remedies
2.4 Rural Land tenure security and environmental protection
2.4.1 The private-public land discourse and environmental protection

CHAPTER THREE: ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION THROUGH RURAL LAND LAWS IN ETHIOPIA
3.1 Environmental problems related to rural land in Ethiopia
3.2 Environmental protection through rural land laws in Ethiopia: the legal framework
3.2.1 The Constitution
3.2.1.1 Ethiopian land policy
3.2.1.2 Rural Land tenure security and environmental protection in Ethiopia
3.2.2 Federal rural land administration and use proclamation
3.3 Environmental protection remedies provided by the federal rural land laws
3.3.1 Criminal remedies
3.3.2 Civil remedies
3.3.3 Administrative remedies
3.5 Environmental protection through rural land laws in Ethiopia: the institutional framework

CHAPTER FOUR: ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION THROUGH RURAL LAND LAWS IN SOUTH WOLLO ZONE: THE LAW AND PRACTICE
4.1 The Legal Framework
4.1.1 General backgrounds
4.1.2 Tenure security on the ANRS rural land proclamation and environmental protection
4.1.2.1 Land redistribution
4.1.2.2 Land right registration and certification
4.1.2.3 Communal holdings, tenure security, and environmental protection
4.1.2.4 Land administration and use vis-à-vis environmental protection
4.1.2.5 Land use plan
4.1.2.6 The legal obligation of landholders: a tool for land conservation
4.1.2.7 Expropriation of rural land for environmental protection
4.1.2.8 Rural Landgrab
4.2 Institutional framework
4.3 Environmental protection remedies provided in ANRS rural land laws
4.3.1 Administrative remedies
4.3.2 Criminal remedies
4.3.3 Civil remedies
4.3.4 Incentives
4.4 Enforcement of the ANRS Rural land law in south wollo zone: the practice

CHAPTER FIVE: FINDINGS, CONCLUSION, AND RECOMMENDATION
5.1 Summary Findings
5.1.1 Environmental protection through rural land laws in Ethiopia
5.1.2 Environmental protection through ANRS rural land laws: The case of south wollo zone
5.2 Conclusion
5.3 Recommendation

Bibliography

Acknowledgments

Above all, I want to thank God for making everything possible. I want to take this opportunity, with pleasure, to follow the good tradition of recognizing all those who, in one way or the other, contributed to making my study successful.

I greatly value the intellectual guidance, thought-provoking and invaluable comments, and the incisive and constructive comment I got from my advisor Tefera Eshetu, in which his assistance and cooperation helped me a lot.

I also want to thank all my families for their moral support. Finally, I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to Dessie city administration management for their sponsorship and, financial and material support.

Acronyms

AGP =Agriculture Growth Program

ANRS= Amhara National Regional State

BASIS = Broadening Access and Strengthening Input Market Systems

BoFED =Bureau of Finance and Economic Development

Bo­EPLAU =Bureau of Environment Protection, Land Administration, and Use

CIA= Central Inelegancy Agency

CITES= Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species

EPLAUA= Environmental Protection and Land Administration and Use Authority

EEPA= Ethiopian Environmental Protection Authority

FDRE= Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

GTP = Growth and Transformation Plan

INTOSAI= International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions

LAND = Land Administration to Nurture Development

LAUD =Land Administration and Use Directorate

LAS = Land Administration Systems

MoA= Ministry of Agriculture

NGOs= Non-Governmental Organizations

SARDP = Sida-Amhara Rural Development Program

SNNP= Southern Nation Nationality and People

UNCED = United Nations Conference on Environment and Development

UNFAO= Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

UNEP = United Nations Environment Programme

USAID= United States Agency for International Development

UTC = Universal Time Coordinated

WGEA = Working Group on Environmental Auditing

Abstract

Environmental degradation related to rural land in Ethiopia in general and in ANRS, in particular, is reflected in the form of land degradation, loss, and degradation of water resources, deforestation as well as decline and/or loss of biodiversity. Ethiopia has designed a number of environmental laws. But such laws suffer from various defects which affect their ability to promote environmental protection. So efforts to use laws to protect the rural environment should look beyond just environmental statutes. Therefore seeking a solutions and studying rural land administration laws will be helpful to defy land degradation in rural areas. Using qualitative method this study tries to find out whether the ANRS rural land laws normative and institutional frameworks and their enforcement mechanisms are adequate or not in protecting environmental degradation in rural areas of South Wollo Zone. legal provisions of the ANRS rural land laws which deal with unlimited land use right, limited land distribution, land right registration and certification, obligations to conserve and protect the land, expropriation for environmental purpose , incentive and the existence of legal remedy will encourage the zone’s rural environmental protection. However this does not mean that such laws are comprehensive rather such laws fails to comprise all possible obligations of land users, lacks clarity and provided in general terms with weak remedies.

In South Wollo Zone there is no effective and functional rural land use plan, land registration of the Zone has not been yet finalized, individual and communal holders did not get certification accurately, there is continuing land invasion and inappropriate use of rural land against land use plan and less attention is given to sustainable administration of rural land. This shows land administration system of the Zone is weak. This could create a negative impact on rural land environmental protection in the Zone. There is also no cooperation mechanism or forum among stockholders in the areas of rural land administration and environmental protection. Much attention is given to land administration issues than environmental protection. The rural land and environmental protection institution also lack financial, material and manpower capacities which hold back to carry out its duties. Due to these reasons, the rural land administration and environmental protection institutional setup of the Zone remains inadequate to properly protect the rural environment. In relation to rural land environmental protection, the ANRS rural land laws are practically not enforced in the zone due to the legal gap and unclearness, insufficient and political will to enforce the rural land laws. So the rural land environment of the South Wollo Zone remains in peril so long as there is no effective and enforced rural land law, government commitment, and well-designed, empowered and coordinated institutions.

