A lion-shaped plant nursery in Ethiopia will be visible from space and will warn of the dangers of the climate crisis

ETHIOPIAN researchers and artists are working to restore biodiversity in the town of Kofele. They are building a tree nursery representing an Ethiopian lion, visible from space. The goal? To alert public authorities to the climate crisis while promoting the local agricultural sector.

This ambitious project, entitled "Trees for Life," is being headed up by Ethiopian charity Rural Organization for Betterment of Agro-Pastoralists (ROBA). It is supported by the Earth Art Studio, the British Council, the Canadian Kwantlen University and Scottish planners from the city of Dundee. They are all working to create a 50-meter lion-shaped nursery, which ROBA describes as the world's first living art installation.

Located near a school in Kofele, the nursery will help preserve the wildlife, flora and culture of the Oromia region, the most populous in Ethiopia. Local people, in particular women and younger generations, will also be able to learn much-needed skills in tree farming and agroforestry.

"When I speak with elders, they describe us as victims of climate change who have lost our culture. When you ask them about trees, and how Oromos maintained them, the key players they indicate are culture and art," Hussein Watta, director and founder of ROBA, told Hyperallergic.

"When a practice is ingrained into a people's culture -- in art and song, or even in technology and photography they do it better. My goal right now is to mobilize the people around this."

The art of planting trees

This desire to include an artistic component in this project translates into the lion shape chosen for the nursery.

This animal is anything but insignificant for Ethiopians, as it is one of the country's national symbols.

The Abyssinian lion is a "keystone" species, whose predominant role determines the plant and animal species found in their habitat. Its presence in the Ethiopian highlands determines the composition of the rest of the region's ecosystem.

While it once reigned supreme on the African continent, researchers now estimate that the Abyssinian lion could disappear by 2050 due to massive deforestation of the savannah and poaching.

While the Trees of Life project can't rebuild their natural habitat, the hope is that it can raise awareness about the important role trees play in our ecosystem.

"If we can truly educate our people about the art of tree planting, to prevent soil erosion, limit pollution, create jobs, and regulate the water cycle, I believe no one would cut down a single tree again," Hussein Watta told Hyperallergic.

Despite frequent poor weather conditions that have hit Ethiopia in recent months, the nursery produced more than 8,000 trees by May. The structure should be able to maintain a production of 10,000 to 12,000 trees per six-month growing cycle.