Introduction

In Ethiopia, poverty and demographic pressures are the underlying causes for land degradation,
fresh water and biodiversity loss, food insecurity and poor health as well as the ever-increasing
vulnerability of both the population and the environment to climatic instability.
Valuable ecosystems of the country, such as forests, wetlands, traditional agricultural systems, lowlands
and high mountains have lost their biological and physical vigor over the long history of the country, and
the remnant ecosystems are losing their vitality at an unprecedented rate. Moreover, lack of adequate
awareness on the importance of and/ or support for family planning and the impact of population
pressures and open grazing on natural resources are serious drawbacks requiring immediate attention.
Above all, weakness of integration and coordination among sectors to properly use the available
resources and address the root causes of poverty is the key issue that needs concerted and systematic
action. That’s why we need environmental plans.
An Environmental Management Plan (EMP) can be defined as “an environmental management
tool used to ensure that undue or reasonably avoidable adverse impacts of the construction, operation
and decommissioning of a project are prevented; and that the positive benefits of the projects are
enhanced”. EMPs are therefore important tools for ensuring that the management actions arising from
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) processes are clearly defined and implemented through all
phases of the project life-cycle.
Environmental planning as we know it is one of the most important projects at the present time.

Examples of environmental plans are:

1. Public open spaces(pos)
2. Parks
3. Conservation areas
4. Preservation areas
5. Land use buffer area
6. Vegetation buffer
7. Squares and plazas
8. Public gardens
9. Mineral extraction areas
10. Urban architecture
11. Forestry
12. Rivers and river banks

The above lists are briefly defined below

1. Public open space (POS): What is open space?

Open space is any open piece of land that is undeveloped (has no building or other built
structure) and is accessible to the public. POS’s provide recreational areas for residents and helps to
enhance the beauty and environmental quality of neighborhoods. These can include:

 Green spaces (land that is partly or completely grass, trees, shrubs or other vegetation).
  Schoolyards
 Play grounds
 Public seating areas
 Public plazas
 Vacant lots

Lack of community and public access to safe open and public green space is a critical area of concern for
residents in Ethiopia.

2. Parks

Urban areas have large impacts on climates. Their great impact in the environment creating an
isolated high heat region (we call that a heat island) have mostly negative consequence of modified
temperature/ wind, precipitation and air quality patterns. This is the primary factor of local climate
change and may eventually translate to more widespread climate change, possibly global if left
unchecked. Parks are the first and best line of defense against these changes. Urban parks cool and
clean the air, improve and modify local wind circulation, and better regulate precipitation patterns. Well
vegetated parks, in a variety of forms and sizes mitigate the impact of the urban heat island and
minimize local heat climate change.

3. Conservation areas

A conservation area is a specific local area that is recognized as being worthy of preservation or
enhancements. It’s widely known that many places in our world are in high danger of permanent
damage, if there is the only way of saving them is protection from further damage. This can only be
accomplished by labeling them under a new draft. Conservation areas can be cultural heritage sites,
architecturally significant areas and environmental areas in danger

4. Preservation areas

Preservation areas are areas that any further action will inevitably damage. Preservation is the
Prevention of future actions that might adversely affect an environmental resource. This is typically achieved by
extending legal protection to selected resources beyond the immediate needs of the project.

5. Land use buffer areas

6. Vegetation buffer
7. Squares and plazas
8. Public gardens