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1 General background

Until very recently, environmental problems were not recognized as developmental problems. Today, thanks to researchers in the area, we are able to see the detrimental effects of environmental deterioration on the productive capacity of the land, which, in turn, threatens food production and the livelihoods of both rural and urban populations.¹ Because the poor in developing countries reside primarily in rural areas and are dependent on agriculture, rural poverty and environmental degradation are obviously closely related².

Land underlies and supports much of the life of the planet, providing the physical underpinning of the environment and productive activities and playing a major role in their socio-political constructs.³ However, the land is being depleted at a rapid rate due to various pressures. Rural Land shortage has caused rural farmers to clear forests and use every piece of land for farming, and absence of alternative energy source has taken a toll on the forest as well since biomass fuel is the primary source of energy.⁴ This clearing forests for fuel or farming has devastated the environment and has caused massive erosions that robbed the land of its potential for production.⁵ Environmental degradation in rural areas of Ethiopia is reflected in the form of land degradation, loss, and degradation of water resources, deforestation as well as decline and/or loss of biodiversity⁶. The focus of this study, however, will be on an environmental problem relating to rural land degradation. Land degradation involves both soil erosion and loss of soil fertility; hence, measurements of land degradation usually focus on the severity of soil erosion. Ethiopia, with high-intensity rainstorms and extensive steep slopes, is highly susceptible to soil erosion, especially in the high- lands.⁷

In relation to the cause of environmental degradation related to land, Taddesse Berisso (1995) holds that the causes of environmental degradation are diverse and often complex. For Taddesse Berisso (1995) there can be no mono-causal explanation.⁸ On the other hand, Adugnaw Birhanu(2014) states that

The cause of environmental degradation can be grouped into proximate and underlying causes. The proximate causes are the indicator of inappropriate resource management practices and the underlying causes of environmental degradation include a complex of social, political, economic, technological, and cultural variables that constitute initial conditions in the human-environment interaction. In Ethiopia, both causes are the reason for farm and grazing land degradation and forest degradation.”⁹

Zemenfes Tsighe (1995) had associated the cause Land degradation in Ethiopia with peasants' ignorance of proper land management practices or even to their sheer laziness. To him, land degradation is essentially the peasants' fault.¹⁰ There is also literature which claims that land policy is the cause of land degradation in Ethiopia. For instance, Daniel Behailu Gebreamanuel, (2011) argues the environment is in peril because of the land policy that has caused forest clearing and has intensified desertification.¹¹ Tenure insecurity, as the extension of land policy, is also another cause for rural land degradation. Research and studies¹² in Ethiopia show that insecurity of land tenure restricts rights in land, reduces incentives to productively invest in land, and limits transferability of land. In turn, these pose significant constraints to agricultural growth and natural resource management. Dessalegn Rahmato (2004) further argues that

At present, however, peasants are reluctant to invest in conservation schemes for fear of losing the land. Tenure insecurity is also responsible for the unwillingness of peasants to plant trees except for eucalyptus, which is popular in the countryside not because peasants are unaware of the damages caused by it but because of the prevailing insecurity.¹³

Agriculture, like any other use of natural resources, has an environmental impact. Some impacts, however, are more acceptable than others. Many agricultural practices today carry high costs both to society and to producers, and they reduce the long-term viability of agriculture.¹⁴ It is also an important contributor to climate change through the release of carbon dioxide and other so-called greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. It contributes about a quarter of the total risk of altering the Earth’s climate. Soil conservation measures can reduce the production of greenhouse gases by 16 to 42 percent.¹⁵

Literature which is discussed hereinabove, however, did not give consideration, specifically, whether federal or/and regional rural land laws in Ethiopia are adequate or not in terms of protecting land? Even though they argued that land policy in general and tenure insecurity, in particular, are the cause for environmental degradation in Ethiopia, they did not consider the role of federal or regional rural land laws. It is true regional rural land laws convoy the ideas of land policy but the impact of such laws should be worth studying. So this study tries to find out whether regional rural land laws and their enforcement mechanisms are adequate or not in protecting environmental degradation in rural areas and the improper implementation of such laws can cause the stated environmental problem.

1.2 Statement of the problem

As Mellese Damtie & Solomon Kebede (2012)¹⁶ described Ethiopia issued various policy and legal instruments as well as strategic documents for ensuring a better environmental governance system in its territory. However, the environmental protection laws enacted to implement these instruments have not been made in a way that all the environmental governance rules of the instruments are incorporated in such laws.¹⁷ Moreover, these laws lack mechanisms that could effectively coordinate and functionally link the organs that should engage in the environmental governance system at federal as well as regional levels. The environmental protection laws also failed to provide for clear provisions or elaborations on the roles and responsibilities of non-state actors, financial institutions, environmental sectoral units, functional linkages and accountabilities among key stakeholders.¹⁸ Moreover, they have not clearly separated the institutional framework for the regulatory tasks of environmental protection activities and resources development and conservation activities. As a result of these and other problems, the current environmental governance including institutional arrangement is at a poor level and unable to bring about effective, coordinated and collaborative environmental management system that is required by the prevailing environmental problems such as land degradation, solid waste management, and unsustainable development practices.

