Ethiopia is endowed with a variety of ecosystems (established but incomplete), the recognition of which is mainly based on the twelve vegetation types, and a newly established Intermediate evergreen Afromontane Forest: 1. Desert and semi-desert scrubland; 2. Acacia-Commiphora woodland and bushland; 3. Wooded grassland of the western Gambella region; 4. Combretum-Terminalia woodland and wooded grassland; 5. Dry evergreen Afromonane forest and grassland complex; 6. Moist evergreen Afromontane forest; 7. Transitional rain forest; 8. Ericaceous belt; 9. Afroalpine belt; 10. Riverine vegetation; 11. Freshwater lakes, lake shores, marshes, swamps and floodplains vegetation; 12. Salt-water lakes, lake shores, salt marshes and pan vegetation and the Intermediate evergreen Afromontane Forest. 

For the purpose of this National Ecosystem Assessment, the 12 vegetation-based ecosystems and their human-modified forms were broadly reclassified into five as: 1. Mountain Ecosystem; 2. Forest and Woodland Ecosystem; 3. Aquatic and Wetland Ecosystem; 4. Rangeland Ecosystem and 5. Agroecosystem.

From among these five ecosystems, those mentioned from 2nd to 5th occur in more than one vegetation types. Moreover, the agroecosystem has evolved over the millennia through the conversion of the natural ecosystems by agrarian and agro-pastoral communities who have been interacting with the surrounding environment leading to the formation of heterogeneous agricultural landscapes, biophysical features and climatic regimes.

Ethiopia has formulated and implemented several biodiversity-related policies, laws, regulations and guidelines over the past several years to address conservation and sustainable use related challenges and to improve economic and societal benefits (well established). In this regard, the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan 2015-2020 is an overarching framework on biodiversity for all stakeholders to value biodiversity and ecosystem services, reduce the pressures on biodiversity and ecosystems, improve the status of biodiversity and ecosystem services, and ensure access to genetic resources and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their use. Ethiopia’s Climate Resilient Green Economy strategy and the sustainable land management entail a mix of policies and instruments that together ensure nature conservation, ecological restoration and sustainable use, sustainable production (including of food, materials and energy), and climate change adaptation, and in so doing addresses the major drivers of biodiversity loss and nature deterioration. A number of international treaties and conventions that relate to biodiversity conservation were adopted over the last two decades. However, some of the policy and legal instruments of implementations are patchy to protect ecosystems; their implementation and enforcement are irregular, incompetent, and ineffective.

Furthermore, the absence of a comprehensive land use policy, frequent changes in institutional setup and weak capacity of institutions, poor inter-sectorial coordination and lack of synergy between sectors, inadequacy of the legal frameworks and weak law enforcement, and unclear tenure system were some of the major challenges that have been affecting biodiversity of the country. These challenges resulted in degradation of ecosystem services and integrity of unique biodiversity in many of the ecosystems and, therefore, there is a need for concerted management interventions for sustainable uses of the natural resources and services; policy action needed to promote sustainable intensification in agriculture and limiting excess population growth. 

Local communities living in the various ecosystems have rich indigenous local knowledge developed over millennia to manage biodiversity and the ecosystem services (well established). These communities have unique natural resource management systems that contributed to the conservation of biological resources and ecosystem services, and use and this needs to be tapped, enhanced and applied. Though there are efforts to conserve biodiversity resources in all ecosystems, there is a need to increase awareness and recognize and make use of the invaluable indigenous knowledge for the management of biodiversity and ecosystem services.