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

to meet the BMNP’s environmental impact prescriptions (but see Tadesse et al. this edition for a
discussion of the current situation).
Overview of the BMNP General Management Plan
The GMP is organised into five management programmes. Each management programme follows the
LFA and has an overall programme purpose, guiding principles, and ten year strategic management
objectives to address the relevant problems and issues. A practical, management-orientated three
year action plan accompanies each management programme and provides the detailed actions and
activities by which the strategy will be achieved over the next three years. This action plan is designed
to be regularly rolled forward every three years throughout the implementation of the GMP, so that
actions and activities are assessed and refreshed in the light of achievements and developments
during the GMP implementation. BMNP annual operations plans would then be developed through
close consultation with the GMP and these three year action plans. Based on best practice elsewhere
in east Africa (TANAPA 2004, KWS 2006) the BMNP management departments would aim to
mirror this management programme structure and thus primary responsibility for implementing
each programme will be aligned with a given department. This allocation of responsibility helps to
build a sense of ownership and accountability for GMP implementation among all park staff.
Ecological Management (EM) Programme
This programme is based on an ecological management and monitoring approach adapted from
current international conservation planning methods and best practices (TNC CAP). Eight PECs
which together capture the unique biodiversity of the BMNP, and if conserved will secure the longterm
health of the entire ecosystem, were identified by technical experts (Table 2).
Table 2. Principal Ecosystem Components in the Bale Mountains National Park.
Principal Ecosystem Components Level of Ecological Organisation
1. Hydrological System System
2. Harenna Forest
3. Erica forest and shrub
4. Gaysay grasslands
5. Hagenia/Juniper woodland
6. Afroalpine
7. Mountain nyala
8. Ethiopian wolf
Community
Species
Threats to these PECs were then identified (and prioritised) and mitigation strategies devised.
Major cross-cutting threats arising from human population expansion and unsustainable resource
use are addressed in the SNRM programme. Other prioritised threats are addressed in the EM
programme. These include inter alia actions to reduce the threat of fire, particularly in forest areas
and the Erica shrub, and actions to reduce the threat of disease to the Ethiopian wolf and mountain
nyala. Research and monitoring activities to assess the severity of low priority, or insufficiently
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