Ethiopia has designed a number of important policies and strategies related to the environment. However, setting sound policies and strategies is not an end in itself. The goals stated in the different policies can only be achieved if, and only if, that policy is properly enforced. Although poor enforcement of policies and strategies remains a major constraint, some other policies and strategies are hindering proper implementation of effective and sustainable practices for resource management.¹⁹

Legal and economic instruments have often been proposed and accordingly implemented to manage the environment. Such instruments are good but not sufficient to bring about lasting solutions to the problems related to the use of natural resource and resultant degradation of the natural environment.²⁰

The Ethiopian Constitution is the main source of the basic law regarding land ownership, management and administration of both rural and urban land. To safeguard social equity and tenure security, the constitution as well as other federal and regional land proclamations ensures access to land. The Constitution sets an environmental objective which provides that government shall ensure all Ethiopian to live in a clean and healthy environment, the design and implementation of plan and project should not damage or destroy the environment and that citizens shall have the duty to protect the environment.²¹ The incorporation of these important provisions into the supreme law of the land has raised environmental issues to the level of fundamental human rights. However, effective implementation mechanisms (like laws, policies, and institutions) are needed to realize these rights.²² These Constitutional rights will be implemented through the subsequent legislation. Regional rural land laws are among such legislation. A close look at the federal and regional rural land laws shows that there is a considerable difference, between regions and the federal, of legal content with respect to dealing with rural land environmental protection. Besides the legal gaps and nonuniformity of the laws, there are also institutional problems and enforcement gaps.

Since Ethiopia has a degraded environment,the government has been taking various measures include enactment of environmental laws. However, the existing environmental laws suffer from various defects which negatively affect their abilities to promote environmental protection.²³

Following the FDRE Rural Land Administration and Use proclamation 456/2005 regional states also come up with their own regional rural land laws. Thus the ANRS had issued proclamation No.133/2006 (revised by proclamation No.252/2017) and Regulation No 51/2007. Whether such rural land laws are conducive to conserve and manage rural land and other natural resources in a manner that ensures the realization of the principle of sustainable use as envisaged in the laws need closer scrutiny. It was also important to investigate whether the Regional Rural Land Administration and Use Determination laws have really helped to ensure the security of rural landholding rights of farmers, promoting conservation and management of natural resources, encouraging farmers and private investors to undertake developmental and investment activities as intended. A study also required whether such laws are properly enforced.

In the ANRS there are institutions that are charged with responsibility for dealing with land rural land administration and environmental protection. But institutional instability, overlapping of mandates, shortage of resources, integration and coordination problem and lack of a common forum may create a problem for proper land administration and environmental protection. Therefore the institutional frameworks need to be investigated.

As far as the researcher’s knowledge and inquires is concerned, there are no previously conducted studies related to regional rural land laws and environmental protection in Ethiopia in general and in Amhara Regional State in particular. Thus this research paper assesses the protection of the rural environment through the Amhara National Regional State rural land law in south wollo zone. To does so the research investigates the institutional and normative framework of the Amhara National Regional State rural land laws and investigates whether such laws practically enforced in south wollo zone to protect the rural environment of the zone.

1.3 Research questions

Those questions that trigger to conduct this study were:-

- Do the ANRS rural land laws incorporated normative frameworks for the environmental protection of rural land?
- Do the ANRS rural land laws incorporated institutional frameworks for the environmental protection of rural land?
- Do the ANRS rural land laws incorporated norm-enforcement mechanisms for environmental protection of rural land?
- Do the ANRS rural land laws incorporated normative, institutional frameworks and enforcement mechanisms for environmental protection of south wollo’s rural land?
- Do such the laws practically enforced in south wollo zone? If not what are the challenges prevailing in the zone to enforce normative frameworks for the environmental protection of rural land?

1.4 Research objectives

1.4.1 General objective;-

the general objective of the study is to assess the adequacy of ANRS rural land laws to protect the rural environment in south wollo zone.

1.4.2 Specific objective

- To evaluate the adequacy of the normative frameworks under the ANRS rural land laws for the environmental protection of rural lands in ANRS in general and in south wollo zone in particular.
- To evaluate the adequacy of the institutional frameworks established by the rural land laws for the environmental protection of rural lands in ANRS in general and in south wollo zone in particular.
- To evaluate the adequacy of the norm enforcement mechanisms under rural land laws for the environmental protection of rural lands in ANRS in general and in south wollo zone in particular.
- Identify whether the laws are practically enforced and what are the challenges to enforcing normative frameworks under rural land laws for the environmental protection of rural lands in south wollo zone.

1.5 Scope and limitation of the paper

Content wise the scope of the research paper was limited to the assessment of environment protection in south wollo zone through rural land laws with special emphasis to the Amhara National Regional State rural land laws. So the scope of the law is mainly limited to Amhara National Regional State rural land laws and the practical aspect will be further limited to south wollo zone.

As far as the constraint is concerned it was hard to find court cases and administrative decisions of regional rural land authorities. Cooperation of officials for interview information also was challenging. This had created its own limitation on the source of data.

