Walia Special Edition on the Bale Mountains (2011) - Zoologische ...

components and the legitimacy, the stand-alone value and the potential for sustainability of traditional
subsistence practices. Nevertheless, current knowledge about distribution of natural resources and
their use in BMNP is limited (but see Watson et al. this edition), though knowledge should be used to
inform decisions and processes such as the redemarcation of the park’s boundary and zonation of the
BMNP into areas with different conservation status, as proposed in the new General Management
Plan (OARDB 2007, Nelson this edition).
Documented knowledge about horas in BMNP is limited to those found in the Afroalpine
area within the park. The Harenna forest has received relatively less attention from researchers over
time. The forest covers almost half of the BMNP and merges to the southwest with the Mena Angetu
National Forest Priority Area (MANFPA), a theatre of a lively socio-economy based on the use of
forest resources and agriculture. The coupling between the natural environment and human society
is, in many ways, deep and complex in the forest. The relationship is influenced by both the diversity
of resources available to people in the forest and the relative autonomy of the society. Many people
living in the forest continue to practice traditional livelihoods and their settlements are distant from
markets and areas where the park’s activities are currently concentrated.
In 2006, the presence of a hot-spring (“tabala” in the Oromo language) in the Harenna forest
was reported by Chiodi and LeFevre (2006). The hot-spring was well known to local people, but
was a novel finding for documented geographical knowledge of the park. The finding indicates that
there is hydrothermal activity in the forest and provides further motivation for a survey of horas.
This survey provides a preliminary account of the distribution, properties and use of both
horas and tabalas in the Harenna forest. Due to lack of baseline data, the survey was exploratory
and attempted to consider the horas from different perspectives, in order to examine their relevance
and identify topics for further and more specific research. In addition to considering horas as
natural resources, as components of the hydrological system and as sites of cultural value, the work
considered their roles in wildlife and landscape ecology. For example, salt-licking by wildlife is
often related to sodium deficiencies (Bechtold 1996; Matsubayashi et al. 2006; Mills and Milewski
2007), hence it is possible that that horas, assumed to be sodium rich (Hillman 1988; Teklemariam
et al. 1996; Demlie et al. 2007) would appeal to wildlife as much as to livestock. Also, the formation
of glades in the forest may be due to localized water-logging by sodium-rich waters or by the
accumulation of hydrothermal clays (Chiodi and LeFevre 2006).
The specific objectives of the study were as follows: to locate and map mineral springs
and hot-springs in the forest; to describe their physical features and their environmental setting; to
measure their main water properties (pH, electrical conductivity and temperature); to interview local
informants on their history and use, and to interview local informants on their use by wildlife.
Methods
The survey was conducted towards the end of the rainy season (November-December 2007) and
lasted for six weeks. The work plan involved an initial rapid survey to locate the sites and gather
<strong>Walia</strong>-<strong>Special</strong> <strong>Edition</strong> on the Bale Mountains 226