Bale Mountains National Park - Zoologische Gesellschaft Frankfurt

Currently, BMNP is assigned on the UNEP-WCMC database as Category II a “Protected area
managed mainly for ecosystem protection and recreation (National Park): natural area of land
and/or sea, designated to (a) protect the ecological integrity of one or more ecosystems for present
and future generations, (b) exclude exploitation or occupation inimical to the purposes of
designation of the area and (c) provide a foundation for spiritual, scientific, educational,
recreational and visitor opportunities, all of which must be environmentally and culturally
compatible”.
Using the WCPA draft toolkit, this categorisation was revisited, with analysis suggesting that IUCN
Category II was indeed the best fit for BMNP and noting that in general
• The basis of categorisation is by primary management objective, not effectiveness of
management .
• Categories represent grading of human intervention, with I-III representing areas where there
has been limited and little modification of the environment and IV-VI significantly greater
intervention and environmental modification
• Category II areas can include sustainable use is by indigenous people as long as does not
affect primary management objectives,
• Zoning is commonplace in Cat II Areas/National Parks to allow for completely protected
areas, visitor use and use by indigenous people,
And that for BMNP,
• BMNP park purpose is hydrological and ecosystem protection
• The park and programme purposes state that protection is for future generations,
• Guiding principles explicitly state that conservation of Exceptional Resource Values take
precedence over natural resource or any other type of use and that any negative impacts
should be mitigated and monitored
• Zoning allows completely protected areas and resource use by indigenous people in
controlled use areas.
The WCPA task force would like to develop a series of case studies, working with partners, to
refine and test this toolkit, and the protected areas of Ethiopia, including BMNP, could potentially
be involved in this process.
BMNP Zonation Scheme
Zonation is being used in BMNP to provide a framework for securing the protection of the park by
reconciling the primary management aim of protecting the natural resource values whilst allowing
limited use of the these resources – whether by communities or tourists. The conservation of
biodiversity and ecosystem processes is the primary management objective throughout BMNP,
irrespective of zone; the zoning scheme has been introduced to deal with the current realities in
BMNP: open access resource use unrestricted settlements and human and financial capacity
constraints. The zonation scheme is a management tool to change from open access to a BMNP
with a functioning resource protection system where the conservation of the Exceptional Resource
Values are secured and conserved for future generations.
The following underlying principles for the zonation of the park were drawn from policy, legislation,
and the overall principles of the GMP and its management programmes:
Section B – Park Purpose, Significance and Values 25