1.6 Purpose and Significance of the paper

By investigating the legal, institutional and practical aspects of the Amhara National Regional State rural land laws; this study has the purpose of assessing how the Amhara National Regional State rural land laws protect the rural environment of south wollo zone.

As to its importance, this study will have significance in finding out the competency of rural land laws to protect the rural environment in Amhara National Regional State in general and in south wollo zone in particular. It will also help to see the existence and adequacy of normative and institutional frameworks as well as enforcement mechanisms and their challenges under rural land laws for the environmental protection of rural lands in the Amhara National Regional State in particular. Finally, this study will contribute to disseminating knowledge and information of good practice to others in need of it.

1.7 Description of the study area

Ethiopia is the second most populous country in Africa²⁴. For more than a decade before 2016, Ethiopia grew at a rate between 8% and 11% annually – one of the fastest growing states among the 188 International Monitory Fund (IMF) member countries. Yet despite progress toward eliminating extreme poverty, Ethiopia remains one of the poorest countries in the world, due both to rapid population growth and a low starting base.²⁵

When we see the land use pattern of the country agricultural land constitute 36.3%, arable land 15.2%, permanent crops 1.1%; permanent pasture 20%, forest 12.2% and other land use constitute 51.5 %.²⁶ Ethiopia is a predominantly agricultural country – more than 80% of the population lives in rural areas – that is in the early stages of demographic transition. Deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification; water shortages in some areas from water-intensive farming and poor management are a major environmental problem of the country. Ethiopia’s rapid population growth is putting increasing pressure on land resources, expanding environmental degradation, and raising vulnerability to food shortages.²⁷ The Amhara region is located at 9°-14° N and 36°-40°E in Ethiopia's Northwest. The region is divided into three major agricultural climatic zones: This varied ecology lends itself well to diversified agriculture.²⁸

The State of Amhara covers an estimated area of 170,752 square kilometers. The annual mean temperature for most parts of the region lies between 15°C-21°C. About 85% of the people are engaged in agriculture.²⁹ The region consists of 10 administrative zones, one special zone, 105 woredas, and 78 urban centers. It has a population density of 100 per km2. In combination with the rugged terrain, this means that little or no unused arable land is left.³⁰ Large parts of the region have lost much of their productive capacity due to land degradation and high population pressure.³¹

Data for this research was collected in south wollo zone. Three wordas of this zone were purposively selected. These are Tehuledere woreda, Kutaber worda, and Dessie zuria worda. South Wollo is one of 10Zonesin theAmhara RegionofEthiopia. it is bordered on the south bySemien Shewaand theOromia Region, on the west byMirab Gojjam, on the northwest byDebub Gondar, on the north bySemien Wollo, on the northeast byAfar Region, and on the east by theOromia ZoneandArgobba special woreda. Based on the 2007 Census conducted by theCentral Statistical Agencyof Ethiopia (CSA), this Zone has a total population of 2,518,862, an increase of 18.60% over the 1994 census, the average rural household has 0.7 hectares of land (compared to the national average of 1.01 hectare of land and an average of 0.75 for the Amhara Region) and the equivalent of 0.6 heads of livestock. 10.6% of the population is in non-farm related jobs, compared to the national average of 25% and a regional average of 21%.³²

Tehuledere woreda is one of the twenty-two districts of South Wollo in the Amhara National Regional State. It shares immediate borders in the North with Ambassel woreda, in the South with Dessie zuria woreda, in the East with Worebabo woreda and in the west with Kutaber and Ambassel woreda. The woreda has a total area of 44030 hectares and subdivided into nineteen rural and five small urban kebeles. Altitude of the woreda ranges from 1488-2900m.asl. It has „Dega‟ (13%), „Weina Dega‟ (72%), and „Kolla‟ (15%) agro-ecological zones. Its average annual rainfall is 1030 mm and has an average temperature of 21oc per annum. Out of the total land cover, 15937 ha is used for crop production, 736 ha for grazing, 14308 ha forest and bushland, 3800ha water body and 1000ha is a wasteland. The average land holding per household is estimated at 0.5ha. Due to high population growth coupled with misuse of natural resources, poor diversification of livelihoods, and the relief nature of the area, the environment is strongly depleted, which returns high vulnerability of the community to climate variability and its adverse impacts.³³

Kutaber is also another part of the Debub Wollo Zone bordered on the south by Dessie Zuria, on the west by the Adila River which separates it from Tenta, on the north by the Walano which separates it from Amba Sel, and on the east by Tehuledere. Based on the 2007 national census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), this woreda has a total population of 95,410, a decrease of 24.76% from the 1994 census, of whom 47,341 are men and 48,069 women; 4,940 or 5.18% are urban inhabitants. With an area of 719.92 square kilometers, Kutaber has a population density of 132.53, which is less than the Zone average of 147.58 persons per square kilometer.³⁴

Dessie Zuria is also located at the eastern edge of the Ethiopian highlands in the Debub Wollo Zone, Dessie Zuria is bordered on the south by Albuko and Were Ilu, on the southwest by Legambo, on the northwest by Tenta, on the north by Kutaber, on the northeast by Tehuledere, and on the east by Kalu. Based on the 2007 national census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), this woreda has a total population of 157,679, an increase of -21.72% over the 1994 census, of whom 77,626 are men and 80,053 women, or 0.00% are urban inhabitants. With an area of 937.32 square kilometers, Dessie Zuriya has a population density of 168.22, which is greater than the Zone average of 147.58 persons per square kilometer.³⁵

1.8 Design of the paper

1.8.1 Methodology

This research employs a qualitative method of research. It evaluates environmental protection through rural land laws in ANRS in general and in south wollo zone in particular to answer the research questions. More ever data has been collected and analyzed using the qualitative method to identify the challenges to enforce normative and institutional frameworks under ANRS rural land laws for the environmental protection of rural lands in the south wollo zone.

