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| Harenna Forest (Bale Mountains, Oromia Regional State) |
In Ethiopia, there are currently seven national parks, wildlife sanctuaries as well as several other protected areas. The conservation status is unsatisfactory in most of these sites. There are several reasons, but one of the challenges is without question the tremendous population pressure. For example, large parts of the Harenna Forest (Bale National Park) is used today by settlers. The decline in dense forests 1973-2000 was 15% between 1973 and 2000. About 4% of the forest disappeared completely (Pinard et al, no date). After restrictive protection measures and bans have failed in recent years, one focuses on a more collaborative approach that incorporates the interests and knowledge of the local population.
This corresponds in principle to the efforts of IUCN to establish so-called
"Indigenous and community Conserved Areas" (ICCA) - a so far unconventional reserve category (Kothari 2009). It remains to be seen whether and to what extent this concept is successful. For the Borana territory in southern Ethiopia Bassi and Tache (2011) have demonstrated the possibilities, but also the limitations of such an approach. Practical obstacles existed, especially in the massive immigration of settlers from other areas, political marginalization of pastoralists, and a de facto privatization of formerly communal land.
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| White-tailed Swallow (Hirundo megaensis), Borana Zone |
The administration of the Oromia State is currently planning to enlarge the Yabello Wildlife Sanctuary and to raise its status. The designation of a national park is in the process of implementation. Of these measures could especially benefit the White-tailed Swallow (Hirundo megaensis) and the Ethiopian Bush-crow (Zavattariornis stresemanni), two endemic species which occur only in a small area in southern Ethiopia. The management
plans aim to adopt a two-tier approach, with smaller
areas of strict formal protection set within a wider landscape within which
sustainable resource management will be developed with local people (Chemere Zewdie, Oromia Forest and Wildlife Enterprise, pers comm.).
Against this background, in 2010 launched a survey on the range of the Ethiopian Bush-crow, founded by the Deutsche Ornithologen-Gesellschaft (DO-G) and the Gesellschaft für Tropenornithologie (GTO), as well as a project "Saving southern Ethiopia’s endemic birds". Supported by the British Birdfair, BirdLife International and its partner, the Ethiopian Wildlife and Natural History Society (EWNHS), are currently working to develop action plans for the endemic bird species in Southern Ethiopia.
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