The Forum for Environment is a platform for communication among people concerned with the Ethiopian environment. It was established in June 1997 by a small group of people committed to the preservation and betterment of the environment.

The Forum for Environment is open to anyone involved in environment-related activities in Ethiopia. Adherents come from government departments, university departments, research community, community-based organizations, non-governmental organisations, the media, the donor community, international agencies and the business sector, without distinction of occupation or nationality.

Environment is understood in its widest sense, including:

• the rural and the urban environment;
• people and nature;
• natural, economic, social and cultural resources;
• formal and non-formal paradigms.

The mandate of the Forum of Environment is to

• act as a catalyst for networking people and organizations working in environmental issues;
• provide a base for advocacy on issues of environmental concern;
• develop a position of authority on environmental matters;
• promote action which is environmentally sound.

In order to carry out its mandate, the Forum for Environment is committed to:

• organize public meetings to publicize and discuss issues of environmental concern;
• publish a magazine, written primarily in Amharic, designed to discuss and reflect on environmental issues in Ethiopia and to be distributed throughout the country;
• carry out speaking engagements on environment at different institutions and organizations;
• facilitate access to advisory services on the environment;
• create an information center;
• act as a liaison bureau for funding projects that focus on improving or protecting the environment.

The Forum for Environment has a 12-member steering group coordinated by a secretariat. The secretariat is presently held by ENDA-Ethiopia, which acts as the official intermediary for the Forum. The steering group comprises representatives of the Conservation Strategy of Ethiopia, NGOs, the Region 14 Environment Bureau, the Addis Ababa University and the donor community. The Forum for Environment is recognized by the Environment Protection Authority of Ethiopia.

The Forum for Environment essentially functions on the basis of commitment and contributions from some of its steering group members. Special funding requests are prepared for specific projects or activities, such as the magazine for instance.

Although the Forum for Environment was founded in Addis Ababa, it is set on establishing environment forum groups in the different regions of Ethiopia. Until then, individuals working in the regions who request to become members of the Forum become Forum for Environment correspondents.

The Forum for Environment organizes regular public meetings that anyone interested is welcome to attend. The major purpose is to raise awareness on specific issues related to sustainable development, share information on relevant activities with a diversified audience and discuss actions to address the issues covered. The meetings serve for scientists to disseminate information about their specific research work beyond scientific circles – to Government agencies, development organizations, members of CBOs and other participants.

As a follow-up of these meetings, interested individuals may register to establish interest groups, which continue4 to exchange ideas, discuss project proposals and launch initiatives. One such well-established interest group is the group on urban waste and urban agriculture.

Akirma, the magazine on environment and development in Ethiopia

As part of its objective to promote environmental education and awareness and create links between all those concerned, the Forum for Environment publishes a magazine on environment and development in Ethiopia. The magazine, called Akirma, is intended for extension workers, community development workers, teachers, health workers, local officials and media people working in the different regions of Ethiopia.

Akirma is essentially written in Amharic. Each issue has a cover story and contains diverse articles. Topics dealt with in each issue include: pastoralism, biodiversity, alternative energy, indigenous trees, urban development and industry and development. Akirma also has a "farmers' views" and a "try it yourself" column. Judging from letters and comments, this diversity is particularly well received. Also the media have welcomed Akirma because it provides them with documentation on environmental issues.

Three issues of Akirma were published in 1999, with funds obtained from the Netherlands Embassy in Addis Ababa and input (manpower, equipment, logistics) from ENDA-Ethiopia and the Institute for Sustainable Development. The magazine is distributed through a commercial distributor.

In collaboration with active correspondents, organize Forum for Environment meetings in the regions in order to

For each topic presented at a public meeting, prepare a selected bibliography of conventional and non-conventional literature existing in Ethiopia

To develop the publication by

• setting up an effective distribution system in the regions;
• organizing writers' training workshops in the regions.

Forum for Environment Secretariat (Negusu Aklilu, coordinator), P.O.Box 10386, Addis Ababa; tel. +251-1-52-16-62/76; fax ---;

e-mail: ffe@telecom.net.et