1.8.2 Data source

Both primary and secondary data are employed. Primary data was obtained from relevant legislation and interview. Secondary data was also collected from books, articles official annual and quarter year plans and reports.

1.8.3 Felid data collection and sampling methods/techniques

Apart from gathering pertinent laws, official yearly plans and reports, data were collected through face to face interview.

1.8.3.1 Individual face to face interview

The direct interaction helps to see the whole view of the problem so I used semi-structured interview with some pre-established guiding questions one by one basis to deeply & critically inquire and understanding the sensitivity of the problem, the attitude, experience of individual participant in relation to the effect of the existing land law as far as environmental protection is concerned. The audio recording was also in use. The interview was informal for open and honest idea flow. And I used the following none probable sampling techniques:-

Purposive sampling technique: In order to understand the attitude of participants of worda and Zonal rural land administration officials and experts, law enforcement officials (judges, prosecutors). Purposive sampling technique was used because these participants are typically representing the population of my study whether the rural land laws of the region are enforced for the proper protection of the rural environment.

Simple random and purposive sampling techniques I make use of simple random sampling to select 3 (three) Wordas from total 24 wordas of the south wollo zone, in order to represent the participants’ worda rural land administration officers and judges, prosecutors. 2 worda rural land administration officials from each worda, 2 each from worda judges and prosecutors and 2 Zonal officials well be purposively selected based on their involvement in the subject matter. This helped me to get an important data for the study within moderate cost and time.

1.8.4 Research Analysis techniques

This study uses the doctrinal method, desktop inquires, and review of the literature, deeply looking and analysis of rural land legislation will be methods of analyzing the document. Apart from desktop inquire, I gather official annual plans and reports and court cases. I also try reviewing those documents used by the worda land use and administration office for land administration. The federal and other regions rural land legislations are also analyzed. In order to describe and explore the individual’s perception, attitudes and understandings on the role of the ANRS rural land laws on the protection of the environment, I apply inductive reasoning and content analyzing those data that were collected from interviews and document analysis. Every data was analyzed by using the list of categories and by taking in to account the relationship and outcome of the data collected. I believe the data and the analysis of those data served the objective and answered the research questions.

1.8.5 Organization of the Thesis

This study has five chapters. The First Chapter deals with the background and basic structure of the study including a statement of the problem the objective, the significance, methodology, scope, and limitations of the study. Chapter two dealt with the review of the theoretical and related literature. Chapter three is about environmental protection through rural land laws in Ethiopia. Chapter four discusses environmental protection of rural areas of south wollo zone through the ANRS rural land laws. The last chapter presents the findings, conclusion, and recommendations of the research respectively.

1.8.6 Ethical consideration

To reduce the possible bias, attempts are made to maintain a level of objectivity at all stages of the research. The researcher has made an attempt to develop a sense of trust. Consent was gained genuinely. Above all, I have explained to the interviewees as to the confidential character of our relationship. The researcher holds a neutral role as it has made it in this final text in order to avoid ethical issues that may pose in report writing. As to my understanding, no person or group was offended by the process or the final outcome of the study.

CHAPTER TWO: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

2.1 Land: meaning, nature, and importance

The literature offers several definitions of land and land resources, one of them comes from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO): it defined land and land resource as

land and land resources refer to a delineable area of the earth’s terrestrial surface, encompassing all attributes of the biosphere immediately above or below this surface, including those of the near-surface, climate, the soil and terrain forms, the surface hydrology (including shallow lakes, rivers, marshes and swamps), the near-surface sedimentary layers and associated groundwater and geo- hydrological reserve, the plant and animal populations, the human settlement pattern and physical results of past and present human activity.³⁶

Land underlies and supports much of the life of the planet, providing the physical underpinning of the environment and productive activities and playing a major role in their socio-political constructs.³⁷ The land is one of the essential natural resources for the survival and prosperity of humankind, and it is the platform on which human activities take place. It is also the source of materials needed for these activities.³⁸ The land is also a significant component of business assets, playing an important – sometimes central – role in business investment strategies.³⁹

The term environment, on the other hand, encompasses anything from the whole biosphere to the habitat of the smallest creature or organism. In the broad sense, dictionary definitions of the term environment range from “the totality of physical, economic, cultural, aesthetic, and social circumstances and factors which surround and affect the desirability and value of the property or which also affects the quality of people’s lives.⁴⁰

2.2 Land law, environmental law, and environmental protection

The sustainable use of land is crucial to the future success of many environmental initiatives. The planet consists of three interrelated natural resources: air, water, and soil. Of the three, land has remained more resistant to environmental protection duties compared to the other two planetary life support systems, air, and water.⁴¹

Land laws provide not only rules about property rights in the land but also regulatory frameworks and administrative competences. Through legal enactments relating to land, the state determines the bundle of rights included in property forms and the obligations that accompany them. The rights in those bundles affect landholders’ incentives to husband or neglect their land.⁴²

