Walia Special Edition on the Bale Mountains (2011) - Zoologische ...
Walia Special Edition on the Bale Mountains (2011) - Zoologische ...
Walia Special Edition on the Bale Mountains (2011) - Zoologische ...
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Working with Local People - Promoting and Planning for Joint Natural Resource<br />
Management in <strong>the</strong> <strong>Bale</strong> <strong>Mountains</strong> Nati<strong>on</strong>al Park<br />
The reality of protected areas in Ethiopia is that all designated areas are settled and or used by local<br />
communities. Because of <strong>the</strong> reluctance of <strong>the</strong> c<strong>on</strong>servati<strong>on</strong> sector to face up to <strong>the</strong> realities of<br />
protected areas in Ethiopia, <strong>the</strong> issue of People in Parks in Ethiopia has been, and remains uncertain.<br />
Currently, <strong>the</strong> policy coming out of <strong>the</strong> Ethiopian c<strong>on</strong>servati<strong>on</strong> sector is that people should not be<br />
allowed to live in and/or use resources in Nati<strong>on</strong>al Parks. As such, <strong>the</strong>y are adhering to <strong>the</strong> rule that<br />
a Nati<strong>on</strong>al Park should not have people living in or using <strong>the</strong> resources of <strong>the</strong> area (Ethiopia Wildlife<br />
Regulati<strong>on</strong> 2009). However, <strong>the</strong> reality is that <strong>the</strong> situati<strong>on</strong> remains quite different and very difficult,<br />
with local people claiming settlement and resource use rights, and local administrati<strong>on</strong>s and Park<br />
authorities unable and unsure of how to address <strong>the</strong> situati<strong>on</strong> of permanent and seas<strong>on</strong>al settlement<br />
inside Ethiopia’s Nati<strong>on</strong>al Parks. Thus, <strong>the</strong> soluti<strong>on</strong> of how to address <strong>the</strong> issue of People in Parks<br />
remained elusive.<br />
By <strong>the</strong> end of <strong>the</strong> 1990s <strong>the</strong> c<strong>on</strong>servati<strong>on</strong> status of <strong>the</strong> <strong>Bale</strong> <strong>Mountains</strong> Nati<strong>on</strong>al Park could be<br />
described as increasingly desperate, in terms of an inability to address settlement and unsustainable<br />
resource use. Particularly in <strong>the</strong> Afroalpine part of <strong>the</strong> Park, seas<strong>on</strong>al grazing land users do not<br />
take any management resp<strong>on</strong>sibility in turn. Fears of losing <strong>the</strong> Park’s unique biodiversity were<br />
highlighted by an outbreak of rabies in <strong>the</strong> Ethiopian wolf populati<strong>on</strong> in 2004 (Randall et al. 2004),<br />
which spread from domestic dogs reared by <strong>the</strong> seas<strong>on</strong>al grazing land users. The outbreak killed<br />
a significant number of <strong>the</strong> estimated remaining <strong>Bale</strong> Ethiopian wolf populati<strong>on</strong> of around 350<br />
(Randall et al. 2004; Randall et al. this editi<strong>on</strong>) and raised c<strong>on</strong>cerns about <strong>the</strong> future c<strong>on</strong>servati<strong>on</strong> of<br />
<strong>the</strong> populati<strong>on</strong> (Hayd<strong>on</strong> et al 2006). It was at this time a number of key actors began to discuss <strong>the</strong><br />
opti<strong>on</strong>s for improving <strong>the</strong> management of <strong>the</strong> <strong>Bale</strong> Nati<strong>on</strong>al Park, <strong>the</strong> need for urgent acti<strong>on</strong> and new<br />
ideas for dealing with <strong>the</strong> People and Parks issue.<br />
Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) was <strong>the</strong> first in resp<strong>on</strong>ding to <strong>the</strong> problem of BMNP in<br />
2001 which withdraw from <strong>the</strong> area shortly <strong>the</strong>reafter without substantially changing <strong>the</strong> situati<strong>on</strong><br />
<strong>on</strong> ground. However project outputs included different c<strong>on</strong>sultancy study reports, vehicles and<br />
training for <strong>the</strong> Park staff. After <strong>the</strong> withdrawal of WWF project from <strong>the</strong> area, <strong>the</strong> Ethiopian Wolf<br />
C<strong>on</strong>servati<strong>on</strong> Project (EWCP) 9 and Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS) 10 , working with <strong>the</strong> Nati<strong>on</strong>al<br />
Park Authority, began to look at <strong>the</strong> opti<strong>on</strong>s for <strong>the</strong> improved management of <strong>Bale</strong> <strong>Mountains</strong><br />
Nati<strong>on</strong>al Park. In 2002, funded by <strong>the</strong> Belgium Technical Cooperati<strong>on</strong> (BTC), a c<strong>on</strong>sultant study<br />
produced a new Nati<strong>on</strong>al Park management strategy. The new strategy unfortunately failed to secure<br />
implementati<strong>on</strong> funding as <strong>the</strong> Belgium Government’s priorities changed. FZS did however pickup<br />
<strong>the</strong> Park technical support output of <strong>the</strong> strategy to be <strong>the</strong> basis of <strong>the</strong>ir <strong>on</strong>-going technical assistance<br />
support project to <strong>the</strong> <strong>Bale</strong> <strong>Mountains</strong> Nati<strong>on</strong>al Park.<br />
Shortly afterwards, in 2004, two natural resource management focused NGOs expressed an<br />
interest in providing support to <strong>the</strong> <strong>Bale</strong> <strong>Mountains</strong> regi<strong>on</strong>. FARM-Africa and SOS Sahel Ethiopia<br />
9 EWCP was established as a specialized wolf c<strong>on</strong>servati<strong>on</strong> programme in 1995.<br />
10 FZS started work in <strong>Bale</strong> in 2005. The organizati<strong>on</strong> provides technical and financial support and capacity<br />
building to <strong>the</strong> <strong>Bale</strong> <strong>Mountains</strong> Nati<strong>on</strong>al Park Authority.<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>Walia</str<strong>on</strong>g>-<str<strong>on</strong>g>Special</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>Editi<strong>on</strong></str<strong>on</strong>g> <strong>on</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Bale</strong> <strong>Mountains</strong> 262