Land use legislation is a key component of any serious attempt to integrate environmental objectives into a comprehensive public policy aimed at achieving sustainable development.⁴³ In most cases in which countries have been successful in implementing environmental policies, the effective use of planning tools and land use legislation appears as a common feature, in conjunction with a mix of traditional “command and control” pollution control legislation and incentives aimed at promoting and rewarding sustainable economic decisions.⁴⁴

In many developing countries, however, land use legislation is not fully integrated into the context of public policies aimed at promoting environmental quality and sustainable development.⁴⁵ In some cases, this is due to the scant attention that has been paid at a conceptual level to the importance of land use regulation as a key instrument for implementing environmental policies. In other cases, where land use and planning laws do exist in theory, poor or nonexistent enforcement makes them a weak tool for the achievement of sustainable development goals.⁴⁶

Environmental law, on the other hand, is a unique field of law in that it covers all stakeholders whose activities have impacts on the environment; these include national and local governments, businesses and companies, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and citizens.⁴⁷

As environmental protection rises on the political agenda, the need to address the gap between land use regulation and environmental protection is becoming more critical.⁴⁸ As a legal system, the environmental law should step over the concept of restricting land use to deal with such public property as air, quality of water, and ecosystems, or with such extensive and complex environmental conditions as climate change.⁴⁹ As a result, environmental law is required to set up a new legal area with its own system and logic different from the conventional jurisprudence that has been dealing with individual human beings and property.⁵⁰

The purpose of the environmental law is to restrict human activities so that the land can be used without inflicting adverse effects on the environment and good environmental conditions can be maintained. However, considering the wide range of stakeholders and the wide variety of human activities, the environmental law system should go beyond the conventional legal system of land use, which regulates only the activities of land users, which are mainly composed of landowners.⁵¹

To prevent any further degradation of the environment, it is important to curb extensive land use. It is true that the ultimate cause of environmental degradation stems from inappropriate land use, but it is the actual human activities on the land that affect the environment vary widely, for example, deforestation, development of farmland, construction of roads, agriculture, construction of buildings, production of chemicals, and generation of wastes .⁵²

Harms to the environment represent a diverse set of physical, biological, and chemical threats to human health or to the health of ecosystem. As a result, if social welfare is to be maximized by allocating resources with optimal efficiency, environmental resources must be valued properly in light of full social marginal costs.⁵³ Furthermore, efforts to use law and policy to protect the environment should look beyond just environmental statutes. Todd S. Aagard (2014) argued that

A variety of non-environmental statutes demonstrate an ability to apply effectively to environmental problems. They do so, moreover, in ways that complements environmental creating a synergistic combined effect. Broadening our thinking about environmental policy tools to include more non-environmental laws diversifies the options available to policymakers and ultimately can make environmental policy more nimble, adaptive, and resilient to the vexing challenges it faces.⁵⁴

But the regulation of land for environmental purposes is extremely difficult because there are no accepted baselines against which change can be measured. It is possible to estimate many of the adverse environmental impacts of land development, but it is not easy to move from projected impact to a regulatory standard.⁵⁵

In the modern era, an international context for land use law reform was provided at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in 1992. Agenda 21 establishes land use goals: encouraging sustainable human settlements and integrating environmental considerations into development decisions.⁵⁶ Scores and scores of international instruments exist that regulate land and land use, broadly defined. There is a vast diversity among these instruments.⁵⁷ Several trends in international land law are also identifiable in relation to the protection of land and environment. The first, and in some ways the most profound is ecosystem management (also called ecosystem protection). Ecosystem management reflects the realization that the components of an ecosystem are interdependent, and thus that the best approach to environmental protection and conservation issues is one that involves examination and management of the entire relevant ecosystem.⁵⁸

2.3Enforcement mechanisms of rural land laws for the protection of the environment

For any environmental legislation or regulation to be effective it requires being adequately enforced. Environmental Laws do provide enforcement mechanisms and expect the responsible authorities to enforce the law.⁵⁹ Nonenvironmental laws like land administration laws also have enforcement mechanisms that can serve the purpose of environmental protection.

2.3.1 Civil remedies

One of the remedies that may be used whenever environmental wrongdoers occur is a civil remedy. There are also different types of civil remedies. One such remedy is compensation which refers to financial remedy that aims at granting a plaintiff monetary relief for the harm he has sustained with a view to restoring him to the position he was in prior to the occurrence of the harm.

Although not all harms to the environment can be assessed in monetary terms such as loss of eco-services, it is said that where harm has already occurred, compensation may be awarded to the injured party to indemnify for the losses suffered to the environment and the services it provides as well as the expenses that have been incurred due to the environmental harm.⁶⁰

In the environmental context, the injunction is an extremely effective remedy because it leads to the prevention of imminent environmental wrongdoers from happening. Restitution and remediation are also other civil remedies. When it is possible for the injury to be wiped out and the situation restored to its pre-injury state, restitution is a preferred remedy. In environmental cases, courts often order environmental harm to be cleaned up or the damaged ecosystem be returned to a healthy state.⁶¹

Much common law and civil law countries use non-criminal sanctions to enforce the environmental regulation . The classical civil liability systems in a number of countries have been developed to introduce forms of strict liability for environmental damage where, for example, hazardous activities are being undertaken.⁶²

Under civil law principles, most systems do not impose an obligation to use damages received to restore the environment. This is not, however, without qualification. A number of the civil liability systems impose an obligation to mitigate any damage and this may involve clean-up. In addition, in a number of countries, the administrative authorities may order the plaintiff to carry out clean-up operations effectively requiring the use of civil damages for restoration.⁶³ Where the harm has already occurred, indemnities or compensatory damages may be awarded to the injured party. The basic function of an award of damages is to compensate for the full losses suffered to the environment and the services it provides as well as the expenses that have been incurred due to the environmental harm.⁶⁴ In many legal systems, restitution is the preferred remedy if it is possible for the injury to be wiped out and the situation restored to its pre-injury state. In environmental cases, courts often order environmental harm to be cleaned up or the damaged ecosystem returned to a healthy state.⁶⁵

2.3.2 Criminal remedies

Criminal enforcement of environmental statutes is primarily undertaken by the government, usually the regulatory agency or government body with responsibility for the administration of the statute.⁶⁶ Standard sanctions available for criminal convictions include fines; imprisonment terms; community service orders; rehabilitation or remediation orders; forfeiture orders in respect of things either used in the commission of environmental offenses or gained therefrom; closure of facilities where offenses have occurred; and the withdrawal of licenses or permits.⁶⁷ While in some jurisdictions punitive damages may serve a role in punishing noncompliance, the two principal means of penalizing environmental misdeeds are civil penalties and criminal sanctions, such as criminal fines and incarceration. Other sanctions may include community service and other innovative measures that have a nexus with the wrong.⁶⁸ The use of the criminal law in the field of environmental protection in general and protection of the environment through land law criminal sanction endure a challenge that can hinder its sound application. The challenge emanates mainly from the very nature of criminal law.⁶⁹

[...]

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¹ Markos Ezra, (2003), Environmental vulnerability, rural poverty, and migration in Ethiopia: a contextual analysis, Genus, Vol. 59, No. 2 ,p 70

² Ibid

³ John W. Bruce, (2012) Simple Solutions to Complex Problems: Land Formalization as a ‘Silver Bullet' Fair Land Governance How to Legalize Land Rights for Rural Development Leiden Edited by Jan Michiel Otto and Andre´ Hoekema, Leiden University Press, p31

⁴ ibid

⁵ Daniel Behailu Gebreamanuel (2011), Land Use Legislation in Ethiopia: A Human Rights and Environment Based Analysis ,Jimma University Journal of Law Vol. 3 No. 2 p27

⁶ Demel Teketay (2001) Deforestation, , Wood Famine, and Environmental Degradation in Ethiopia's Highland Ecosystems: Urgent Need for Action , Northeast African Studies, New Series, Vol. 8, No. 1, Special Issue: Natural Resource Management, Human Development, and Macroeconomic Performance in Ethiopia, Michigan State University Press ,p 61

⁷ Id p 61

⁸ Taddesse Berisso, (1995), Deforestation and Environmental Degradation in Ethiopia: The Case of Jam Jam Province, Northeast African Studies, New Series, Vol. 2, No. 2 Michigan State University Press, p. 139-155,

⁹ Adugnaw Birhanu (2014). Environmental Degradation and Management in Ethiopian Highlands: Review of Lessons Learned. International Journal of Environmental Protection and Policy, Vol. 2, No. 1, p26

¹⁰ Zemenfes Tsighe (1995), The Political Economy of Land Degradation in Ethiopia Northeast African Studies, New Series, Vol. 2, No. 2, , Michigan State University Press, pp. 72

¹¹ Daniel Behailu Gebreamanuel, (2011) supra note 5 p27

¹², For instance, Sisay Asefa (2003) on his Case Study from South Central Ethiopia concludes that land tenure insecurity contributes to low agricultural productivity and natural resource degradation. See Sisay Asefa, (2003) Rural Poverty, Food Insecurity and Environmental Degradation in Ethiopia: A Case Study from South Central Ethiopia, International Journal of Ethiopian Studies, Vol. 1, No.1, pp.59-89,

¹³ Dessalegn Rahmato(2004), searching for tenure security?, The Land System and New Policy Initiatives in Ethiopia, FSS Discussion Paper No. 12, Forum for Social Studies ,p12

¹⁴ Clay, Jason W. (2004), World agriculture and the environment: a commodity-by-commodity guide to impacts and practices, Island Press, p45

¹⁵ Id, p 56

¹⁶ Mellese Damtie & Solomon Kebede (2012), The Need for Redesigning and Redefining Institutional Roles for Environmental Governance in Ethiopia, MELCA‐Ethiopia Movement for Ecological Learning Community Action, Melca‐Ethiopia, available at < http://melcaethiopia.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/eg_final_layout.pdf> accessed on 20/08/2017,p 2

¹⁷ Ibid

¹⁸ Id p3

¹⁹ Adugnaw Birhanu (2014). Supra note 9 p31

²⁰ Id, p32

²¹ Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia,1995, Proclamation No. 1/1995, Federal Negarit Gazeta - 1stYear No.1 Addis Ababa , Article 44(1) Herein after FDRE Constitution

²² Mulugeta Getu (2012), The Ethiopian environmental regime versus international standard: policy, legal and institutional frameworks, Haramaya Law Review VOL. 1, NO. 1 p57

²³ Dejene Girma Janka (Ph.D.) (2013) Remedies for Environmental Wrong-doings in Ethiopia Mekelle University Law Journal Vol.2 No. 1 ,p1

²⁴ According to 2017 CIA World Fact book the total population of Ethiopia reaches 105,350,020 (July 2017 Est.)

²⁵ CIA, World Fact book(2017), available at < https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/et.html accessed on 18/10/2017>

²⁶ CIA, World Fact book(2017), (2011 Est.) available at <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/et.html accessed on 18/10/2017>

²⁷ Ibid

²⁸ ANRS BoFED, Available at < http://www.amharabofed.gov.et/about_ANRS.html ,> accessed on 10/11/2017

²⁹ Ethiopia government portal available at < http://www.ethiopia.gov.et/amhara-regional-state, > accessed on 10/11/2017

³⁰ SARDP and Bo­EPLAU (2010) Land Registration and Certification Experiences from the Amhara National Regional State in Ethiopia, by the Sida-Amhara Rural Development Program and the Bureau of Environment Protection, Land Administration and Use

³¹ AGP Ethiopia (2010), Social Assessment Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Final Report, 22, p19

³² Available at < http://www.wikiwand.com/en/South_Wollo_Zone> accessed on 25/10/2017

³³ Mohammed Seid (2013) Community Perception and Indigenous Adaptive Response to Climate Variability at Tehuledere Woreda, South Wollo Arbaminch University, Engineering International, Volume 1, No 2 p 3

³⁴ Available at https://wikivisually.com/wiki/Kutaber_(woreda), accessed on 25/10/2017

³⁵ Available at< https://wikivisually.com/wiki/Dessie_Zuria > accessed on 25/10/2017

³⁶ INTOSAI (2013), Land use and land management: practice in environmental perspective, Working Group on Environmental Auditing (WGEA), p9

³⁷ John W. Bruce (2012), supra note 3

³⁸ INTOSAI (2013), supra note 36 p10

³⁹ French Development Cooperation (2009), Land Governance and Security of Tenure in Developing Countries, White Paper by the Land Tenure and Development Technical Committee, available at http://www.agter.asso.fr/IMG/pdf/land-governance-and-security-of-tenure-in-developing-countries.pdf accessed on 30/08/2017

⁴⁰ Black’s Law Dictionary (5th ed.) (1979) p479

⁴¹ A.Dan Tarlock, (2007) Land use regulation: the weak link in environmental protection, Washington Law Review Vol. 82, p651

⁴² John W. Bruce (2012) supra note 3, p33

⁴³ Rodrigo Walsh, Juan. (2006). Argentina's constitution and general environment law as the framework for comprehensive land use regulation, Land Use Law for Sustainable Development, Academy of Environmental Law, Cambridge university press, p503

⁴⁴ Id ,p504

⁴⁵ Ibid

⁴⁶ Ibid

⁴⁷ Morishima, Akio, (2006), Challenges of environmental law environmental issues and their implications to jurisprudence, p 6-24.

⁴⁸ A.Dan Tarlock, (2007) supra note 41, 653

⁴⁹ Morishima, Akio, (2006), supra note 47, p 8.

⁵⁰ Ibid

⁵¹ Ibid

⁵² Id p9.

⁵³ Esty.Daniel C. (1996) "Revitalizing Environmental Federalism". Faculty Scholarship Series Paper 450. Available at <http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/fss_papers/450 >, accessed on 02/12/2017

⁵⁴ Todd S. Aagaard (2014), Using non-environmental laws to accomplish environmental objectives, Source: Journal of Land Use & Environmental Law, Vol. 30, No. 1, Florida State University College of Law, pp. 35-62 .

⁵⁵ A.Dan Tarlock, (2007) supra note 41 , p654

⁵⁶ John R. Nolon, ( 2005), Comparative Land Use Law: Patterns of Sustainability, The Urban Lawyer, Vol. 37, No. 4, American Bar Association, pp. 807-852 .

⁵⁷ Richard B. Bilder, et-al (1993), International Land-Use Law, Proceedings of the Annual Meeting (American Society of International Law), Vol.87, Challenges to International Governance, American Society of International Law; Cambridge University Press p. 492

⁵⁸ Morne van der Linde ( 2002), supra note 63, p102

⁵⁹ UNEP (2014), Enforcement of Environmental Law Good Practices from Africa, Central Asia, Asian Countries and China, ASEAN Environmental Cooperation Centre; Available at <https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/9968/enforcement-environmental laws.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y >, accessed on 03/12/2017

⁶⁰ Dejene Girma Janka (Ph.D.) (2013) supra note 23 p 6

⁶¹ Id, p7

⁶² Pain, Nicola (1995), Criminal law and environment protection: an overview of issues and themes. In Environmental Crime: Proceedings of a Conference held 1-3 September 1993, Hobart. (1995), p21

⁶³ Id p21

⁶⁴ Shelton, D., and Kiss, A.C. (2005) Judicial Handbook on Environmental Law, United Nations Environment Programme, available at< https://books.google.com.et/books?id=TpZZiU9TLbUC> ,accessed on 03/12/2017

⁶⁵ ibid

⁶⁶ ibid

⁶⁷ UNEP(2014) supra note 59

⁶⁸ Shelton, D. and Kiss, A.C. (2005) supra note 64

⁶⁹ Pain, Nicola (1995), supra note 62 ,p24